My last post left off with us sleeping Sunday night in a Walmart parking lot crowded with RVs.

Monday we were up around 7:30am. We had breakfast, showered and hit the road at 8:30am. We were on a northwesterly course on I-90 with the wind blowing us down the road. We faced another 300+ mile day, but I was optimistic. We had the wind at our back and a fairly easy drive ahead.

I thought about a couple of maintenance items I needed to do on our coach and figured I might have time to do some of them while were camped at Glacier National Park. One thing is a strut that pulled loose from a overhead cabinet door in the bedroom. The strut holds the door up when you open the cabinet and because of its geometry it also holds the door closed when you shut it. This door is equipped with two such struts and is working fine, so it’s not a high priority task.

The other thing is a large dresser drawer that holds some of my clothes. I overloaded the drawer. One of the roller guides broke loose. Things like this happen when your house is rolling down the road a few thousand miles. Things like this can happen when  your house on a solid foundation for that matter. It’s my own fault for over loading the drawer.

We decided to go to East Glacier and booked a site at the KOA in St. Mary. Our route had us leave I-90  and follow route 287 through Townsend to the state capitol, Helena. This route had us cross the Missouri river again. The Missouri River originates in the Centennial Mountains in western Montana. The official starting point of the river is near Three Forks, Montana.

The Missouri is the longest river in the USA. The Missouri empties into the Mississippi just north of St. Louis. Where the Missouri flows between Helena and Townsend, a dam was built in 1954. This created a reservoir called Canyon Ferry Lake. It also covered the site of an old town called Canton.

I’ve driven past Canyon Ferry Lake many times but have never stopped there. We decided to stop and stretch our legs. We parked near a boat ramp at the Broadwater County campground. We walked to the shore and had a snack.

From Helena, Route 287 joins I-15 for about 35 miles before it splits off and passes through the towns of Augusta and Choteau. I-15 had a few steep grades. Once we were back on 287 there were steep grades and sharp curves. The favorable wind shifted and became a cross wind. My day of easy driving was not so easy after all.

We stopped in Augusta. The main street is wide and we found easy parking. There were several combination bar/cafe/casinos in this small town. There also was a market. We strolled over for a look. Donna asked the store clerk for a lunch recommendation. She directed us to The Buckhorn. Donna also asked if it was smoky in there from cigarette smokers. We were happy to hear Montana banned smoking in buildings open to the public.

Wyoming hasn’t enacted such a ban. The cafes there smell like an ashtray. I think I’ll have to download an app developed by the folks at Technomadia called State Lines for iPhone and Android. It gives vital information for each state. We wouldn’t have to ask so many questions or figure out how to buy beer, wine or liquor. It’s all in the app.

We tried The Buckhorn. The people were friendly, but I can’t recommend the food. I had a burger and Donna ordered chicken. My burger came with greasy fries and Donna’s chicken was deep-fried and also came with greasy fries.

Once we were back on the road, the cross winds became gusty. It made the drive tiring. There was an eight-mile detour on dirt where they had removed the tarmac and were rebuilding the roadbed. After we were back on pavement,  we were able to get up to a reasonable speed.

Donna was snoozing in her co-pilot’s seat while I was fighting strong wind gusts. At one point on the narrow two-lane highway, an oncoming tractor-trailer rig blew by us at high speed. The strength of his wake in the atmosphere combined with the cross wind from the left really slammed our coach.

The driver’s side view mirror was knocked out of adjustment by the blast. A few miles later, the arm holding the large mirror swung around towards the side of the coach! There was no shoulder, so I had to continue driving on for a few miles before I found a place to pull off. I was concerned about losing the mirror. After I stopped, I found the mirror mounting arm bolt had loosened.

I opened the trailer and found a 19mm socket and ratchet. I repositioned the mirror and tightened the mount. I made a discovery in the process. The previous owner had positioned the mirror mounting arms away from the center of the coach. They could be positioned in a more forward fashion thus reducing the overall width of the coach. I put the driver side mirror in this position before I tightened the mounting bolt.

In hindsight it seems crazy to me that the mirrors we”re so far outboard. Many times when a large semi or RV passed in the oncoming lane, our mirrors would barely clear each other. When we’re stopped in the campground, I’ll reset the passenger side as well.

We resumed driving. The wind continued to blow unabated. Shortly before we reached Browning, Montana, another big truck blew by in the oncoming lane. This one had a load of uncovered gravel. Just as we were passing by each other he hit a bump. Gravel flew out and of course the cross wind blew it right into the front of our coach. Crack!  I can add windshield repair or replacement to my “things to do” list.

We checked into the St. Mary KOA around 4:30pm. I got things set up. The last thing was to put the slides out. The front went into place as always. The bedroom slide was going out when I heard a noise, it cocked to one side and I heard a bang. Oh no!

Before I put the slides out, I always make sure nothing has fallen behind them. I make sure the driver’s seat is in position and won’t interfere with the front slide. This time I missed something. My camera bag had slid out from its place on the shelf slightly. The right side of the bedroom slide got caught on it. That’s what caused the slide to cock sideways a bit.

The bang I heard was the welds on the aluminum stanchions supporting the bed breaking. The hydraulic ram that moves the slide is very powerful. I was able to reset the stanchions to support the bed and get the slide out. I need to have someone weld them in place in the future though. I was not a happy camper and wondered what else could go wrong.

I turned on both roof A/C units and decided it was cocktail hour. I poured a martini and tried to get happy again.

As I said, these things can happen. I learned a couple of lessons. I’ll get everything fixed and be more diligent about checking fasteners to make sure things aren’t working loose. I’ll check more carefully before I operate a slide. The windshield I can’t do anything about other than chalk it up to bad luck.

(Click on photos to enlarge)