August 20, 2014. Endless Montana wheat fields!

CAMPGROUND:  Havre RV Park.  Full  hook-ups.  In downtown. Nice, private showers. Nice laundry. A little crowded.   $40. Three stars out of five. Would be higher, but overpriced.

LOCATION:  Havre, Montana, in north central part of state.

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy. Highs in 70s

We drove about 5 hours across Montana.  We passed thousands of acres of wheat fields.  Farmers were in the fields with their huge machines.  Lots of tiny towns, each with its grain elevators.

We stopped in Havre, as we wanted a commercial campground.  With our registration, we were given passes to use the next door Best Western swimming pool and internet.  We did computer work, and soaked in their hot tub

After getting cleaned up, we went to the restaurant across the street where we had a free drink, compliments of the RV park.  

DINNER:  Nothing special.  Corn chowder with added canned chicken.  As a side, I warmed the remaining tortillas. 

August 19, 2014. Hitch-hiking in Glacier!

CAMPGROUND:  2nd night at Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park

LOCATION:  Northwest Montana

WEATHER:  Sunny in AM.  Cool and storms in PM. Highs in 60s

Today our goal was to see the Road to the Sun.  We decided to take the free shuttle bus, to help with the initiative to decrease traffic and pollution.

  Still, many people drive, and the road is jammed.   We found out that the  Park doesn't manage the bus system well.  We waited an hour in the morning to catch a bus to the top.  It was a breath-taking ride.  The road is full of switchbacks, steep drop-offs, and is very narrow.  We heard on the bus radio that a lady had driven to the top, but was too petrified to drive back down.  It took us an hour to get to the top.  Then, we took another bus down an hour to the other side.  We rode back up again to the top, and went on a hike.  The trail was fairly steep.  We picnicked with crackers and sardines.  It was a nice sunny day for a hike, or so we thought.

We saw beautiful mountain wildflowers, snow, glaciers, mountain goats, and marmots.  We climbed to about 10,000 feet.  Just before the end of the trail which is an observation point overlooking a lake, it started to pour.  Lighting and thunder were crackling around us.  It was scary.

Then, we turned around to walk/run back, and the rain turned to sleet.  The wind blew the sleet hard on our legs and backs.  It hurt!  We soon were drenched and freezing.

We made it back to the visitors' center to catch the bus back down.  The line had about 100 people in front of us.  The buses picked up about 10 people at a time (small buses as large ones cannot negotiate the road), coming 30 minutes apart.  We figured we would be in line for 2-3 hours!  So, we went out to the road and tried hitch-hiking.  A nice couple picked us up after about 5 minutes.  

They dropped us off at a 100-year old, cozy lodge in the Park.  To our surprise and relief, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace.  We sipped a wine and beer, standing in front of the fire, warming up and trying to dry out our soaked clothes.  I draped our jackets over chairs.

We caught another bus back to the campground.  We talked to our neighbors, a young couple from Seattle on their honeymoon, and to a California couple in a 1966 Airstream.  

Overall, we don't really recommend Glacier.  Too many people, and a bus system that needs work.  The parking lots were full, and people waited hours just to park.  Campgrounds mostly full.

DINNER:  I modified a recipe that was supposed to be a veggie cheese bake.  Since we don't have electricity, I did it over the fire.  I sautéed onions, garlic, spinach, mushrooms,  and diced zucchini.  Meanwhile, inside I boiled macaroni.  At the end, I combined everything with ricotta and mozzarella.  Turned out pretty well.  

August 18, 2014. Return to Glacier National Park

CAMPGROUND:  Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park.  Biggest campground at Glacier.  Only one with vacancies.  Good campfire grills.  Flush toilets.  No other amenities.  $20; $10 with senior pass. Recommend if at Glacier.  Others have lake views, but fill up quickly.  No reservations.

LOCATION:  Northwest Montana

WEATHER:  Sunny and hot. Highs in 80s.  Cooler in the forest

Our destination today was Glacier National Park. We had been here in June, but the famous Road to the Sun was still covered with snow then, and not open.  Since we were going to be in this area, we decided to come again.

We only had about 150 miles to drive today, but there was a lot of traffic and road construction, so it took about 5 hours.  We stopped along the way to hike along the Kootenai River falls, and to picnic beside a beautiful lake.

