Category Archives: Idaho

High Voltage

We slept in and had a leisurely morning yesterday before we pulled out of the 50,000 Silver $ RV Park. We drove west on I-90 and climbed up over Lookout Pass. The climb wasn’t bad. I took it easy and climbed in fourth gear at 45-50 mph.

The challenge on I-90 is the road construction. The day before, west of Missoula, they were painting stripes on the new surface. Only one lane was open. They had plastic stanchions on my right along the center stripe to keep vehicles from driving on the fresh paint. There was a concrete barrier on the left. It was tight. Our coach is eight and a half feet wide (102″). I didn’t have much room for error. We made it through without hitting anything, but it wasn’t a pleasant drive.

Coming over Lookout Pass yesterday, as soon as we hit the Idaho border, the road surface deteriorated. The steep descent down the west side of the pass was rough and uneven. I had the Jake brake on the high setting and kept our speed at 50mph.

West of Wallace, Idaho, a light rain began. Of course, I just spent hours cleaning the coach and wheels. The coach was already dusty from going through construction zones during Monday’s drive on MT200. The drizzling rain made a mess of the exterior.

We had another pass to cross before we reached Coeur d’Alene – 4th of July Pass. Again, I took it easy and climbed in fourth gear and used the Jake brake to control the descent. The engine temperature stayed cool and pulled us past semi tractor-trailer rigs as we climbed.

We programmed Tamarack RV Park as our destination in Nally (our GPS). Nally has been super-reliable and I rarely question her directions. This was a rare case where I knew something wasn’t right. She took us into a private road with narrow residential streets. I could see on the screen that the road we were on was a dead end.

I quit listening to her directions and looked at the map on the screen. I made a turn at the next intersection, which looked like it would connect to a major road. Donna phoned the RV park for directions. We weren’t far off. For some reason, the GPS was taking us to the back of the park where there isn’t a way to enter.

Once I got out of the private residential development, I was on Kathleen Avenue. I could see the road we should have been on, a quarter mile to the west. We turned south on Government Way and found the park entrance.

The Tamarack RV Park has nice, paved roads. But there are many trees and tight quarters. We’re in one of the largest pull-through sites here. It took a lot of jockeying back and forth to get the trailer lined up and position the coach where I wanted it.

As I began to set up, I plugged our Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (PT50C) into the pedestal. It registered an error and showed 255 volts! I saw a park maintenance man and called him over. He had me plug into a couple of other pedestals. It registered the same fault every time. He told me the last pedestal I tried was wired to a different circuit.

This made me think the PT50C might be the problem. I checked the power pedestal with a multi-meter and found 122 volts on each leg of the 50 amp circuit. My PT50C was the problem. I think it was damaged by the over-voltage occurrence at the 50,000 Silver $ Park.

I plugged us straight into the power pedestal without the PT50C and continued setting up. Donna made our site comfortable with the mat, chairs and flower pots on the table cloth-covered picnic table. She also added decorative lights along the edge of our site.

Donna relaxing at Tamarack RV park

Donna relaxing at Tamarack RV Park

Last night, I grilled chicken breasts with strawberries. Donna drizzled the chicken and strawberries with a balsamic reduction and served it with a side of mixed grains – red and gold quinoa, brown rice, amaranth and wild rice.

Grilled chicken and strawberries

Grilled chicken and strawberries

There are lots of trees in Tamarack RV Park – pines, firs and spruce. I don’t see any tamaracks though. The trees are blocking the Dish Network satellite signal. I’ll have to rely on the park’s cable TV. I hope I can tune in the Moto GP race this weekend.

Lots of trees here

Lots of trees here

This morning, I placed a call to Progressive Industries and told them about the problem with my PT50C. They told me that an internal component fried, causing the 255-volt reading. They said to ship the unit to them with a note describing the issue. They will replace the circuit board and reseal the unit and ship it back to me. No charge. Now that’s good customer service.

Donna is out riding on the Northern Idaho Centennial Trail. When she returns, I think I’ll get my bike out.

The Road to West Yellowstone

We’re at the Buffalo Crossing RV Park in West Yellowstone, Montana. Here’s how we got here.

