On Wednesday, September 16th we decided to go out and do some caching. We had a great afternoon of hunting and were able to log 12 new finds. We also had two we couldn’t find, but most important - we logged our 1,000 cache! This is a big milestone for the caching hobby. We have been caching for a little less than a year and a half, so we are doing ok. After caching we headed over to the Great Falls Elks Lodge. The lodge is in a very nice building right downtown. While we were in the bar both the Lodge Secretary and the Treasurer introduced themselves. A little while later the Exalted Ruler came over and talked to us. We also got a lodge pin for our banner. Through our conversation with the ER we learned that the Lodge had about 650 members and was chartered in 1898, so it is an old lodge. We had a couple of drinks and played the slot machines. The lodge had about six machines which all had slot, keno and poker games on them. This was not unusual since small scale gambling seems to legal in Montana, or at least in Cascade County where Great Falls is located. There are little casinos all over the city. We went into a couple just to see what they looked like and most don’t have more than a couple dozen machines. Most of the casinos seem to be in bars, but we have seen at least two instances where there is a Laundromat combined with a casino. Gives you something to do while the clothes dry. After our Lodge visit we had some Mexican food at an On the Border, a chain that has outlets in the Southwest too.
The next few days we didn’t get in too much of a hurry to do anything. It was nice to relax for a while. On Thursday we did take the new car for a drive in the country. First, we went out to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which is right on the
outskirts of Great Falls. We wanted to visit the museum there. We couldn’t actually drive onto the base, but the museum is right by the front gate so they let us walk in. Although Malmstrom has been around since before WWII as a base, it now is only a missile base. A couple of hundred miles around Great Falls there are 450 Minuteman Missile silos and Malmstrom is the headquarters for all these sites. We found out from the docent in the museum, a retired Air Force missile guy, that each of these missiles is armed with three 30 megaton warheads. This means this one base controls over thirteen hundred warheads with over 30 trillion tons of TNT! Wow - and there are two other bases with the same number of nukes - one in Minot, ND and one in Cheyenne, WY. The docent told us that 80 percent of the personnel at Malmstrom are security forces and the other 20 percent are the crews that go down in the silos. Each silo has a crew of two that go down for 48 hours at a time. This was a very interesting - and eye opening - visit. After the base we drove out to the actual “Great Falls” of the Missouri River from which the city takes it name. The falls are really just a series of wide stepped shelves in the river bottom which create a whole series of small falls over a 25 mile stretch of river. We did learn that it took Lewis and Clark, the great
explorers of the Missouri River and the Northwest, three months to find a way to portage past the falls. The river and falls are in a shallow canyon that would have made it difficult to find an easy way to get their boats up stream past the falls. We found it amazing that we could get on an inner tube in Great Falls, Montana and ride the river all the way to Saint Louis, Missouri! The headwaters of the Missouri are only about 100 miles Southwest of Great Falls. Over the last century there have been a series of dams built along this stretch of the Missouri which produce most the electrical power for Montana. Unfortunately, the dams have pretty much muted the drama of the falls and they don’t look like much today.Friday we did some housecleaning. I washed the outside of the coach and worked to get rid of the dust and grime from our Canada/Alaska travels. It took me most of the afternoon to get the coach looking decent again. Jackie did the inside. Saturday we went to the mall just for some exercise. Sunday we had planned to go caching again, but we woke up to rain so we just stayed home, did some laundry and chilled or the day. Monday, the 21st I left early with the Jeep to get the tow bar installed and the lights wired for towing. It took me from 9:00 in the morning until after 2:00 in the afternoon. Between sitting in the waiting room and reading I watched the guy install the tow brackets and wiring and have to say he did a great job. Fortunately, the boss lent me one of the shop trucks to go get some lunch because the shop was out on a rural road with nothing close around. Our pretty new car is now all ready to tow! This car weighs about 2,000 pounds more than our old, smaller Jeep did, but I don’t think that it will be noticeable - we’ll see.
Tuesday afternoon we got out to do some more caching and were able to add another eight finds to our tally. We also did some shopping at Sam’s Club and WalMart. Wednesday was going to be just a chill at home day, however, when I checked the local caches in the morning I found that there was a brand new cache published that was only a couple miles from our park. In the caching world being the First to Find is kind of cool. On your stat sheet on the website they keep track of your FTFs. Prior to this we have only had two, both from last summer’s trip to the Midwest. Some people really work to get FTFs in the area they live. You can subscribe on the website to have cache information texted to your phone when they are published so you can hurry out and be the first to find. We don’t generally get an early enough start to get FTFs before the local caches find them - but this one was released on a work day so we caught a break. YEA! After finding that one cache we went back to finish our lazy day at home. Thursday, September 24th was our last day in Great Falls. After lunch we headed out to do some caching and were able to add another 12 finds to our tally.
