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One Night in Montana

Sunday was our last full day in Salmon, Idaho. When I wrote my last post Sunday morning, I mentioned I had a pork Boston butt in the Traeger wood-pellet fired smoker-grill. I wouldn’t set up the Traeger and then have to re-pack it the day before we traveled normally, but I wanted to smoke the pork and not have to freeze it.

I set up the grill at 8am and had the pork on it 8:20am. I wrote about temperature settings on the smoker/grill in this post. The thing is, traveling around with different climates, full sun versus shade and varying wind conditions makes getting the temperature right difficult at times. For pulled pork I wanted to smoke it low and slow. I wanted to keep the pit temperature around 210 degrees. I started out with the 225-degree setting on the Traeger, but it kept over-shooting and getting too hot.

I tried P-settings that would run at a lower duty cycle to allow the temperature to cool. The problem with that was, with the duty cycle too low, the temperature would drop below the 225-degree setting. Once that happened, the controller would turn on continuous pellet feed until the temperature reached or exceeded 225 degrees. This resulted in too many pellets in the fire box and and the temperature sensor for the controller would shoot up to 260 degrees or more. This made the pit temperature hover around 240 degrees. That was hotter than I wanted it to be.

So, I tried something different. I set the controller to 180 degrees, then set the P setting at 0. This setting will have the auger feed pellets for 15 seconds, then shut off for 45 seconds as long as the temperature stays above 180 degrees. This worked great. The temperature sensor for the controller read 220 to 240 degrees while the pit temperature ran at 210 to 220 degrees. Perfect!

It was a good thing that I put the pork on early. I thought it would take about seven hours to cook the 3.5-lb. Boston butt to reach an internal temperature of about 200 degrees. It turned out I need more than eight and a half hours! Then I wrapped it in a double layer of foil, put that into a thick bath towel and stuffed it into a small cooler. I left it in there for an hour. When I unwrapped it, it was still too hot to touch. The meat was tender and pulled apart easily and it was juicy – not at all dry. Excellent!

Donna made garlic smashed potatoes and sauteed a medley of corn, zucchini, red onion and jalapeno pepper for sides. We had Stubbs hickory-bourbon barbeque sauce on the side.

After dinner, I packed the Traeger and loaded the Midget in the trailer. Clouds had moved in and the sun on the mountains across the valley made a lovely contrast of light and shadow. The picture below doesn’t do it justice.

Later, as the sun was setting, the clouds reflected nice colors.

Monday morning we left the Elk’s lodge and hit the road around 10:30am. We had overslept a bit and got a little later start than I wanted, but it was no big deal. Our route took us north on US93. We had to climb to Lost Trail Pass at the Montana border, right next to the Lost Trail ski area. This was a steep climb with several switchbacks, but the road was good and the lanes were wide. The pass is over 7,000 feet above sea level and quickly drops back down to about 5,000 feet. From there, it was a gradual descent into the Bitterroot Valley around 4,000 feet above sea level.

We drove alongside the Bitterroot River through several very small towns and the larger town of Hamilton. The last time I came through Hamilton was nearly 30 years ago and I could hardly believe how much it has grown. We made a stop at the Pilot Travel Center in Lolo and that turned out to be a bit of an ordeal.

It was okay for Donna as she was on a phone interview with a freelance writer and the break worked out for her. What happened was, we entered the travel center to find the pumps open and only a few trucks in the lot. I pulled up to a pump and got out. I couldn’t find a card reader to swipe my Pilot/Flying J RV Plus card. I saw a guy by a pump a couple of stalls to our left. I asked him about using a card at the pump. He said only the first two lanes had card readers. Okay, I figured I would pull through, circle around and go into the second lane, next to the stall he was standing in.

When I got out to start the pump, the guy told me I would have to wait a few minutes as he was reprogramming the pumps. Ten minutes later, he told me to go ahead. I swiped the RV Plus card and got an error message. I swiped it again and it said “See cashier.” I told the guy what was happening. He said I should wait a couple more minutes while he re-booted the master pump. Five minutes later, he said try again. I got the same result. He tried his Visa card and it worked. He canceled his card transaction and told me my card was the problem and to see the cashier.

I went inside (with the required face mask) and the cashier turned on the pump. He told me to come back after I filled up and he would run my card. I put 50 gallons of the lowest priced diesel fuel we’ve seen since we hit the road in 2013. It was $1.98/gallon! When I went back to the cashier, I swiped my card at the counter and it worked, no problem. It turned out the card readers at the pump were Exxon Corporation card readers and they would only accept MasterCard, Visa or Exxon cards. Even though I was at a Pilot Travel Center, I couldn’t use the Pilot/Flying J card at the pump, but it was okay in the travel center. It turned out to be a 30-minute fuel stop.

We continued on US93 which I expected to bypass Missoula. Missoula has so much sprawl these days that the last few miles before US93 hits I-90 was totally built up with businesses, traffic and stop lights every quarter of a mile! We took I-90 west and expected to stop for the day at St. Regis where Donna found a dry camping spot. When we got there we saw the boondocking spot was next to the interstate in a busy area. It had a few tractor-trailer rigs in it and the marked parking stalls were closely spaced and too narrow for slide-outs.

We decided to move on. We knew we could stay at a tourist attraction called 50,000 Silver Coins at exit 16 – only another 17 miles down the road. We had stayed overnight there before – they advertise a free RV “Park.” It’s not really a park, just some dirt sites in the trees behind their restaurant-casino. When we stayed there a few years ago, they had a couple of sites with 30-amp power, but I’m not sure if that’s still true.

We found a nice pull-through spot and set up to boondock for the night.

Our boondocking spot behind 50,000 Silver Coins

It was 78 degrees out, but felt cooler in the shade. Donna walked to a historic nursery next door. It was founded in 1908, but was wiped out by a wild fire that swept through the area in 1910. It was rebuilt in 1912 and operated until 1969. It’s called Savenac Historic Tree Nursery and it’s owned by the USDA Forest Service. She took a few photos.