We pulled out of the Salt Lake City KOA on Tuesday. I stopped at the Pilot/Flying J Travel Center and topped off our tank with 52 gallons of diesel fuel. From there, we hit I-215 and merged onto I-15 which took us past the Great Salt Lake all the way to Idaho Falls, Idaho. We took a break at the welcome center after we entered Idaho. We picked up a free Idaho road map there. I like our GPS, but I still like to have paper maps as well.  We had crosswind from the west most of the day on the 215-mile drive.

Northern Utah was wide open and the traffic was light. The speed limit in rural northern Utah was 80 miles per hour! Donna didn’t see the first speed limit sign and didn’t believe it when I told her it was 80 mph. A little while later, she saw a sign and snapped a photo.

Speed limit on I-15 in northern Utah

Speed limit on I-15 in northern Utah

We weren’t traveling anywhere near 80 mph. I stayed in the right lane with the cruise control set to 62 mph. I posted about tire pressure and tire failures before. Another cause of tire failure is excess speed.

Most trailers, including cargo trailers, travel trailers and fifth wheel trailers, are equipped with tires designated as “ST” type tires (Special Trailer). ST tires have higher load ratings than passenger car (P type) or light truck (LT type) tires. However, ST tires are rated at a maximum speed of 65 mph. Many people do not realize this and tow at speeds that exceed the tire’s rating. This can cause the tire to overheat. Over time, an overheated tire will fail. It may take hundreds of miles, but it will fail. Most people will blame the tire for the failure because they don’t understand the design limitation.

Our cargo trailer is equipped with load range C, ST type tires. I may exceed 65 mph momentarily to complete an overtaking maneuver on the highway, but I don’t drive at sustained speeds over 65 mph. The tires on our coach have a H load rating and a maximum speed rating of 75 mph.

We often see vehicles pulling trailers blow past us at speeds in excess of 70 mph. We also see boat, cargo, and RV trailers on the side of the highway with tires blown out. Tire Rack® has an excellent article about trailer tire load and speed ratings here.

On Tuesday afternoon, we pulled in to the WalMart parking lot in Idaho Falls. Donna phoned ahead and secured permission for overnight parking. We found a level spot on the southwest side of the lot. Donna shopped for groceries. I bought some real beer, not the 3.2 stuff they have in Utah. While Donna was shopping, I returned to the coach. The wind was blowing at 25 – 30 mph from the west. The coach became engulfed in a dust storm. Dust came in an open window and every crack or crevice it could find. I moved the coach to another spot, out of the direct path of dust blowing from a field.

Yesterday, while Donna slept in, I had breakfast at the Subway shop in WalMart. Donna was still recovering from her trip to Phoenix and needed a few hours of extra sleep. We pulled out of WalMart a little past 10am. We merged onto US20 and drove through farm land.

North of Ashton, Idaho, we quickly gained 1,000 feet of elevation and entered the Caribou – Targhee National Forest. Road construction slowed us down through a couple of sections in the national forest. We could see the Teton Mountains to the east, in Wyoming, at times. It was beautiful country. The leaves on the aspen trees were a pretty shade of green against the darker evergreen trees.

We pulled into West Yellowstone just past noon yesterday. For a town with 1,300 residents, it’s a hopping place. Tourism fuels the economy. There are hotels, restaurants, two grocery stores and bars. Of course it also has the obligatory tourist traps with collectibles and T-shirts. The Chamber of Commerce has a large parking lot with bus and RV parking. Tour buses stop there throughout the day.

When we drove up to the chamber parking lot, we were confused by the Buffalo Crossing RV Park sign in front and the RV parking. We pulled in and parked. We didn’t see an office for the RV park. We saw the RV park with RVs in it to the south, but we couldn’t access the park from the lot we were in.

We pulled back out on the road and drove past the IMAX cinema and found the RV park entrance. There wasn’t any signage. All afternoon, after we set up, we saw other RVs make the same mistake as us. They need to put up a sign at the actual entrance.

View from the drivers side of our coach as we set up

View from the driver’s side of our coach as we set up

It was raining off and on as we were getting settled in. The temperature was in the 40s. Later, around 5pm the sun came out as the skies cleared. It warmed up to the 60s as predicted. This morning we have blue skies and abundant sunshine. Donna and I are going into Yellowstone National Park on the scooter and plan to do some hiking there.

Huckleberries

Yesterday we woke up around 7am, refreshed from a good night’s sleep in the Sanders County Fairgrounds pasture. There was a train track nearby, but the passing trains in the night didn’t bother us.