Friday, September 25th we packed up and headed South out of Great Falls, Montana for Dillon, Montana, a little over 200 miles South on I-15. This would be the first time that we have towed the new car. I was very careful when hooking it up because the process for getting it ready to tow is quite different than that for the old Cherokee. In the new car you have to push a little button to electronically put the transfer case into neutral. I also noted that as I was running the engine to hook up the car that the “check engine” light came on. Eek - not a problem this early. I had already noticed a small oil leak in front of the radiator. I assume that it is the oil cooler, there is nothing else up that far that has oil in it, as far as I know. I had already decided that we were going to put the car in the shop as soon as we got to Pahrump to have these issues looked at. Once we were on the road I didn’t notice too much difference in the way the car towed. The only thing I noticed is that on steep hills the coach slowed a little more than it did with the smaller car. All in all it towed very well.
Our trip South was uneventful, it was freeway all the way. We pulled into the Countryside RV park near Dillon, Montana for a two night stay. This was a very nice park and a full hookup site with 50 amp was only $28. The next day, Saturday, we stayed around the coach taking care of chores. I did my preventive maintenance chores on the coach and drove the car a little just to see if the check engine light was a problem that would affect the performance or drivability of the car. It didn’t seem to affect it any.
Sunday morning we got up and headed South again on I-15, this time driving about 175 miles to Fort Hall, Idaho, a little town about 10 miles North of Pocatello, Idaho. We were staying at an RV park behind an Indian Casino just off the freeway. The park, the Buffalo Meadows RV park, was very nice and a full hookup 50 amp site was only $20 a night. We were going to stay here for two nights. We were surprised that as nice, and as cheap, as the park was, there were only a couple of rigs there. We went into the casino to register and stayed to game a little bit. I lost my $20, but Jackie managed to hang onto about half of her stake. After our gaming we did some laundry and spent the rest of the night relaxing.
The next morning, Monday, September 28th, we had a lot of plans. I called the Jeep dealer in Pocatello, Lithia Chrysler-Jeep, and asked if I could bring the car in to have them put it on the scanner to see what the check engine light problem was. I just wanted to be sure it wasn’t anything that would cause worse problems down the road. The service writer said no problem, bring the car by after lunch. We headed into town and went to the dealership, only to find that their scanner was in use and wouldn’t be free for about an hour. We left to do some shopping and caching. A little while later we went back and the shop was still busy, so we went out and did some more caching. Finally, about 3:00, the service writer was able to get her hands on the scanner and read the codes. She found that there were 11 codes stored in the computer. Most of them had to do with the glow plugs for the diesel engine. She said that none of them should present any problems in the short term and that we need not be afraid to drive the car. She cleared the codes and the light went out. We did some more caching and then went by the Pocatello Elks Lodge. We got to the bar just as they opened and we were the only one’s there besides the bartender. She told us that the lodge only had about 200 members and was struggling, but holding its own. After one drink we headed over to Costco to finish our shopping and then headed back to the coach. All in all it was a pretty productive day - we found six caches, completed our shopping and got the car checked.
Tuesday Morning we got up and headed out early for Provo, Utah, South of Salt Lake City. We had a little over 200 miles to drive. Except for a lot of road construction on the I-15 right in the Salt Lake area, the drive was pretty easy. While we were hooking the car up for the trip the check engine light came on again. I suspect it’s the glow plug problem again. While on the road we also got a phone call from the dealer from which we purchased the car telling us that there was a paper that they had forgotten to get us to sign. Keep in mind that this is two and a half weeks after we drove off with the car. Jackie talked to the salesman and got the impression that the bank we financed the car through was balking on giving the dealership their money because of the car being registered only to our LLC, but financed in Jackie’s name. This caused a great deal of concern on our part until we got settled into the RV park in Provo and I called the dealer’s finance manager. He said that the salesman Jackie talked to had the wrong information and that he had already cleared the problem with the bank and that the only thing he needed was a co-signer notice. Technically, the LLC is buying the car and Jackie is the co-signer. They faxed the paper to the RV park, Jackie signed it and sent it back. Hopefully that will be the last glitch on the financing. This car purchase is going to give me an ulcer yet!
Tuesday night the bad weather moved in - we woke up about 2:30 in the morning with the wind blowing so hard I thought the coach was going to fall over. It had to have been blowing 40 mph steady with gusts closer to 60. After a couple hours the wind died down and the thunderstorms and rain came in. It made for a restless night for all of us, including the cat who doesn’t like outside noises.
Wednesday morning we woke up to much cooler temperatures, in the 40's, and rain. We decided to just go to the mall and walk around to stay out of the weather. After a couple hours in the mall we stopped in to visit the Provo Elks Lodge, which is located right next door to the mall. We had been to this lodge last year. There were a couple of people in the bar so we had a nice chat with some of the locals. The lodge bought the first drink, so we had a second and ended up spending about an hour visiting. After the lodge visit we headed back to the coach for the evening.
Thursday, October 1st we woke up to cool but clear weather. We left Provo about 10:00 a.m., again headed South, this time to Beaver, Utah, about 160 miles South on I-15. We got into the campground about 2:00 and set up. We had been to this campground on our return trip last year and ended up in the same spot we had last year. We were only going to stay one night because the weather forecast for the area was for below freezing temperatures for the next couple of nights. Beaver is at 6,000 feet, so it gets pretty cold. We didn’t want to spend anymore time in the cold weather than we had to, so we left the next morning about 10:00, headed South towards Mesquite, Nevada.