We had a hearty take-out breakfast from the restaurant this morning and made a relatively early start. We were only 16 miles from the Idaho border and when we crossed it, we gained an hour as we are now in Pacific Daylight Time Zone. We had to climb two passes – Lookout Pass and Fourth of July Pass – but these were easy with no switchbacks!

Coming down the west side of Fourth of July Pass brought us to Lake Couer D’Alene. I-90 follows the Couer D’Alene River westward from Wallace, Idaho to Couer D’Alene. We found the Couer D’Alene Elk’s Lodge – it’s been three years since we were last here. We checked in, unloaded Midget-San and dropped the trailer before setting up. This is the first time we’ve dropped the trailer since we left Mesa, Arizona in April.

We have 50-amp electric service and fresh water, but no sewer here. We’ll have to watch our waste water. We plan to stay here until Sunday – I paid for five nights at $20/night. We’re at an elevation of about 2,300 feet above sea level.

The weather looks delightful We can expect highs of 80-85 degrees and overnight lows of 55 degrees with no rain in the forecast. The relative humidity is 25-35%.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Sacajawea

We found outdoor pickleball at the City Park here in Salmon, Idaho. We played for two and half hours Friday morning. After lunch, Donna and I drove back down ID28 to the Sacajawea Center. You might recognize and recall Sacajawea – she was a Lemhi (lem-HIGH) Shoshone Indian that joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Sacajawea was born here in the Lemhi Valley. In 1800, when she was 12 years old, she was kidnapped by Hidatsa raiders battling the Lemhi Shoshone and taken by the Hidatsa to North Dakota. When she was 13, she was sold to a French-Canadian trapper, Toussaint Charbonneau. Charbonneau was hired by Meriwether Lewis in late 1804 to act as an interpreter. Sacajawea was also brought onboard as she would be able to speak for them to the Shoshone tribes as they traveled up the Missouri River.

The Hidatsa spelled her name Sacagawea – Lewis used variations of this spelling in his journals as well. The Lemhi Shoshone insist her name is Sacajawea – not pronounced with a hard “G” sound as many historians believe. I’ll go with the Lemhi Shoshone – they’re her people after all.

We toured a small museum at the center, but passed on the 16-minute video presentation. My legs were dead from the time on the pickleball court so we passed on the interpretive trail as well.

Saturday morning found us back on the pickleball courts. We played almost non-stop for over two hours again. On the way home, we stopped at the Lemhi County Farmers’ Market in town.

Donna picked up a few fresh veggies. The market is located on the east side of the Salmon River where Main Street crosses the river. There’s an island there with another city park – it’s called Island Park, just like the park we visited at Green River, Wyoming.

Salmon River from the footbridge on the east side of Island Park

Looking downriver from the boat ramp next to the Main Street bridge

I haven’t done much exploring – after beating myself up on the pickleball courts, I’ve been studying for the ham radio exam or relaxing with a book and cigar in the afternoons. Donna’s been getting out though.

This morning, Donna took a bicycle ride and she chose a challenging one. She decided to take North Saint Charles Street up to Discovery Hill Recreation Center. That was quite a climb!

Looking down at town from Donna’s vantage point on Discovery Hill

When Donna rode back down to town, she wasn’t through yet. She rode out to the Sacajawea Center and hiked the interpretive trails before riding three miles out Lemhi Road and back before returning to the Elks Lodge.

Traditional buffalo hide teepee – a mobile home for the Shoshone

I don’t know the story behind this thatch teepee

We’ve been in cattle country since we left Arizona. We enjoyed great beef from Ower’s Farm in Cortez, Colorado. Wyoming is definitely cattle rancher country and this part of Idaho is as well. The main grocery market in Salmon is called Saveway (not affiliated with Safeway). They have butchers on staff and cut the meat at the store. We found some excellent filet mignon cuts that were bacon wrapped. A nice touch was the way they tied the bacon with butcher twine so it doesn’t unravel from the filets while cooking.

I grilled the filets for us Friday night and Donna served it with mushrooms and onions and baked potato and broccoli on the side.

Filet smothered with sauteed mushrooms and onions

It was so good, we stopped at Saveway and bought a few more filets for later consumption. I also found a boneless three-and-a-half pound pork Boston butt. It was pre-wrapped with butcher twine. I prepped it Saturday afternoon and it’s on the Traeger as I type this. I expect it to take about seven hours before it comes off of the smoker/grill and it’ll become pulled pork after an hour of rest.

Last night, Donna grilled a wild salmon filet that she also found at Saveway. It was tasty. She served it with broccolini and another baked potato which she added the leftover mushrooms and onions to. She also grilled garlic scapes from the farmers’ market.

I started my pre-travel chores today. I checked and set tire pressures and packed a few things in the trailer. I’ll have to wait until I’m done with the Traeger to load it, then secure Midget-San in the trailer. The plan is to head out on US93 north in the morning. This will take us up into western Montana through Hamilton and Lolo. We’ll bypass Missoula and hit I-90 west. We plan to boondock tomorrow night somewhere around Saint Regis, Montana.

The weather here has been great – mostly clear skies as you can see in the photos. We did have a passing thundershower on Thursday night, but it wasn’t too much. They don’t get much rain here in the valley – they average about 10 inches of precipitation per year. It was hot yesterday as the thermometer topped out in the low 90s. Today is cooler – 79 now and I don’t expect it to get much hotter than that.

First Time in Salmon

After deciding against traveling on a windy day with strong gusts, we spent Tuesday mostly kicking back. We didn’t go anywhere, just hung out. Our decision to stay put was a good one. The gusts were so strong at times that the coach and trailer were rocking. I can handle that when we’re stationary, but rocking and rolling down the road is not a good idea.

