The Mountains of Glacier National Park
Taken from Mt. 49 8/5/11

08/05/11 - Kalispell, Mt	No drive just getting August started. July turned into August and we're still in Kalispell, Mt. though we'll be leaving the 7th. It's been a great place to stay, got a lot of work done, got a chance to wheel and putt, all in all a good month. The picture is our 'Hummer Commercial' - a term we've coined for those pictures I get where MLOYL  looks like something you'd see in a commercial - he has gotten us to a lot of very scenic and interesting places :)) August we're starting to head east, albeit slowly, but eastward none the less.  So this month will have a little more travel and some new places along the US 2. A new route for us, but we have a possible stop in upper Michigan so we're staying the in far north this year (also will help us avoid the hear we hope).
08/07/11-US2 on the East side of the Rockies	US2>Havre, Mt. Dry camped in a Walmart parking lot - On the left is a view of the east side of the mountains in Glacier National Park. The US2/US89 run together for a little way around the bottom of the park to where they split and the 89 heads south while the 2 continues east.   We've had a lot of pictures of the mountains and scenics of Glacier Nat'l. Park, here's the other side of the mountain and the rest of Montana. Once you leave the mountains behind Montana turns into a plains state and it's easy to imaging the vast herds of buffalo that once wandered here. One has to wonder considering how the Indians lived in harmony with their environment and the way the hunters and profiteers pillaged and destroyed the wildlife and resources of the continent who were the 'savages' and who the 'civilized' inhabitants. The victor writes the history, but what will the view of it be in 1000 years??
08/08-09/11 - Prairie Acres RV Park, Williston, ND	US2>Williston, ND - The road varied from rutted dirt (they had a construction zone where the pavement had all been taken up) to really nice road, so overall I'd give it a 5 for the day. The park in Williston is a no frills park, as in 'self contained only', no showers, no rest rooms, etc. But the price is right and the spaces are big. There's a nice paved driveway running around the park, 1/2 mile each round, so it gave me a good place to walk. Sheila is a little under the weather, symptoms seem like the same thing we had when we were in Fl last winter, so don't know if it was just a recurrence or if we picked something up. But she's not walking right now, concentrating on getting well. Fortunately our Dr believes in keeping us supplied with meds, so we have antibiotics and she's started on those. Didn't do anything here, didn't even drop the car. We just kicked back for a couple days, I worked as usual, and rested. This new drive 2 days - stop for 2 nights schedule is working pretty good. It's nice to be able to stop and spend a day sitting still before we go back to bouncing :))
08/10/11 - Devils Lake, ND	US2>Devils Lake, ND. The road was again great to ka-lump, kalump :( - but mostly not too bad. There were a few bad spots but overall it's probably another 5 day. The picture choice was either a parking lot or a sunrise and since a parking lot leaves a little to be desired I figure the sunrise was more appropriate (you still get the parking lot you just can't see much of it) lol The second picture is just a view of Montana taken from the US2 - somewhere along the way. Montana varies from flat plains to rolling hills. This is one of the hilly sections.
08/11-12/11 - Royal Oaks Rv Park, Bemedji, Mn	US2>Bemedji, Mn - Road is holding about the same though I think it's been a little better in Mn. Still some bad spots but overall probably a 6 so a little better than Mt. The Royal Oaks is a nice park. Took me two tries and adding boards under the front jacks to get leveled, it sloped down just a little, but other than that it was a good space. We again didn't get out, just hung out and rested mostly. The 12th was my birthday so Sheila put together one of her famous concoctions (some great noodles, chicken, onions, kitchen sink - ok maybe not the kitchen sink, but you get the idea) it was really good and have enough for another night or two. The picture is another Montana from the US2.
08/13/11 - Bad River Casino, Odanah, Wi	US2>Odanah, Wi - Today the road was either very good or very bad - mostly good, but the bad spots were real kalumps :( There was also a detour through Duluth as the road was under construction (which is a good thing, many of our roads are ailing these days). The detour was well marked and nothing hard to negotiate The picture to the far left is the spot we stopped at for the night. We originally stopped in Ashland, Wi. at the Walmart but they have a city ordinance prohibiting dry camping there. The lady at the Walmart was nice enough to tell me about the Bad River Casino (on the Chippewa indian reservation) so we went there instead. The picture to the left is Duluth taken from the freeway approaching the city.
8/14-28/11 Indian Lake State Park, Manistique, Mi	US2>Manistique, Mi - Road was fair and the weather was good.  Sheila has been trying to fight off some bug, seems like a recurrence of the bug she had last winter. We can't figure out where she would have picked up something new and I didn't get it - so it may have been lurking around waiting for a chance to return. We'll be relaxing at Indian Lake until she's all better - then we'll get a little exploring in. Far left is our space at Indian Lake State Park. We're in a handicap space, so we have an asphalt pad which is nice. Rest of the spaces are grass. It's a good location and the weather looks like it'll be good. The picture to the left is the view from my desk and the living room looking out our picture window - and that's a picture to have out your picture window :)) Our Adventures in Manistique, Mi
8/28-9/3/11 Lake Shore Rv Park, St Ignace, Mi	US2>St Ignace, Mi. - it was a good road and a short drive (just 95 miles today). The weather here has been perfect and today was another beautifuly day, temp in the 70, mostly clear skys and just the kind of day that makes you glad to be alive and able to enjoy it. The picture to the left was a RV we followed for a little ways and I saw this neat  coach in his picture window, so I couldn't resist. It's clearer if you blow it up a little :)) We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area on the lake (the road mostly followed the top of the lake) and since it was such a short drive, just sat enjoying the view and had our lunch. We'll have to see how the walking is here. There's a road out front with a narrow shoulder and it probably won't be bad if it's not busy. It isn't today, but we'll see how it is early on a work day. There was supposed to be a 'beach', but it turned out to be very small and very rocky. But on the plus side, we have a sorta view of the lake between the RV's (we're in the second row) and there's a nice breeze off the lake. :)) As it turned out the walking was great here - the two pictures to the far left are from my morning walks. We also did get out for a ride while we were here. We rode over along the top of lake Huron to De Tour Village and of course found a spot along the way for our picnic :))  We were hoping to get a 'critter' pic, but had to settle for a flower - but it's a really pretty flower.

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