We got into Mesquite and headed to the Oasis Hotel and Casino because we had stayed in their RV park in the past. Turns out the Oasis closed up. The RV park had a sign that it was closed, although there were several RV’s parked in the lot. The sign said to go visit the Casa Blanca Casino’s RV lot. The Casa Blanca is owned by the same company that had the Oasis and is located only about a block away. We headed over to the Casa Blanca and found the RV park pretty full. We talked to an employee there who called the front desk for us and found that there were no spots open for the night. Then he told us to go back over to the Oasis and find a spot. Turns out they are using the old Oasis park as an overflow for the Casa Blanca. We headed back to where we started, parked and went into the old Oasis Hotel to register. Turns out they still have a few rooms in the hotel open and so the front desk is still manned, but by a security guard. Nonetheless, we registered for two nights at $19 a night for full hookups. Still not a bad deal.
Saturday morning we slept in and relaxed and then went out to do some caching after lunch. We went out and found 10 more caches for our collection. After caching we went to the Virgin River casino for an hour or so for some light gaming. Neither of us won anything. After the casino we headed over to the Mesquite Elks Lodge for a cocktail. The lodge bar was full, as it has been every time we visit. They are a friendly bunch though, several people came over and said hello. After the lodge we went back to the coach for the rest of the night.
Sunday, October 4th we were up fairly early because we had not slept really well. During the night the wind came up to howling levels and it blew that way all night. Even with the coach parked and the stabilizing jacks down, the coach was bouncing around with the wind. When we got up at 7:00 a.m. the wind was still blowing at least 30 mph with gusts much higher. We were planning on leaving Mesquite and heading up to Las Vegas, however, my initial thoughts were to put it off for a day. After checking with the weather service and the Nevada Highway Department I learned that there were no high wind or large vehicle advisories in effect, so we decided to go ahead and leave for Vegas. The drive was tough with the wind, but we only had about 70 miles to travel so I only had to fight the wind for about an hour and a half. I would not have wanted to do a 200 mile trip in that wind.
We arrived at the Hitchin’ Post RV park about 12:30 and checked in. The reason we wanted to stay in Las Vegas for a couple of nights is that my brother Russ and his daughter live in Vegas. In the past we have always made it a point to visit with them at least once while we are in Pahrump, but it is only for a couple of hours. This time we wanted to have some quality time and decided to work our schedule to be able to stay in Vegas for a long visit. The Hitchin’ Post RV park is in North Las Vegas, and is not far from where Russ lives. It worked out well because his days off are Sunday and Monday, which are the two days we will be in Vegas. This is not the nicest park in town, the sites are small and close together, but it is ok for two nights. After we got settled in I called Russ and told him where we were.
Later on in the afternoon Russ and his new wife Zen came over to visit. This was the first time for us to meet Zen. She is from the Philippines and she and Russ met online about a year ago. After he went over to the Philippines to visit, she came
to the States and about a month ago they got married. Russ’s daughter, Raquel, didn’t come over. She is a senior in high school this year and is busy with friends and activities. We had a very nice visit with Russ and Zen and Jackie fixed dinner. She had made another batch of the wonderful Halibut chowder and then she made a baked Halibut with mushrooms and tomatoes that was just great. They stayed and chatted for another couple of hours before they headed home.On Monday we slept in and relaxed. After lunch Russ and Zen came over again and we took them out for a brief “introduction to geocaching”. Russ said that he had thought about geocaching and had already signed up with a geocaching identity on Geocaching.com and had a handheld GPS. He just never really got started actually looking for caches. The four of us went out and found five fairly easy caches and it seemed that both Russ and Zen were hooked. She really got into the search, finding one cache after the rest of us had given up and decided to mark it DNF.
Russ said that he has been looking for something for he and Zen to do together, and geocaching might fill the bill. After caching we went back to the coach and chatted for the rest of the afternoon. We later went out to dinner at Appellee’s and Russ picked up Raquel and brought her to dinner so we could see her. We had a very nice dinner, then Jackie and I went back to the coach for the rest of the night.Tuesday, October 6th, we got up and headed out of Las Vegas about 10:00 a.m. headed for Pahrump, Nevada, our official “home”. This is where our mailing address is and where we are registered to vote. It was only about a 70 mile drive so we got to the
RV park about 12:30. We are staying at the Western Horizon’s Charleston Peak Winery park, one of our membership parks. This is the park we stay at every time we come to Pahrump and is a very nice park, one of the nicest in the Western Horizon group. We were going to be there for 14 days. This arrival marks the official end of our SUMMER 2009 travels. We mark our year in two parts, summer travel and winter travel. Our summer 2009 travels started on April 19th when we left Chula Vista, California and started heading North. In the nearly six months we traveled 9,315 miles through nine states, two Canadian provinces and the Yukon Territory. It was a memorable summer.Our arrival in Pahrump and the end of our summer travels will also mark the end of this episode of our blog. Watch for the next episode in a couple of weeks. Until then, stay safe and be happy.