Wednesday’s forecast called for 10-15 mph winds. It was 15 mph for sure, but it was from the south-southwest. This gave us mostly a tailwind component which makes for easy driving. We hit the road around 10:15 and left Pocatello on I-15 north.

We had only traveled about 270 miles since I last filled our fuel tank, but looking ahead, I knew we might not have a good opportunity for fuel until we reached Missoula next week. I also didn’t know if we would be boondocking – if the Elks Lodge RV lot was full, we had a plan “B” for some BLM boondocking. BLM is Bureau of Land Management – they administer much public land, especially in the west. Many BLM areas allow dry camping for up to 14 days in a 30-day period. We stopped at the Blackfoot exit at US26 and topped up the tank, then got back on I-15.

We went west at the junction of ID33. There was very little traffic – even on I-15 once we were north of Idaho Falls. On ID33, then on ID28 we didn’t see many vehicles on the road. We passed through several small towns and crossed large ranches. We saw deer and antelope as we headed north on ID28. The road surface was good but it’s a fairly narrow two-lane highway and you have to stay alert. Donna snapped a few photos from the passenger seat that give a feel of what the country was like. We’ve never traveled in this part of Idaho before.

The Continental Divide and Montana to the east

I knew we were gradually climbing as we went along. The only real indication was the gauge showing turbo boost. We were running at 19 to 23 psi of boost, which means there was a pretty good load on the engine to maintain our speed of 60mph – not maximum load, but not just loafing along either. Eventually we hit the Gilmore Summit at 7,169 feet above sea level. From there, it was a very slight downgrade over the next 65 miles all the way to Salmon.

We found the Elks Lodge off of US93 on the north side of Salmon and they had an open site for us. We have a large pull-through and didn’t have to drop the trailer. We were set up and relaxing by 3:30pm. We’re now at an elevation of about 4,000 feet above sea level. Looking out our windshield, we see the Continental Divide.

Our windshield view at the Salmon Elks Lodge

The Continental Divide is a hydrological divide that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific from those that drain into the Atlantic – including the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean Sea.

After dinner, Donna took a walk down to the Salmon River. There’s a recreational area right across the highway from us called the Lemhi Hole Fishing Access. That’s where she ended up on her walk.

We paid for five nights here. We want to relax, do a little exploring and enjoy the area before we move on again. The weather is agreeable – not as dry as we’ve been experiencing. The temperature might reach the low 80s this afternoon and the humidity is currently at 35%. Saturday has the warmest forecast with 90 degrees possible, but otherwise it should remain in the low 80s with cool overnight temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s.

Not Running Against the Wind

The Fourth of July at the Sweetwater Events Complex in Rock Springs, Wyoming was a real treat. At dusk, several of the neighborhoods around the complex started their own shows. I was amazed at the amount and quality of fireworks people bought and set off. By the time they slowed down, it was time for the sponsored fireworks display over the golf course adjacent to the events complex. This was a first-class show and went on for about half an hour.

Once again, the racers partied on after the races and were noisy well past midnight. On Sunday morning, they all hit the road and we were on our way by 9:45am. Our route took us west on I-80. A couple of miles past Little America, we hit US30 north. This is a nice highway that initially had two lanes in each direction, but eventually turned into a two-lane highway.

US30 took us into Idaho in a stair-step fashion alternating between northbound and westbound. We made our way to I-15 north, then Pocatello where we had reservations on the west side at Batise Springs RV park. This is a small RV park with 12 pull-through sites located next to the creek that becomes the Portneuf River. There’s also a large, covered RV and boat storage lot.

The check-in time was 2pm and we arrived at 2:15pm. Our reservation put us in site #5. After looking at the park map, I could see site #5 was occupied! The office was closed, so Donna phoned the contact number on the office door. She found the attendant – he was cleaning the restrooms. He looked up our reservation, then paid the people in site #5 a visit. It turned out the people in site #5 were scheduled to stay for two more nights, but their reservation had them moving to another site. They decided they didn’t want to move and figured we could set up in the other site.

Luckily we only needed two nights, so it would work out. But what if we had reserved three or more nights? How would they know we could get a site for that long – we wouldn’t want to have to switch sites. I think they should have talked to the camp host and made arrangements to ensure everyone was happy. It turned out fine – we set up in site #12 which is a creek side site.

After we set up Donna, took a hike along the creek trail. I was a little concerned because I saw a “No Trespassing” sign but Donna had read reviews of the RV park that mentioned dog walking and hiking on the creek trail.

The creek trail disappears on a northwest heading through the trees

Eventually Donna came to a gate and had to exit between barbed wire. On the other side of the gate was a sign that read “Absolutely No Trespassing.” She walked back along a road. Later she found out that hiking on the trail is allowed up to a point. There’s a private trout hatchery on property that doesn’t allow visitors, thus the “No Trespassing” sign on the gate.

Monday afternoon, we drove Midget-San back into Pocatello – I took a route that oddly enough is designated as US30. Apparently a short stretch of I-15 is also US30. This road called US30 connects between I-15 and I-86 which also shares the US30 designation all the way to I-84 before US30 branches off again.

Our destination was a nice little brew pub called Jim Dandy Brewing in Old Town. They had good ale and a nice concrete patio for outdoor seating. Tables and chairs were appropriately spaced and we enjoyed a couple of cold ones in the shade outside. The temperature was near 90 degrees, but in the shade it felt cool. There’s very little humidity – we’ve been in eight to 15% humidity since we left Mesa.

I should mention we’re at an elevation of 4,480 feet above sea level here. That’s the lowest elevation we’ve been at since we left Mesa. Fruita, Colorado was close at 4,520 – other than that we’ve been above 6,000 feet everywhere else.

This morning, we planned to head up to Salmon, Idaho. I had the Midget loaded in the trailer last night. But when we got up this morning, the wind was fierce. I looked up the detailed forecast and it showed sustained winds of 20mph+ and gusts well over 30mph all day. Not fun in a big rig – especially one pulling a cargo trailer with nine-foot tall side walls.

