Missoula Montana here we come.

locoqueso · Post by **locoqueso** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:55 pm

Great info! I believe my son will be stationed east of Missoula at Malmstrom Air Force Base in the fall. I plan to take the bus up there to visit.

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:46 pm

Ok, Ok, Ok....
Here goes.

Day one:

7:15 am, shove the fam in the bus and head out...

I wanted to get out early to beat the heat and see how far we could get. I really wanted to spend as much down time as possible so as to not have to pack up every day to make the next leg.

the scenery on the road was spectacular.
Painted Landscape...

Cool Structures with pretty colors

we did stop a few times
roadside rest stops...

It was quite warm So I turned on the AC....

We were packed to the rafters....

Lil'Gypsie was thirsty. She had to have the sampler at a little microbrew in backcountry Idaho....

By 7:30 pm we had pulled into our first campsite to stay for a few days...

It was a really nice place. 440 miles/ 31 gals gas

Kind of like what camping around the northwest was like 15 years ago... before all the yahoos showed up with their generators and trash that can't find it's way to the can.

Day one ended with One tired Gypsie and no fire

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:53 pm

Day 2;

Riverside and hot sun....

We moved to a better site

Down by the river the butterflys were drinking and the local pickup joint

The males would fly around for awhile and then settle down amongst the females for awhile

It was getting pretty hot and heavy

We met a nice couple from Germany, Welf and Christine.
They are on holiday for the next couple of years. He had converted a Mercedes military transport into an RV and shipped it over from the Fatherland. They had been on the road for a year and were seeing the North American Continent in style. I was very envious, I forgot to take photos but they have a web site and blog at http://www.welfreise.com/index.html

They are a nice couple and I hope to somehow figger out how to get on their site and post to them. He gave me some great music from his computer and I directed them here to checkout the Gypsie trip.

If any of you know German and can give me some directions to get logged on to their site I would appreciate it...

Day 2 included a fire...

bedtime by the river...

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:20 am

Day 3 ...
Packed up and back on the road Headin' toward Missoula...

I truly am grateful for all that I have....

I like wild hot springs and wanted to check out Wier Creek HS but the Fam pooped out and was a bit too Scairt of the potential of meeting furry things to make the rest of the 1/2 mile walk in....
So close!

We thought about a roadside campground but the first was strewn with TP and human droppings...

The second had a cool trash-art mobile

Kind of hard to see in the photo but it was very cool.

I think the bones strewn about here were kind of off putting...

When I pointed out the several anthills that had been dug up to Mrs. Gypsie, she kind of panicked....
Later she told me she thought I was pointing out fresh graves...

I didn't have the heart to tell her I thought it was a sign of Bear....

We kept on and headed over LOLO pass.

On the way down the other side we got behind a couple that were going about 20mph with their flashers on. several cars passed us but I was curious... When we passed Lori asked if they needed help. He shook his head "NO" and she yelled "YES!"

We pulled over. They said it just died as they were coming down. He thought they could coast to Missoula and she thought the gas had evaporated in the heat...
I think they had a vapor lock in a fuel line. We checked over some of the basics and fired it up again. We followed for a few miles and things went swimmingly... They kept going as we pulled off for refreshments at Lolo Hot Springs.

We were scheduled to be staying in a cabin here for a couple of days the following day so we moved on into Missoula to find WHC03Grady.

Mitch, Melissa and Esme came out to dinner with us and showed us some cool things to check out while wandering around.

We watched some kayakers practicing their skills.

Mitch pointed to a spot where he pulled a large pike out of the water. 31 inches or thereabouts.

Day three found us looking for a hotel at 10:30pm.

Found a nice place that had a tub, and a deluxe breakfast in the morning; (waffles, frenchtoast, fruit, juice coffee, and much more). Nice place and money well spent.

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:38 am

Got up in the morning and checked out the blue sky twixt the spotty clouds

enjoyed the breakfast and headed into downtown Missoula to see some sights
found a gallery that sported some classy art...

We had to check out the high speed merry go round...
LilGypsie went round and round trying to snatch a ring from the Dragon...

She tried...

and tried...

Until she had one...

We headed Back to Lolo HS to check into the Cabin for a few days

Nice place

for a developed site

Dish duty for Gypsie

Rock formations....

and Wildlife...

We wandered down the creek a'ways

Good times and plenty of soakin.

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:52 am

Day 6 found us heading to a campsite to meet up with the Grady Fam...

Had to try out what was later described as my Ghetto Awning...

$12 tarp and paint roller extension rods attached with quick clamps.

We had a little IAC Powow...

with a great family

Mitch and I yakked til 3is in the AM and stumbled off to sleep

The next day was the 4th of July and we headed into Alberton to stay at a B&B.
No pix, totally forgot to take any..

July 5th we headed out from Alberton at 10:30 am amnd pulled into Gypsie Central at 11:00 pm (519 miles).

all in all we put on about 1200 miles and bought about 86 gallons of gas.

The bus ran great and the only mechanical failure was when the front license plate lost a bolt and hung askew for a bit. Fixed with a paper clip.

half a quart of oil was all that was needed when I got home. (Compared to a quart every couple hundred before the rebuild.) I am happy about the performance and look forward to the rest of the summer of camping.

Hope you enjoyed the slide show...

Next time we'll play canasta...

zblair · Post by **zblair** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:43 am

=D> That was awesome and I LOVE the photos. Will have to check out the moving picture shows later, the doggies need their walk and I need to get my butt to work!

LiveonJG · Post by **LiveonJG** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:53 pm

Looks like a fun trip Stephan!

-John

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:44 pm

One last thing about our trip.

While in Missoula we visited the Missoula Historical Museum. Lil'Gypsie had so much fun that she got seperated from her favorite cat "Scruffy".

We called the museum and they had her and were taking good care. Melissa picked her up and sent her on her way home with a new travelling cape. It was a happy reunion indeed.

Thanks again you Ludwig drivers. You really are the cat's pajamas!

deschutestrout · Post by **deschutestrout** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:54 pm

Looks like you had a great time!

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:27 am

Can everyone else see the pics? I've refreshed but they don't show up...

static · Post by **static** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:40 am

The pictures are great!

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:47 am

What the hell, now they work!?!?!! I'm new at this computey stuff.
Great pics and narrative! I'm glad you had such an epic and uneventful trip.

deschutestrout · Post by **deschutestrout** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:17 am

hambone wrote:What the hell, now they work!?!?!! I'm new at this computey stuff.
Great pics and narrative! I'm glad you had such an epic and uneventful trip.

I often have to hit refresh to display pictures. I'm not sure why

static · Post by **static** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:25 pm

I often have a hit to refresh myself before displaying pictures. I'm not sure why.

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Missoula Montana here we come.

day 1

Day 2

Day3

Day 4 and 5

Day 6