30 Aug 2022 - Arrived Redrock RV Park near Island Park ID, Alliance Gathering

 30 Aug

Today we drove from Helena MT to Redrock RV Park which is located near Island Park ID, but since that likely won't ring a bell with anyone, it is located about 20 miles west of West Yellowstone ID.  We left about 0930 hrs and arrived here about 1400 hrs traveling about 176 miles, with three stops including a fuel stop just a few miles from the campground.

The drive today was great!  Clear skies and smooth sailing for the most part.  The scenery was amazing.

One of the stops we made was at a historical marker about the Bozeman Trail which is visible right behind this sign.  Imagine the wagons rolling along here 158 years ago!

Wooden snow fence??

Doreen spotted this before I did.  A simulated pine tree that is really a cell tower!

So I mentioned just a few miles from our destination we stopped to refuel.  The mountains were no challenge for the big ol' brown truck with it's big ol' 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel engine, but we went through some fuel!  Diesel fuel prices here are not for the faint of heart!  Not as bad as Glacier, but still pretty stiff!

We had finished fueling and Doreen was just coming out of the station getting a paper receipt when we were greeted by some Texas Alliance owners and friends who were next door doing some laundry!  We had not seen some of these folks since W. Memphis AR.   Angie Page, Leslie Tyer and Debbie Caldwell!  There is quite a group of them camping just a few miles from us, so we made plans to join them for pizza in the town of West Yellowstone this evening!

We proceeded on to the Redrock RV Park, our home for the next three nights.  There is another Alliance owner here who works at the campground, in fact his coach is parked near the office but we have yet to meet him.

The RV park is situated near Henry Lake and appears to be relatively new.  Even with that they have recently added a whole new section of pull-through sites.  Doreen went in to register as the attendant escorted me to our site.  He then headed back to the office on his golf cart and brought Doreen to the site.  Very friendly and efficient operation.

That sites are level, full hookup and widely spaced.  There is a lot of room between us and our nearest neighbor compared to most other campgrounds, and the scenery is great!.

  We got set up quickly and rested a bit before heading out to dinner with the Ally's.  

13 of us for dinner!  Charles & Leslie Tyer, Mark & Angie Page, Cash Foley & Susan Eshelman, Jim & Debbie Caldwell, Kevin & Dawn McLaughlin, Ed & Doreen Schellhase and Mike Meier all are camping nearby in their Alliance coaches and met at the Wild West Pizzeria for some good pizza and good times!!

After returning from dinner Doreen took Liberty for a walk and captured some nice dusk pictures!

No firm plans for tomorrow yet.  I will post stats when we get to Jackson Hole WY

29 Aug 2022 - Lunch with the Downings and Last Day at Ft Harrison

 29 Aug

This morning we watched some soldiers practicing their buddy care skills right across the street from the campground.  We train like we fight and taking care of our battle buddies or wingmen is top priority.  Here they have manikins likely simulating wounded warriors and they are advancing and recovering them and then applying first aid.  Later we saw soldiers with moulage and they were treating the various wounds.

A random photo from last evening, a herd of deer across the street from the campground, roaming the fort.  Doreen was not impressed...

Doreen and I enjoy seeing and exploring this great Nation as we travel about, but what really makes our travels fantastic is reconnecting with friends, relatives and military comrades.  I miss my military career but what I really miss is the people.  Over the 42 years, 2 months and 16 days that I served, I met many Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines and a few Coastguardsmen!  Today we reconnected with Cindy Downing and her husband Win. Cindy was the State Command Chief from California and previously Win was the Wing Command Chief in Fresno.  I served in the Air National Guard with Cindy on the Enlisted Field Advisor Council and saw her pretty regularly at the meetings.  Today we had lunch with them here in Helena after they drove down from Great Falls MT.  It was really great to see them and catch up on what everyone has been doing! 

Cindy gave us a jar of Montana wild huckleberry jam and some huckleberry taffy 

to enjoy on our travels!!