We didn’t have to be anywhere, so I made arrangements to stay another night here. No need to fight the wind. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for 10-15 mph wind – much better!

Today’s high should be around 80 degrees and tomorrow also looks good for travel with a high of 80 degrees. Salmon, Idaho should have similar temperatures.

Steep Grades and Flaming Gorge

The trailer was packed and ready to go Wednesday evening, so we were able to get a relatively early start on Thursday. We pulled out of the James M. Robb Colorado River State Park around 9:30am. We headed back west on I-70 about five miles before exiting onto CO139 north. The road surface quality and condition was variable on this road – downright bumpy at times. This highway took us over Douglas Pass, more than 8,200 feet above sea level – not especially high by Colorado standards. But, we climbed through some very steep grades along the way.

At the little town of Rangely, we hit CO64 and headed northwest. At the town of Dinosaur, we hit US40 and entered Utah shortly after that. This took us to Vernal where we found US191 north again. North of Vernal US191 has some of the steepest grades we’ve encountered. The road sign stated 8% grade and 10 switchbacks over four miles. I think they understated the grades. I had to keep a close eye on road speed and engine coolant temperatures as we climbed up through steep switchbacks on a narrow roadway. Donna snapped a few pictures from the passenger seat trying to capture the rugged terrain.

The highway below us after we climbed up a series of switchbacks

We made a steep ascent from the road below

We were traveling through the Ashley National Forest in the Uintah mountain range. We made a rapid descent into the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

Closer look at the reservoir with the bridge we would cross on the east end by the dam

The Flaming Gorge Reservoir was created when a dam and hydroelectric power station was completed on the Green River in 1964. The reservoir straddles the Utah-Wyoming border and covers over 42,000 acres. It’s at an elevation of 6,040 feet above sea level. Traveling over the mountains, we saw several mule deer along the roadway around here.

View of Green River as we crossed the Flaming Gorge Reservoir bridge

The road surface on US191 improved dramatically once we crossed the Wyoming border. Once we were in Wyoming, we saw antelope in the fields by the highway. I can honestly say I’ve never traveled in Wyoming without seeing antelope. The highway brought us to I-80 about five miles west of Rock Springs. We found the Sweetwater Events Complex. The RV campground was nearly empty. I paid for three nights with full hook-ups and 50 amp service. With my Escapees membership, the discounted rate was $27.80/night.

Car races were scheduled at the small dirt oval on the far side of the complex on Friday night and Saturday night. The grounds are large enough that the race track is too far away for us to hear the cars. That’s a good thing – the races were scheduled to run from 7pm to 11pm. On Friday, several rigs came in with race car trailers and set up near us.

Donna took a 15-mile bike ride Friday morning. Her Strava app, which tracks her rides and provides statistics, showed her as Queen of the Hill. She made a climb on one portion of her ride faster than any other female Strava rider recorded there. After her ride, we took a drive in Midget-San to the town of Green River. It’s about 17 miles west of Rock Springs. It was warm – the temperature reached the low 80s. Green River has a population of about 12,000 – making it half the size of Rock Springs. Green River is located on the north bank of – you guessed it – the Green River.

We stopped at Taco Time and got lunch to go – a chicken fiesta salad for Donna and a chicken soft taco for me. We took our lunch to the Expedition Island Park in town. This park is on a small island in the Green River. It was clean, well-kept and a lovely place to sit at a covered table and eat lunch. To drive onto the island, we crossed a one-lane bridge into the parking area. As we approached the bridge, we saw a deer standing at the far end. As we drove across, the deer hopped down to the river and splashed its way downstream.

South side of the island looking down stream at the pedestrian bridge

North side of the island looking downstream at the one-lane bridge

Looking upriver from the one-lane bridge

Remember what I said about not hearing the car races? What we did hear was the aftermath. The racers with RVs near us came back to their rigs after the races ended at 11pm and the party was on. They were very noisy well past 3am!

Speaking of racing, the Formula One season is finally underway. The pandemic had it shut down. This is the latest start to the season ever for Formula One. I watched the qualifying from Austria this morning and I’ll record the race tomorrow morning.

Donna made chicken with peppers and tomatoes over quinoa pasta for Thursday night’s dinner. It was simple dish and very tasty.

Chicken with peppers and tomatoes over pasta served with broccoli

Last night, we had cheeseburgers made from the ground beef/bacon patties we bought from the Ower’s farm. Excellent burgers!

The weather here is abundant sunshine with the temperature forecast to hit the mid-80s. I’ll start packing the trailer later this afternoon and load Midget-San. Tomorrow we’ll head out to Pocatello, Idaho where we’ll continue to have warm weather.

Cortez to Fruita

We had our last games of pickleball in Cortez Monday morning. The wind really kicked up and we were off the courts by 10:30am. We had fun playing there and met some great people. I got the trailer cleaned up and organized in the afternoon, but I left the grill out which meant I didn’t secure Donna’s bike because it would block me from stowing the grill.

The Weber Q was needed to grill steaks Monday evening. I grilled the New York strip angus steaks we bought from the Ower’s farm. They were great!

Tuesday morning I had to finish packing the trailer and do all of the usual disconnecting. I also took the filter elements out of our two-stage water filter canisters – it was time for replacement. I pulled out of our site before loading the Midget – the slope at the rear of the site would make the rear ramp open at too steep of an angle. It was almost 11am by the time we hit the road.

Our route took us northwest on US491 into Utah. At Monticello, we turned north on US191. We went away from the high mountain pines and drove through sagebrush and sandstone country. About 40 miles south of Moab, Donna snapped a couple of photos of an interesting sandstone feature as we drove by.

Traffic was very light until we reached Moab. We were there back in 2014, but it’s really grown since then. There were plenty of new businesses and condominium or apartment buildings. There was also a lot of construction going on. People were on all of the sidewalks. I’m afraid the tourism success will eventually kill the charm of Moab if it hasn’t already done so.

