Back in Florence (Montana that is)!

We had such a good time in Hot Springs. Thank you Jim and Paula for the hospitality, the electricity and water, and the fun with Randi and the Grands! We sure enjoyed the chaos and the good food!

Thanks to Wendy Tulloch and her girls, for having us for dinner, we felt right at home and enjoyed our visit. We are so lucky to know your family! Got to see so many friends, but alas, there were a few that we missed. Next time friends, next spring we will see you again!

Tuesday when we left Hot Springs we thought we should stop at I State Trucking and have them check the hole in the tailpipe…. Another “free” night of camping in their parking lot, they fixed the tailpipe the next day. O.K., not free camping that one was about $597.00 (sad face).

The next leg of our journey takes to Florence, Montana. We found a great Forest Service campground, Charles Waters Campground. Coolest thing ever, it is $10.00 per night ($5.00 for us because we are old and decrepit), but better yet, the day we checked in was the last fee day of the season, so the next 5 or so days will be at no cost!!!! We are “camping” without hookups, boondocking it’s called, and learning about how Coach operates without electrical hookups. We have a new solar system and three lithium ion batteries, one of the batteries that came with the purchase was bad from the git go so we stopped at Bretz and they swapped it out with a new one. Well, that seems to have opened the door to a new problem. Long story short, we are thankful that not only do we have a electric heat system, but also a gas one, so we stayed warm last night, the water stayed hot and the fridge worked all night (both operate on either electricity or gas). But without turning on the generator we had no plug in power (like for coffee), but with all three systems, gas, solar and generator, it looks like we will always have options. But now we are waiting for a call back from Bretz to see what our solution with be. We are glad we haven’t ventured far from Bretz until we get these kinks worked out!

Keith’s daughter Kristin is living in Hamilton and we enjoyed a great meal with her and her friend Steve last night. Hamilton looks like a town worth checking out and for Keith’s brother, I think he should investigate the bike trail all the way from Missoula down the Bitterroot! We look forward to spending Sunday with Kristin and Steve at our place! A little campfire, a little bbq…..

Today, wait for a call from Bretz, get the tires on Toad rotated at Les Schwabs and then do some walking in the woods down here in the Bitterroot. Plan is to drive to Anaconda Friday (via Skalkaho Pass Road) to watch our oldest Grandson Tyler play football for the Copperheads. Then on Saturday we will drive to Alberton to watch the Hot Springs Savage Heat play some great football! A few of more days here, then we will head to Georgetown Lake, Granite County, Montana for a bit!