On the way back to the campground we stopped to give the big ol' brown truck a badly needed bath and wash off the Glacier National Park gravel road dust!  Later in the afternoon I washed the Montana bugs off the front cap of our coach while Doreen hiked up to the lodging building and did some laundry.  We are all caught up now going into West Yellowstone and Jackson Hole.  

That's a wrap from Ft Harrison.  Tomorrow we will drive about 176 miles south to just west of West Yellowstone Idaho for our next stop.  Thanks for tagging along!  

28 Aug 2022 - Arrived at Fort Harrison Campground, Helena MT

28 Aug

 Good evening from Helena MT, stop #29 of 37 on our 2022 RV adventures!  We departed Johnson's RV Park in Saint Mary MT this morning about 0900 hrs.  It was a chilly morning there as the temps dipped to 38F this morning between 0343 hrs and 0355 hrs.    

By the time we were loading up it had warmed to 50F and the sun was out. We saw views this morning of the surrounding mountains that we had not seen before because of all the overcast weather during our stay.  

So we headed over to Browning MT and filled with fuel because the highway robbers were out here at Saint Mary.  Price gouging at it's finest.  

This station was at Saint Mary near the east entrance to Glacier National Park.  $6.69 for diesel.  

Diesel fuel at Browning just 27 miles away is $4.91.

We fueled at Browning and then headed south on Highway 89.  At Choteau we turned onto Highway 287 and then followed that down to just 30 miles north of Helena when we got on I-15 at Wolf Creek.  What an amazing drive!  We followed the Rocky Mountains the whole trip.  There is so much beauty in this great Nation you just have to get out there and see it!

Check out this guy's driveway!

The drive through Wolf Creek on I-15 was beautiful also.  

Some significant climbing and descending in the big ol' brown truck!

Soon we arrived at Helena MT.  There was smoke coming from a mountain to the south of town and aircraft fire suppression operations were in progress.  Was interesting to watch as we drove to the campground and after we arrived.

Looking south as we approached Helena.

  

We pulled into the Fort Harrison RV/commercial gate at 1350 hrs and used their intercom system to notify security we were there.  

Security responded quickly and after signing in at the lodging office we headed a few blocks to the campground.  We stayed here in 2017 for several days during our Northwest USA RV trip so everything was pretty familiar.  

The campground at Fort Harrison

A view of the VA Medical Facility just south of the campground

The RV sites here are not bad but not optimal.  Whoever designed the campground likely though they were doing us a favor by installing these concrete curbs but they are a real pain in the keester.  They cause issues with the stairs, with sewer drainage, and access.  It may not be evident from these pictures but it would be so much nicer if they would eliminate the curbs.

Our kitchen slideout overlaps our neighbor's patio and within inches of their concrete picnic table (above).  Yep, that is our sewer hose on their patio.  Our neighbor on the other side has his sewer hose similarly on our patio, otherwise it would not drain.  Very poor planning from whomever designed this place.  They likely have never owned an RV...

Once setup was complete we rested a bit and then headed into town to buy some groceries and replenish the pantry and fridge.  When we returned we came in the main gate since we were not towing the RV.  

The history of this fort dates back to May 1892 when Fort William Henry Harrison was established.  It was originally named Fort Benjamin Harrison for the 23rd President of United States Benjamin Harrison since the establishment of the fort coincided with his term of office. However, it was discovered that a fort by that name already existed in Indiana, so in 1906 the name of the Montana post was changed to Fort William Henry Harrison. The fort is now home to the Montana National Guard, US Army Reserve and US Navy Reserve. The Veterans Administration Hospital, Montana Military Museum and Service Club are also located at the fort.

We are only here two nights and then we head south to just west of West Yellowstone.  While we are here we will reconnect with retired California State Command Chief Cindy Downing and her husband Win. 

I served with Cindy on a national-level committee while I was Iowa State Command Chief.  Cindy and her husband have since relocated to Montana.  We've made plans to have lunch tomorrow!