We continued north from Moab on US191 and hit I-70 a couple of miles west of Thompson Springs. From Thompson Springs to Fruita, Colorado, there are no services. That’s a 62-mile stretch of interstate without a gas station or convenience store. There are a few exits from the interstate presumably for ranch or utility access, but they are all marked “No Services.” It seems strange to have such a large area with no businesses.

We checked in to the James M. Robb – Colorado River State Park. I made a reservation here a couple of weeks ago. The thing is, with the pandemic, we didn’t plan too far ahead for summer travel. We didn’t know what would be open or when. That meant I hadn’t planned for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. We got two nights here at James M. Robb then we’ll have to move on – the park is booked for the holiday weekend starting on Thursday night.

The park is right on the Colorado River. South of the park, across the river is the Colorado National Monument. We took a trip through the monument in 2014 and I posted pictures of some of the views in this post.

Site 6 at James M Robb Colorado River State Park

Our doorstep view of the Colorado National Monument

The sites here are equipped with nice metal picnic tables with steel roofs over them. I noticed the picnic tables were secured to metal rings in the ground. I think it’s a sad commentary when a state park has to secure picnic tables to deter thieves.

This morning Donna went out on her bike. She ended up making a 15-mile ride along the Colorado River. Here are a few photos she took on her ride.

Prairie dogs are common almost everywhere in Colorado

We would have liked to stay here longer – it’s a beautiful area and the state park is very nice. We’ll leave here tomorrow and head up to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I think it will be about a five-hour drive. We’ll stay at the fairgrounds – the Sweetwater Events Complex. They have 1,200 sites there and assured me we would have no problem getting a site.

It’s hot here today – lower 90s. Mid-90s are predicted here tomorrow, but Rock Springs will be 10 or 15 degrees cooler.

Ham and Eggs

Back on June 2nd, Donna and I made a trip over US160 to Durango, Colorado – about 50 miles from Cortez. The purpose of the trip was a stop at the Wells Fargo bank branch there – the only one within 150 miles of Cortez. Why make such a long drive to the bank? The purpose was to draw a couple of cashier’s checks to make the final distribution of the trust funds left by my step-dad, Ken Keller.

I had already taken care of all of his bills and filed his personal income taxes and a trust tax return. There wasn’t anything else left to do but make the distribution, close the trust account and dissolve the trust. Sounds simple enough, right?

I sent cashier’s checks via USPS Priority Mail to my sister in Florida and brother in California that afternoon. My brother sent me a text saying he received the check on the 5th. On the following Tuesday, the 9th, I tracked the mail to my sister. Tracking showed an exception alert on June 5th – the mail had to be forwarded. I didn’t know when I sent the check that my sister had moved from her apartment.

I kept trying to track the envelope, but no new information was showing. Finally, on the 17th, I opened a ticket online with USPS and spoke to a customer service representative. This person told me mot to worry, it takes time for forwarding and it was “in process.” I asked her where in the process it was. She couldn’t answer – she said it would have to go to Tallahassee, be tagged and re-sorted to its final destination in Jacksonville. I told her more than 10 business days had passed with no update. She again said it was “in process.”

I started getting e-mail tracking info on the 21st due to my online service request. It said the envelope was at the sorting facility at Gainesville, Florida. What? Then on the 22nd it said it was “in transit.” The next update said it left Jacksonville. Then it was “in transit” on the 23rd, 24th and 25th. Next it was shown as at the facility in Ybor City, Florida. What! That’s across the state from Jacksonville. I made a second online complaint and call with no satisfactory answer of what happened to the check. On the 27th, tracking said it arrived in Jacksonville, then on the same day, it said it departed Jacksonville today and than again arrived in Jacksonville.

Anyway, by Friday, the 26th I gave up on the USPS finding and delivering the check. I made an appointment and drove back to Durango. I needed to stop payment on the original cashier’s check and draw a new check. This was complicated by the fact I had closed the Wells Fargo account. After an hour of filling out forms, I had to pay a fee of $199.34 to issue the new check. This was for fraud insurance. The only way to avoid this was to wait for 90 days and the check would be voided and I could get a new one for $31.00. I paid the fee and got a new check, then stopped at FedEx to send it. No Priority Mail this time!

On Saturday morning, Donna and I drove up US491 north to County Road 15 – our destination was the Dolores Canyon Overlook. A gal we met at pickleball, Jan, told us about the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) field day. This is an event where ham radio operators set up portable equipment in the field to communicate. It’s the most popular annual ham radio event in the US and Canada – more than 35,000 ham radio enthusiasts participate.

Members of the local club, which includes Jan’s husband, Mike, set up at the Dolores Canyon Overlook. This is a remote location – more remote than I anticipated. Little did I know that when we left US491 and hit CR15, we would drive 15 miles of dirt and gravel road to reach the overlook. At one point, a few miles from the overlook we rounded a corner and saw two bears – a momma and a large cub. They ran away from us. There was a small pond nearby and I think they were there for water when we startled them.

I wanted to make the trip so I could learn more about ham radio operation. It’s a hobby I’ve had an interest in. Mike and another club member, Cap, filled me in with a lot of information about equipment and how I could set up in the motorhome. Mike told me about a trip he and his wife took with their teardrop trailer into remote northwest Canada. They were more than 100 miles from the nearest cell tower but were able to stay in touch with their family via ham radio.

Donna and Jan outside of the ham radio campers – check out the antennas

The Dolores Canyon is a deep gorge with the Dolores River running through it. From the campground area there’s a trail about a quarter of mile long to the overlook. The views are spectacular.

The overlook is on a narrow ridge. We walked a few yards away from the canyon and faced the flatland to the west. We could see the small town of Dove Creek.

