Bozeman to Kalispell

We headed up to Kalispell today, on the way to new tires, alignment, and a visit to Glacier National Park on the way to Canada.

On the way, we took a side trip into Butte (or "boot" as the nice lady on the Ford referral switchboard called it ;-), which is a neat old mining town. It reminded me a little of Santa Rosalia in Baja, but bigger; it was very historic, on the side of a hill, with lots of neat old brick buildings. And a HUGE copper mine, bigger than the town. Apparently, Butte is the place to be on St. Patrick's Day - lots of Irish in the town and the whole town goes nuts. Sounds like fun, if you're into that sort of thing. We just liked the view from the Butte Hill.

Other sights along the road:

A big smelter chimney - according to Josh it was once the tallest freestanding building in the country. All brick.

As we turned to follow the Blackfoot River from Missoula, we saw Bighorn Sheep - a herd of ewes right on road! Our first bighorns of the trip.

The road paralleled the river, and we saw a raft full of girl scouts waving - and giving the "honk your horn!" sign. We honked and made them very happy :)

Lots of tubers and flyfishers on the Blackfoot - nice river!

Devin saw a bear at Big Fork, our second for the trip (and Devin said maybe his best bear sighting). I missed it, so I can't confirm that he wasn't just making it up (kidding). He said it was standing up to see and when we came by it ran back into the woods. Good call, bear!

We passed Swan Lake (and several others along the road) full of lily pads - beautiful!

The Kalispell area is a nice combination of hayfields, rivers and lakes (like the HUGE Flathead Lake), forests and farms.

Once we got to town, we took a tour of Kalispell RV Parks - they all look pretty nice, but those long-term residents... the "neighbors" can make all the difference in your experience.

We went with a beautiful park right on the river with big trees and green grass, but apparently we chose poorly... we immediately were treated to a screaming foul-mouthed rant argument by guy who must be an announcer for Monster Truck Rallies or Wrestlemania - I could hear the veins bulging out on his neck... I was shaken and a little scared - worried about getting caught in crossfire! THEN... we were given an overflow spot on someone's yard with a regular (20amp) extension cord and a garden hose for water - ewww. At the regular price.

We went across street to another park that was mostly visitors, nice folks, had a spot with full hookups for same price! The first park was really nice, actually - the people that worked there were very friendly and they really tried to make it right, but the only other open spot was next to another motley looking group - cue banjo music - eek! Some spots at the first park were great, but taken. In good "neighborhoods" and on the river, very cool and shady, grassy - nice. Too bad about the redneck crack ho's and meth addicts that live there....

Today was a really long day of driving (over 300 miles) and we are getting new tires tomorrow, and alignment on Friday (...the 13th... dun dun DUN).

Speaking of tires,

"Tire-O-Drama," continued...

The 40 mph shudder, the one that disappeared after getting the new wheel, reappeared today. WTF? We also had a 60 and 70 mph shudder. Devin says they've always been there, but I wonder. Seems our alignment is getting worse by the minute. Hoping the alignment is the cure-all! maybe we've got major suspension problems - but we do have that Continued Service Plan from Good Sam that should help, if so!! We also bought oil and fluid for hydraulic levelers. Devin decided to change the oil himself, and we are having an oil drain quick connect shipped to arrive Friday also. AND, we are also getting an air compressor for our tires, and a new battery for my laptop. So Kalispell/Whitefish will be business days!

We do hope to get a trip through Glacier National Park in, too.

Mo Tires

OMG - our tires were almost bald!! the left front WAS half bald, and it wasn't when we started out yesterday morning!!! So in one day, we had an inordinate amount of wear. These tires have only about 5,000 miles on them!! Bad alignment can really mess with your tires when you weigh 9 tons. No wonder my feet hurt... ha.

We are going to check to be sure we don't have worn king pins or the like that would allow the tire to wobble, but we think maybe it was just cumulative - the tire was so unevenly worn that it pressed even more on the worn side - like driving with it on the side almost. We'll find out when we get our alignment in the morning.

WOW - what a difference!!! The alignment was WAY off and is now fixed, and with new tires, inflated properly, it's like gliding on ice it's so smooth!!! Well, in comparison anyway.

All's Well That Ends Well - no more tire drama! Hooray!!