30 July - Goodbye Clear Lake Rec Area & Hello Nugget RV Resort, St Regis MT

30 July
This morning we pulled chocks shortly after 0800 hrs and hopped on I-90 eastbound towards Idaho and Montana to Nugget RV Park at St Regis MT.

On our drive today we passed through Spokane and Coeur d'Alene one last time for this trip and made good time as we traveled east.

Lake Coeur d'Alene on our right

It was a beautiful drive with forest on both sides of the interstate.

Hello Montana!

We topped Fourth of July Summit just over 3000 ft and then downhill until we transitioned Lookout Pass at just over 4700 ft.

When planning our routes we use  www.flattestroute.com  It not only helps you select the "flattest route" to travel, but also gives you interactive graphics.  You can see we had grades just shy of 10% and downhill over 7%.  The Cummins diesel-equipped RAM pulled the fifth wheel with no issues and the Jake brake worked great on the downhill side.

In route to our campground we stopped at the $50,000 Silver Dollar saloon.

It is quite an interesting place. Back in 1952 the couple that owned the place started collecting silver dollar coins and placing them on the bar top, and it was full at 2500.

Absolutely beautiful bar area.

The bar top displays the oldest coins, many of them from the 1800's.

 The collection expanded to the walls and they are full now and the collection has moved to ceiling-hanging wooden panels.

 

Doreen and I had a cold beverage while admiring the whole place.

The $50,000 count is now up to $71,047

A display of distilled spirits from Montana

We posed for a picture with a couple of the permanent fixtures!!

About 1240 hrs and 147 miles later we rolled into St Regis and the Nugget RV Park.

There is a legend of "The Nugget" involves three miners, one of  whom found a 23 oz nugget.  There is a lengthy journal that describes what occurred, but bottom line is the the founder died that night and the nugget has never been found.  Remnants of the mining camp are still here.

One of the mine shafts

The jail

The campground is very nice, much wider spaced than Clear Lake.  There is irrigated grass space in between each campsite, a picnic table and a fire ring (which is off-limits).

Wide drives between rows and mature trees provide some shade

We saw no precipitation again today and the area is very dry.  In fact the fire danger is "extreme" now so no camp fires of any kind.  Unfortunately there are many forest fires in Montana right now and one just a mere 18 miles from our campground.

Smoke visible over the trees from our campground.  A few of the campers here were evacuated from their homes near the fire

So the RV passed through Idaho and into Montana today, and we updated the "states visited" map accordingly!  Doreen had the honors for Idaho and I place Montana!

Just three more states left to place on this trip, seven more to pass through.

Tomorrow we plan to head towards Glacier National Park.  We have some issues with that, however.  The distance is too far to leave our dog here, and we cannot take our truck through a good portion of the park due to it's length and width.  We also cannot take our dog in her little kennel in the tour bus.  So, we will see what materializes. 

Stats Update:
Campsite#:  17
# States Traveled Through This Trip:  11
Baseball Parks Visited This Trip:  4
Point to point travel miles:  3761 miles

Vicinity miles:  6978 miles

Total miles:  10,739 miles

Total point to point driving time:   80 hrs 04 minutes

Total fuel purchased:  739.588 gals

Total fuel cost:  $1907.89

Average fuel cost:  $2.689

Average MPG:  13.29 miles/gal

# Nights at end of this stay:  85

Lodging cost:  $2418.19

Average lodging cost/night:  $28.45/night

29 July - 73rd Anniversary Dinner for Bob and Phyllis Schwandt. Last night at Clear Lake.

29 July
Today is the 73rd wedding anniversary of Doreen's aunt and uncle, Bob and Phyllis Schwandt.  Wow!  That is quite an accomplishment on several levels!  This afternoon we traveled back over to Coeur d'Alene ID to Bob and Phyllis's son's house John Schwandt and his wife Donna for an anniversary dinner and celebration. We leave this area tomorrow for Montana and points east, so today will be the last time we will see them on this trip.

We arrived at John and Donna's house about 1500 hrs and John was just finishing up some yard work.  Soon he headed over to the assisted living facility and picked up Bob and Phyllis for the celebration.  We migrated to the deck and Donna served a delicious huckleberry drink.  We admired their beautiful garden which produced the green beans and wax beans for dinner tonight.

John and Donna's vegetable garden.

Donna has also harvested some garlic which is drying now.

John has been traveling to his secret spot in the hills to pick huckleberries.  They are very sweet and used to make desserts, drinks, and they freeze them for future use in muffins, pancakes, etc.  Knowing we were coming to visit, the last time out John brought back part of a huckleberry bush for show-and-tell!!  It was loaded with berries and when uncle Bob arrived today John gave us all a demonstration on how the comb device is used to harvest the berries.

John demonstrating how the comb device works

A handle provides leverage to sweep the comb through the bushes to harvest the berries

The fingers strip the berries from the bush and they are gathered in the bottom.

Uncle Bob giving it a try

Doreen has this down!!

Ripe huckleberries, ready for consumption!  About the size of low bush blueberries.

Doreen and Debbie bought some flowers for Bob and Phyllis's anniversary

 We relaxed for a while on the deck as dinner cooked on the grille.  John busted out the playing cards and showed us a few of his recently mastered card tricks.  I think uncle Bob figured out his slight of hand, but the tricks that were straight math-related stumped us all!

Doreen is entertained by John!

We reminisced  about Decatur and times when we visited their house there many years ago.  Bob explained about the dredging of the lake and many other aspects of their old residence there.  As we talked the salmon and chicken continued to cook on the grill with John's assistance and it was done so we moved to the dinner table.  It seemed like an opportune time to take a few pictures.

Bob and Phyllis Schwandt, married 73 years today!  Lets celebrate with some huckleberry and Riesling wine!

John and Donna with Bob and Phyllis

Doreen in this one

 Dinner was served and it was fantastic!  John had grilled some sockeye salmon for the fish-eaters and chicken for the others.  Donna prepared a nice lettuce salad with wild rice and beans from her garden.   The meal was complimented with huckleberry and Riesling wines.

Donna also prepared a delicious huckleberry graham cracker dessert for Bob and Phyllis's anniversary celebration. 

This was delicious!!

 After dinner we headed inside and John cued up a slideshow of Bob and Phyllis's 70th wedding anniversary celebration three years ago right here.  We flew here from Des Moines to attend.  All the relatives including children, grandchildren, etc were here.  

 Bob and Phyllis are a very special couple.  We should all model our own lives after the example they have set.  We love you very much!  We are so glad we had the opportunity to travel here to see you and help you celebrate this very special day!  Thanks to John and Donna for all the support they provide to Bob and Phyllis on a daily basis.  We are again so glad we were able to visit you as we travel the Country. Thank you for your hospitality!

Easterward-ho tomorrow.  Next report from St Regis MT!