Looking west – you can make out Dove Creek in the center

I’ve decided I want to join the ranks of amateur radio operators. I’m studying to take the exam for a technician license. I can take the exam in Everett, Washington on July 25th when we are there. A man needs a hobby and I haven’t taken up anything new in a while.

Saturday afternoon we had another interesting visit. We went to the Owers’ farm. We met Bob and Carolyn Ower at the Cortez Farmers’ Market where we bought beef from them. Bob told us about his hydroponic cattle feed system and invited us to check it out.

Bob and Carolyn raise angus cattle on their farm. They used to breed and raise the cattle themselves. They started with good stock from Montrose, Colorado. Raising your own stock is a lot of work. You constantly have logistical challenges of separating bulls from cows and tending pregnant cows and dealing with calves. They’ve changed their operation now to buying young steers from Montrose and raising them for 18 months. They start with genetically sound cattle and by providing proper nutrition they produce quality beef.

The cows eat grass in the field and their diet is supplemented with hay for roughage and barley for dense nutrition. They sprout the barley in a hydroponic system that’s capable of producing 250 lbs. of barley per day. It takes six days to go from seed to feed with this system.

Seeds in front bins germinating – barley sprouts in the rear

Trays on the bottom left will be ready for feed the next day

My photo of the nearly finished product is a bit off – I think I had an issue with the UV lights. The hydroponic trays do not contain any dirt or mulch. The nutrients for the seedlings is in the water and the barley roots mat together making the tray of barley into a single unit much like sod (without any dirt). The cattle happily munch the entire mat of barley.

We went out to the back field where the cattle were. Bob brought some treats – actually they were horse treats that I think were made from apples – and the cows moved out the shade of a tree across the field to come to us for treats.

They have seven steers currently and some are about ready for processing. The largest of them is about 1,100 lbs and Bob said they gain about three pounds per day. They have five more young steers coming on Tuesday.

We also toured Carolyn’s garden and greenhouse. She grows vegetables which they sell at the farmers’ market.

Bob told me the greenhouse grows vegetables year ’round – even in the cold of winter. Carolyn also raises chickens for eggs as well as a few fryers. Different breeds of chicken produce different colored eggs. The color of the egg doesn’t affect the flavor – they all taste like eggs. Farm fresh eggs do seem a little creamier and richer though.

Looks like Easter, but these are naturally colored eggs

We really enjoyed our tour of a working farm. Bob and Carolyn also happen to be licensed ham radio operators and are members of the same club with Mike and Cap. Bob is thinking about writing a book about his approach to raising cattle and sustainable small-farm operations. Donna gave him a few tips and ideas.

After our dusty road trip, I went over Midget-San with a California duster last night. This morning I got serious and gave it a good cleaning with Meguiar’s Ultimate Waterless Wash and Wax. Looking good now.

After I had a couple of lunches of pulled pork sandwiches, Donna came up with a dish for the remaining leftover pulled pork. She made piggy mac which is baked macaroni and cheese with pulled pork! It was tasty and Donna thought it tasted like comfort food from a good food truck!

I’ll start organizing the trailer this afternoon. Tomorrow, after pickleball in the morning, I’ll get us 80% ready to roll. Tuesday we’ll head out and go up US491 into Utah where we’ll take US191 north to I-70 and head back east to Fruita, Colorado for a couple of days. We don’t expect any weather issues and by Tuesday it’s supposed to be cooler than the 90 degree heat we’ve been having – Tuesday’s high is forecast as 78 degrees.

Telluride and Pork Butt

We skipped pickleball on Tuesday and took a scenic drive instead. We headed north on CO145 through Dolores. Our plan was to drive up to Telluride – a 75-mile jaunt over high mountains along the Dolores River. We left at 9:30am. The highway was quiet with very few cars going our way. The scenery was spectacular.

Both sides of the road had colorful rocky bluffs covered with pine trees and stands of aspen trees. In places, whole hillsides were filled with aspens, presumably where fire had consumed the conifers and the aspens replaced them. There were open alpine meadows along the river. Donna took a few photos from the passenger seat.

We topped out around 10,200 feet above sea level at Lizard Head Pass. I have to say, the Nissan A15 engine and five-speed transmission in Midget-San is a great match. We cruised up the mountains without skipping a beat. I’m amazed at how well the Weber DGV carburetor performs at altitude.

After reaching the summit, the highway drops down into a box canyon where Telluride is located. The town is at an elevation of 8,750 feet above sea level. The town is a typical Old West tourist destination with trendy shops and overpriced eateries. We parked on the main drag which is Colorado Avenue and found a kiosk to pay the $1.50/hour parking fee.

One lane of Colorado Avenue was closed through the downtown district – it had barricades protecting picnic tables for take-out food and social distancing. Masks were mandatory indoors.

The big draw to Telluride is the ski resort in the winter. In the summertime, mountain biking and hiking brings tourists.

Ski run and gondola at Mountain Village from downtown Telluride

We ordered lunch at The Butcher and Baker – a popular deli-type restaurant on Colorado Avenue. We sat at a picnic table in the shade behind the restaurant. The food was good, but as expected, it was pricey. A salad for Donna and a sandwich for me with no drinks came to $37.

Galloping Goose #4 was on display on the north side of the street by the courthouse. I wrote about the Galloping Goose of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad in this post.

We had our fill by 1:30pm and headed back. It was quite a climb out of Telluride to Lizard Head Pass. We pulled off at a scenic turnout with views of high mountain peaks. The tree line here is around 11,000 feet above sea level and the peaks held snow above the tree line.

Mount Wilson – 14,252 feet above sea level

I think that’s Groundhog Mountain in the center of the photo – 12,165 feet above sea level

Colorado State Route 145 winds through the San Juan National Forest from Telluride to about a mile east of Dolores. The drive was worth the trip to Telluride – I enjoyed the scenery more than the town.