Glacier is really crowded.  There are about 5 campgrounds in the park.  We snatched one of the only camp sites left in the only campground in the park with vacancies.   Lots of tenters.  We were too late to catch the shuttle to the Road to the Sun, so we just walked around the area, read, and tried to stay cool.

DINNER:  Fajitas.  I sautéed the rest of last night's roast beef, green pepper and onions in butter and cumin.  Served with tortillas, cheese, and lettuce.  Easy and didn't heat up the camper cooking.

August 17, 2014. Back to the USA!

CAMPGROUND:  Yaak River National Forest Park.  Woodsy, on river.  Almost empty.  Clean pit toilets. Water pump.  No other services. Pull-through slots.  $10; $5 with Senior Pass.  Recommend

LOCATION:  Northwest corner of Montana, near Libby

WEATHER:  Nice.  Highs around 80. Cooled down for sleeping

We gorged ourselves with fruit for breakfast, not knowing what is allowed to cross the border.

We drove through the south Okanagan.  Hundreds of wineries and U-pick/we-pick vegetable and fruit stands.  We were only 30 miles or so from the border.  Too early in the morning for wine-tasting.  :-(

The border crossing at Oroville was the most thorough we've been through.  The lines were pretty long.  They were inspecting all RVs, so the agent walked through the Airstream.  Her main interest was fruit and vegetables.  She confiscated our jalapeño pepper, but had no interest in a huge zucchini or blueberries.   She didn't ask about firearms or campfire wood.  I had left my dying/dead basil plant at the campground, so didn't have to declare it.  

Soon we were on the road in Washington.  We took a scenic byway through lots of national forests.  We paralleled lakes and rivers, full of weekend boaters.  We stumbled upon a great brewpub in a little town, and had lunch there. 

After buying gas and groceries, we were ready to find a campground.  Unlike earlier in the day, there were no national or state forest campgrounds.  So, we kept on driving, through Washington and Idaho.  No far across the Montana line, we found this campground.  It was much later than we had planned to drive.  With a time zone change, it was 7:00. 

There was a terrible windstorm here at this campground about 2 weeks ago.

 Huge trees are down all over the place.  

It looks like a war zone.  

We learned that no one was hurt when it struck, and only a few RVs were damaged, and only slightly.  How scary that must have been!

We hiked around looking at the damage and the nearby river.

DINNER:  French dip sandwiches.  I sautéed onions and placed them on toasted hoagie roll halves, along with thinly sliced roast beef and gruyere cheese.  We dipped the sandwiches in beef broth with some horseradish swirled in.  As a side, we had a nice salad, from a kit.  Our friend Tony gave us that tip...packaged salads for 2-3 people with all the fixings included.  Helps with tight refrigerator space.  

August 16, 2014. Fruit heaven!

CAMPGROUND:  Vaseux Lake Provincial Park.  12 sites.  A bit noisy, on Hwy 97. Clean pit toilets. On lake. No services. Would return if OK Falls campground not available.  $16

LOCATION:  Near Okanagan Falls, in south central British Columbia

WEATHER:  Rainy and cool in AM; Sunny and nice in PM.  Highs in 70s

Starting today, I will include details about our campground.  Hopefully it will be helpful to fellow campers reading the blog, and will serve as a reminder for us if we are back in the area.  

We feasted on fruit at breakfast at the farm.  We had raspberries, apricots and peaches, from the garden and farmers' market, all at their peak.  We slowly got ready to leave, in between rain showers.  We said goodbye to our hosts and to our friends Tony and Jenny.   These last 4 days have been a bit of nervana.

We drove about 3 hours south, snacking on bing cherries along the way.  The road was busy with BC and Alberta tourists visiting the lake resort towns.  We saw hundreds on tubers floating on the river in one town.  

We stopped at a winery south of Kelowna for a tasting and a picnic lunch.  It was a tiny operation, an organic estate vineyard.  The owner is East Indian. We bought a bottle of Pinot Noir.

The first campground we went to, Okanagan Falls Provincial Park, was full, so we went a bit farther to this one.  We quickly unhooked so that we could explore the area. (aka, more wine-tasting).  We went to 3 other wineries, each unique and with nice wines.  They all seem to have beautiful views.