I had coffee and yogurt. I took my time writing yesterday’s post before we packed up and left. We were back on Route 200 around 10:30am. It was going to be a fairly short drive and we planned to make stops along the way.

Our first stop was in Thompson Falls, Montana. We parked on the street and walked down to view the Clark Fork River. It was a cool little town. Friendly people and lots of quirky little shops. The river runs along the south side of town just a couple of blocks off the main drag.

Clark Fork River

Clark Fork River

There’s a dam and small reservoir here as well. The water level on the reservoir can vary by as much as four feet in a day!

thmpsnflls

We walked along the river and reservoir then returned to our coach via Main Street. We stopped in a little flower shop that had a sign saying they had fresh huckleberries for sale. We bought a quart of huckleberries. They’re one of my favorites and I haven’t had them since I left Washington state in 2005.

Donna with a quart of huckleberries at the Thompson Falls reservoir

Donna with a quart of huckleberries at the Thompson Falls reservoir

We cruised up Route 200 and were thankful we chose this route. The scenery was unbelievable. At one point we pulled into a turn out and walked to the river. The Clark Fork River flows from Montana westward into Idaho and empties into Lake Pend Oreille.

Turnout on route 200

Turnout on route 200

View of Lake Pend Oreille through the trees

View of Lake Pend Oreille through the trees

Further up the road, I pulled off near  the town of Clark Fork and followed a road towards the river hoping to find a picnic area. I feared I’d made a big mistake as I didn’t know where the road led or whether we would be able to turn around. A few miles down the road, we found a small RV park. I entered the park and was able to get turned around.

The park host told us we should look for a turnout on the left with geological information once we returned to Route 200. We found the turnout a short time later and stopped for lunch. It had a great view of Lake  Pend Oreille. There were also placards with information regarding the formation of the lake and the ancient Missoula ice dam there. We had a light lunch consisting of tabouleh salad and feta cheese.

geolsign

lkpordside

We continued onwards and crossed into Idaho. At Sandpoint, we found parking on the street and stopped again. Sandpoint is another cool town. It is somewhat touristy, but not overboard. There are lots of little shops downtown and a great beach on the lake. We stopped at Starbucks and sat outside on a deck overlooking a marina.

We walked through the downtown. When we walked down to the city beach, we found a small RV park! We talked to a guy camped there and he told us the park was run by the adjacent Best Western Hotel. We walked over to the hotel and inquired about rates and availability for next year. They are completely booked up from July 3rd to Labor Day.

We may return there in June. Staying at the RV park entitles you to use the hotel amenities including heated indoor pool, hot tub and exercise facility. Not too shabby. And you’re right on the lake and within walking distance to all the downtown shops. There are also biking paths to ride out of town.

From there we drove to our destination for the day, Priest River. I parked in the grocery store lot. Donna went in to resupply our provisions. While I was waiting in the coach, someone knocked on the door. It was Jimbo’s wife, Cindy Birditt. I haven’t seen her in nearly 20 years, it took me a moment to realize who it was.

Cindy arranged courtesy parking for us in a small industrial complex on the edge of town. In Priest River the edge of town means we are looking at forest out the front windshield. Nice.

Once we were set up, I got online and found a message from another old friend, Howard Brutschy. He knew from yesterday’s blog post that I would pass through Sandpoint and invited us to cruise Lake Pend Oreille in his houseboat. Too bad I didn’t see his invitation earlier! Hopefully we can time things better next time through.

Jimbo drove over and picked us up. We went to town for a cocktail at Jammers. We were joined by Jimbo’s neighbors, Mike and Linda, and went to a Mexican restaurant. The food was delicious. I haven’t had Mexican food that good since we left Arizona more than four years ago.

After dinner we all convened at Jimbo and Cindy’s house a few miles outside of town. Donna was the designated driver – Jimbo loaned us a truck to drive back “home.”  We sampled some whiskey and had a great time talking about old times together.

Today we’ll join them for breakfast and then head westward once again. Donna is making huckleberry muffins as I type this and they smell delicious.

I don’t know where we’ll stop tonight. Tomorrow we have reservations at a KOA in Burlington, Washington on the west side of the Cascades. I plan to travel over the North Cascade Highway tomorrow.