Back in Cortez, it was 90 degrees – about 15 degrees warmer than Telluride. We went into town for a scoop of ice cream at Moose and More. They have excellent ice cream and some unique flavors. We’ll have to go back to try something adventuresome like their honey and cornbread ice cream.

Back at La Mesa RV Park, I prepped a pork butt we bought at Safeway. Pork butt doesn’t have anything to do with the south end of a northbound pig – the butt is the shoulder of the pig. So, why do they call it a butt? The story is the name comes from colonial times when hogs were raised and processed in the Boston area. New Englanders didn’t have much interest in this cut of meat. It was considered to be tough and nearly inedible. The meat packers put the shoulder cuts in a barrel called a butt and shipped the meat south. The southerners knew how to properly prepare the shoulder meat so it was tender and pulled pork was the result.

Barrel names – the butt is in the lower row second from left

The shoulder was called the Boston Butt. Eventually it morphed into pork butt.

I dry-rubbed the butt and wrapped it in cling wrap and refrigerated it. Wednesday after we played pickleball in the morning, I set the Traeger to 225 degrees and started smoking 3 pounds of pork butt. This cut has several muscle ends and connective tissues (collagen). To make it tender requires slow cooking until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 195-205 degrees. This is much like smoking a brisket – I detailed that process in this post.

I figured about four and half hours would do it for 3 pounds of pork, but I was wrong. It took over six hours to reach 200 degrees. At that point, I double-wrapped it tightly with aluminum foil, then put two towels around it and placed it in a small cooler. This held the meat at high temperature without an external heat source which would dry it out at that point. It rested in the cooler for a little over an hour.

Smoked pork butt trussed with butcher twine

I used a fork to pull the meat apart. It came apart easily.

Donna made mashed potatoes (with skin) and fresh green beans. We served the pulled pork with Stubb’s Hickory-Bourbon BBQ Sauce.

We have a lot of leftover pulled pork and Donna’s coming up with ideas to use it.

She came up with a new dish on Monday night – she made a scallop saute with fresh tomatoes and zucchini served over homemade lemon-pepper egg noodles she bought from a local vendor at the farmers’ market.

The temperature has reached the low 90s every day this week and is forecast to continue for the next few days. We’re running the air conditioners every afternoon. This weekend, I’ll start reorganizing the trailer in preparation for our move to Fruita next Tuesday.

Water Projects

It seems like there was a lot going on over the weekend. I got a couple of things done that have been on my “to do” list for too long. First of all, on Friday I gave the exterior of Midget-San the full treatment. I’ve never been one to put much stake into products that claim to make wondrous results with little or no effort. If it seems to good to be true, it probably doesn’t work.

Awhile back, I was talking to guy at a car show. His car had a very shiny finish – the paint was glassy looking. He told me he never washes it with soap and water and had never put a water hose to it. He only used spray-on – wipe-off type cleansers that cleaned and shined the paint and also protected it. Really?

Well, in the year we’ve had Midget-San, I’ve never washed it with soap and water and haven’t put a water hose to it. First, I clean the exterior with Meguiar’s Ultimate Waterless Wash and Wax. I spray a small amount on and wipe it with a microfiber cloth, then buff with a clean, dry microfiber cloth. It works great! I met Barry Meguiar once, a real car enthusiast. He seemed a bit like a used car salesman with a white belt and matching white leather shoes, but he was a really nice guy. He no longer owns the company – 3M bought it – but I think he’s still involved with sales and distribution.

About every six weeks or so, I follow up with a ceramic spray coating that really makes the paint pop, leaves a hard, protective coating and fills minor scuffs and scratches. It’s super easy – the same as applying the Meguiar’s. I use Mother’s CMX Ceramic Coating.

Saturday was the Summer Solstice. This is the day when the sun is at its northernmost point in the sky and marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere. It’s also the day with the longest period of sunlight – from now until December 21st, the period of sunlight will decrease daily.

Donna and I started out Saturday with another visit to the Cortez Farmers’ Market. We had a few items on our shopping list and found what we wanted there. The little square where the market is held has murals on the sides of some of the buildings there.

We decided to take a little drive after we left the market. We first stopped at Denny Lake on the east side of town. There’s a small park there and a trail around the lake that Donna has walked a few times.

We went east again on US160 and turned north at County Road 29 to get to Totten Reservoir. Totten Reservoir is much larger than Denny Lake and is a popular fishing spot.

We saw people splashing in the water and cooling off there. Continuing east on US160, we stopped at the McElmo Creek Flume overlook. A flume is defined as an artificial channel conveying water. In this case, the flume is a wooden channel bringing water from the Highline Ditch to irrigate land in the valley. The water came from the Dolores River. This path of water is no longer in use – it’s been replaced by the Towaoc-Highline Canal.

That concluded our tour for the day.

Sunday was Father’s Day. I didn’t celebrate it with anything special. I did get to another project that I’d put off long enough. The stainless steel double kitchen sink in our Alpine Coach is mounted beneath the Karadon countertop. To do this, they glued 3/4″ x 3/4″ lengths of wood under the countertop alongside of the sink opening so mounting tabs could be screwed in place in the wood.

Five years ago, I repaired the mounting by cleaning and re-gluing the wood. Well, cracks in the caulking around the sink was a sure sign that the wood mounts had worked loose again. Pounding down roads like US191 north of St. Johns will do that.

I scraped the old glue residue from the wood and countertop. Then I spritzed it with water to moisten the area before I glued the wood back in place. The expanding Gorilla glue I used is catalyzed by moisture – you need to dampen the contact surfaces to set the adhesive. Then I applied glue and braced the wood tightly against the countertop.

Before I did that, I spent about an hour removing the old caulking from around the sink and cleaning the surfaces. Once I had the sink mounts braced in place, I set about caulking the sink. Surface preparation is key when doing this type of work. Cleaning out the old caulk and cleaning the surface with rubbing alcohol did the trick.