At this winery, there was a wedding reception going on.

Back at the campground, we waded in the lake and cooked dinner.  There is a ban on campfires due to the drought, so we used our gas grill.

DINNER:  "Leftover Supreme"..... I sautéed onions and jalapeño peppers and added it to last night's leftover rice/tomato/corn mix.  To that, I added Mexican spices and a can of tuna.  We ate it with warmed tortillas.

August 15, 2014. Mt. Revelstoke National Park

LOCATION:  Based in Mabel Lake, BC in southern British Columbia

WEATHER:  Spotty rain showers. Highs in 70s

We spent another night camped at the farm with friends of Tony and Jenny.  George picked blueberries for breakfast from their garden.

Today, we made a day trip to Mt. Revelstoke, about 2 hours away.  To get there, we drove along lots of lakes with beach resort areas.  Seems a little like Florida.

Mt. Revelstoke is in the Columbia Mountains.  We ascended to 6,000 feet.  We watched the temperature drop as we drove up the mountain, from about 70 to 50.  Along the way, we saw 3 marmots.  This one posed for us.

During our trip, we have seen lots of signs asking drivers to watch for wildlife.  Here, the wildlife are rare salamanders.

The vegetation changed from rain forest, to snow forest, to no forest as we ascended.  Once we got to the top, the fog rolled in and it started to rain.  Undaunted, we donned our rain gear and looked at the famous alpine meadow wildflowers.  Here is Jenny enjoying the weather and flowers...

We found a really nice log pavilion.  It had a wood stove, a pile of logs, and an axe, all conveniently ready for us to make a fire.  The only problem was that we didn't have a match.  We tried igniting a piece of Kleenex from the car's cigarette lighter, but that did not work.  I asked some people for a match.  Finally, I found a smoker who had a lighter.  I lit a little candle and carefully walked with it back to the pavilion, in the wind and rain.  George had the kindling ready and we got a little fire started.

Soon, it was going well, and we added more wood.

It became cozy and we warmed and dried ourselves.  We took a shuttle to the summit, then hiked back down, admiring the wild flowers.  We returned to our cozy pavilion with smoke emitting from the chimney, to get warm and dry again.

We drove down to the city of Revelstoke for a late lunch at a brewpub.  I finally had my first taste of poutine.  It is a Canadian dish, mostly French, with French fries covered with brown gravy and melted cheese curds.  Not what you would call health food!

We drove back to the farm.  A baby bear had visited our hosts about an hour before we returned.  They think the mother bear was shot, and this little guy is wandering around.  He was in their yard and tree next to their deck.

DINNER:  We had our last meal together.  George grilled chicken thighs, and I used them in an arroz con pollo recipe I had.  It was with corn, tomatoes, onions, and Mexican spices.  Served over rice.  Tony and Jenny made a nice salad, and we had some Canaduan beer and wine.  Perfect ending to our stay here.

August14, 2014. Canada's Napa Valley

LOCATION:  Another day with friends in Mabel Lake,  British Columbia in southern BC

WEATHER:  Sunny in AM.  Light rain in PM.  Highs in low 80s

We started the day sharing breakfast with our friends Tony and Jenny.  Our hosts' dog, Jake, was checking it out.  

We planned our day, then took off for wine country.  The Okanagan is a large fertile valley with fruit trees and vineyards/wineries.  I think there are 1000+ wineries in the area.  

On our way, we stopped in a fun "tourist trap".  One feature is this goat walk.  You fill up a bucket with food, and the goats have learned how to move the wheel on the pulley which takes the food up to them.  Pretty clever!

Our first winery  has won awards for its sparkling wines.  The winery overlooks Lake Okanaga.

We went to a total of four wineries and one micro-brewery.  The fields are so lush and perfectly groomed

They have created a new way to grow apples. Rather than trees, they look more like vines.  This means they take up less space and the apples are easier to pick.

We stopped at a grocery on our way home and bought steaks to grill.  

DINNER:  We cooked and ate at our hosts' house.  George grilled the steaks, and Tony made a vegetable stir-fry with veg from the hosts' garden, and boiled new potatoes.  The six if us sat around their table and enjoyed this feast with our  Okanagan wine purchases.