While I had everything out of the cabinet under the sink, I replaced the filter on our purified water faucet. We use water from this faucet for making coffee and cooking. This filter is anti-bacterial (KDF) and is supposed to be good for 1,500 gallons. We average less than a gallon a day with it. Changing this filter is more difficult than it looks. It’s a long reach to the back of the cabinet.

Our regular fresh water supply is also filtered by a two-stage canister system.

Later, Donna and I went to Wild Edge Brewing Collective to meet up with an old high school buddy, Rocco Gerardi and his wife, Edita. I think the last time we were together was in 1982 or ’83. We had fun catching up over a couple of beers at a sidewalk table. I failed to get a photo though.

Donna made a couple of new dishes for dinner over the past week. There was grilled lemon-garlic chicken with garlic scapes served with fresh corn-on-the-cob.

And we each enjoyed a very thick pork chop from the Safeway store here in Cortez made from a recipe called “The Best Juicy Skillet Pork Chops.” It was very juicy and flavorful!

The weather has been hot and dry with temperatures around 90 degrees and humidity in the low teens. Really. The temperature right now is 90 and the humidity is 13%! The forecast calls for more of the same in the next several days.

Galloping Goose

It was too windy on Tuesday to play pickleball. We’ve had warm, dry weather and gusty winds – a bad circumstance for fire danger. Two fires have been burning since lightning strikes ignited them last Saturday. On Sunday, I saw a small helicopter flying overhead. It was apparently being used to fight the fires. The smaller fire was northeast of Dolores and we could see and smell smoke from that fire when we played pickleball on Monday. This fire is called the Loading Pen Fire and appears to be contained.

The other fire is between Mancos and Durango and it’s called the East Canyon Fire. On Tuesday, I saw a large Chinook helicopter outfitted to carry water or fire suppressant flying directly over us at La Mesa RV Park in Cortez, Colorado. Presumably it was heading to the Cortez airport for refueling. I don’t understand why the powers that be used a small helicopter initially and only brought out the big unit when the fire grew to 1,100 acres and people had to evacuate. I understand it’s less costly to operate the smaller helicopter, but if it’s not able to contain the fire and then you have to bring out the big aircraft, what have you saved? The big Chinook flew over about an hour ago, so it’s still in service fighting the fire.

Donna and I did our weekly grocery run at Safeway on Tuesday. Safeway has the better meat selections – they have meat cutters onsite – while the City Market seems to have better produce. We bought a couple of very nice looking beef filet mignon steaks to grill. I also bought a lean top round cut for London broil to use for jerky. I’m still tweaking my jerky recipe and it’s really good! I prepped the jerky and had it marinating in the refrigerator Tuesday afternoon. While we were going through the produce section of the store, I saw a variety of fruit that cracked me up – they looked like the animations I’ve seen of the Wuhan coronavirus. It’s called kiwano, sometimes referred to as horned melon.

I mentioned in my last post about the rough night Ozark the cat had over the weekend. I’m happy to report she’s recovering with no sign of infection and not limping. I’m not sure if her nails will regenerate normally – time will tell.

Ozark the cat resting and recovering with Donna

We played pickleball Wednesday morning, hitting the courts at 8am and played for two hours. When we came home, I started smoking the jerky on the Traeger smoker/grill. I pulled the jerky from the smoker at 2pm. After cleaning up, we drove up to Dolores – a little over 10 miles northeast of here. We wanted to check out the train museum and the farmers’ market they have from 4pm to 7pm on Wednesdays.

The train museum turned out to be closed due to the pandemic. I shot a photo of the Galloping Goose in front of the museum. The Galloping Goose is one of seven railcars made by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) in the 1930s. Six of them are still around. These railcars were originally designed to haul mail. The RGS was financially strapped at the time and it was too costly to run steam engines to haul mail. So they developed what they called “motors” from modified automobiles – Buick and Pierce Arrow.

The motor in Dolores is Galloping Goose number five. It was re-bodied with a Wayne bus body in 1945 and the power unit upgraded to a war surplus GMC engine. In 1950, RGS lost the mail contract – it was more efficient to use road carriers by then. RGS modified four of the motors by cutting windows in the compartment and installing seating and put them into service as tourist rides – this is when the Galloping Goose name was added to the railcars. Goose number five was restored in 1998 and runs occasionally on the Cumbres and Toltec Line (we saw a steam engine on that line in New Mexico – pics here) and on the Durango and Silverton tourist line.

We left the museum and walked along Central Avenue. Dolores is an old western town in a narrow gulch along the Dolores River. The town was established in 1900 and was serviced by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. There are only three or four east-west roads in the town which is about one and a half miles long and only a quarter of mile wide (north-south).

Typical building on Central Ave, Dolores

The farmers’ market was next to the museum in Flanders Park behind City Hall. It was small but we enjoyed walking through and picking out a few items – mostly farm fresh produce and also some homemade salsa.

Fresh produce at Dolores farmers’ market

After we returned from the trip to Dolores, I grilled the filet mignon we bought at Safeway on the Weber Q. I had already cleaned the grill grates on the Weber with the pumice bricks I mentioned in my last post.

Donna made baked potatoes and steamed fresh broccoli from the farmers’ market. Farm fresh broccoli is head and shoulders above the broccoli we typically find at the supermarkets. She also sauteed mushrooms and onions to go with the filets.

Our plans are coming together for us to make our way up to the northwest when we leave here at the end of the month. We plan to visit my oldest daughter’s family in western Washington – by the way, yesterday was Alana’s birthday. I must be really getting old – my daughter turned 40 years old!

There’s no sign of rain in the long-range forecast. The temperatures should reach the mid-80s through the weekend, then we’ll see daily highs in the 90s next week.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Uncategorized

One Night in Montana

Sacajawea

First Time in Salmon

Not Running Against the Wind

Steep Grades and Flaming Gorge

Cortez to Fruita

Ham and Eggs

Telluride and Pork Butt

Water Projects

Galloping Goose

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