Musings From "any Port In A Storm" Tour

J

JohnC

Ranger
I recently journeyed to Necedah, WI from SoCal to pick up my new 560. The whole trip was just short of 4 weeks and exactly 3 weeks were spent on the return trip, trailer in tow. Total miles 5,800 with 3,700 accumulated on the return. Oh, and prior to this trip I’d never towed anything before. What could possibly go wrong? LoL!

I knew it would be a challenge making summertime reservations on short notice, including the week leading up to the July 4th weekend. I didn’t quite get to see all that was in my original plan (sorry about that Yellowstone NP) but I still got to see a great cross section of the fruited plain.

I learned a lot with only minimal damage. ;) There were 5 one night stays, 5 two night stays, and 5 nights in Rapid City, SD. I learned quickly, one night stops are a pain. Most of the day is spent driving. Then you find a campground you’ve never been to and hope you have no problems. Have something to eat, plan the next day’s drive, get some sleep, get up and start the process all over again the next day. Oh, and don’t forget the daily purchase of two bags of ice.

In hind sight, perhaps I should have planned fewer stops and just gotten home sooner. But given that I planned a route through areas I very much wanted to see, I didn’t. Ah well, live and learn.

I saw some beautiful country (I’m already figuring out when and where to go back for longer stays), improved my backing up skills, barely saw some July 4th fireworks in a downpour, met a forum member, saw a horrific accident right in front of me on I-90 in Montana (somehow the driver appeared practically unscathed while literally destroying her vehicle which rolled over multiple times before flying into a ditch), went searching for bears and wild horses (didn’t find either, but did encounter a ghost town) and appreciated the A/C I had been on the fence about. ;-)

Oh yeah, and one more thing…My last night before driving home I had planned to do some free, dry camping at a casino in Mesquite, NV. With $7.99 prime rib and a $4.99 big breakfast, how could I go wrong? Surely that was worth not having a shower for my final day’s drive home? Well, turns out I ran into a little snag. The forecast for the whole state of Nevada that day was for 118, cooling to a brisk 95 for a low. As Ron White would say, that’s a handy little piece of information to have. Sooo, time for another change of plans. I decided to drive to Primm, NV (from Fillmore, UT) instead of Mesquite (putting me 90 miles closer to home for the last leg) and book an air conditioned room for the night. (My mama didn’t raise no fools. :D ) Three crunchy tacos and a Coke for dinner from the Taco Bell that shared a parking lot, that’s almost like prime rib, isn’t it? You didn't think I was going to open up the galley and fire up the stove while "camped" on blacktop at 114 degrees (it was starting to cool ;)) did you? :eek:

Got up the next morning fully refreshed and made the short drive home, safe and sound. I've been decompressing ever since and finally finished processing all my photos (two DSLRs and a phone).

The stops and nights stayed, in order, were as follows:

Necedah, WI – 1
Montrose, SD -1
Rapid City, SD – 5
Columbus, MT – 1
Lolo, MT – 1
Donnelly, ID - 2
Challis, ID - 2
Stanley , ID - 2
Bellevue, ID - 2
Fillmore, UT – 2
Primm, NV - 1

Following are a few of the photos. For anyone interested there is a link to a gallery full of photos.

Any Port in a Storm 2021

Here's where the magic all begins...
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OK, let's see a show of hands...who's camped here before?
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The Badlands are an amazing place to visit.
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Mt Rushmore is an amazing place to see in person, even though you've "seen" it in pictures already.

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Custer State Park is another amazing place to see, including their resident Bison herd.

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Obligatory trailer photo in Donnelly, ID.

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The Salmon River between Stanley and Challis. The most beautiful 60 miles you may ever drive.

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Just a farm outside of Challis on the way to look for the wild horses I never found.

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Hand raised :). Best park we’ve stayed at. Except for the skeeters. They have some big ones there!

Great photos, did you make it to crazy horse?

there is a campground right at the head of needles, we stayed there years ago. I’m hoping to go again next summer….a lot has changed since we were there I am sure….
 
So, you experienced Lolo Pass! When the sign says "Curves next 99 miles," it's not kidding! Beautiful drive but can make you a little dizzy by the time you're done.

Did you stop at DeVoto Cedar Grove? Amazing place...massive red cedars...some over 2,000 year old. Craig took a picture of me standing UNDER a fern. Okay, I am short, but not that short....made you feel like you were in the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." ;)
 
Sweeney said:
Hand raised :). Best park we’ve stayed at. Except for the skeeters. They have some big ones there!

Great photos, did you make it to crazy horse?

there is a campground right at the head of needles, we stayed there years ago. I’m hoping to go again next summer….a lot has changed since we were there I am sure….
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This is the closest I got to Crazy Horse. The photo was taken from the top of a fire lookout in Custer St Park.

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Betsey said:
So, you experienced Lolo Pass! When the sign says "Curves next 99 miles," it's not kidding! Beautiful drive but can make you a little dizzy by the time you're done.

Did you stop at DeVoto Cedar Grove? Amazing place...massive red cedars...some over 2,000 year old. Craig took a picture of me standing UNDER a fern. Okay, I am short, but not that short....made you feel like you were in the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." ;)
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If you mean US 12, yes I drove it. That was one of the reasons I went that way although I didn't quite realize just how much winding it does or that the connector roads after that (13 and 95) were also two lanes and very twisty. It was probably the most strenuous day of driving due to the fact it was all 2 lane highway and never went straight for very long. Oh, and then the construction too. Not a fun day of driving.

Didn't stop other than for nature calls since I had no idea where anything was or led to. The park in Lolo was very nice though. Unfortunately I was only there one night. That's where the lady told me they had some bear sightings. After confirming it was a black bear, I gathered my camera and hiked down to the river where he had been seen fishing. Couldn't find a trace. Next day the same lady tells me she "thinks" it was a black bear but hey, maybe it was a grizzly. LoL! Gee thanks!
 
Congrats John on the new rig! Looks awesome and some great pics already. Looking forward to seeing more in the future!

Randy
 
Betsey said:
So, you experienced Lolo Pass! When the sign says "Curves next 99 miles," it's not kidding! Beautiful drive but can make you a little dizzy by the time you're done.

Did you stop at DeVoto Cedar Grove? Amazing place...massive red cedars...some over 2,000 year old. Craig took a picture of me standing UNDER a fern. Okay, I am short, but not that short....made you feel like you were in the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." ;)
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Yes, we took that road to a family reunion at the Three Rivers Resort in Lowell. It was a beautiful drive, but 99 miles of it did get a bit old after a couple hours of never ending twists and turns.
 
Deals Gap says "Hold my beer" --- Look for Tail of the Dragon 318 curves in 11 miles.

Frankly its overhyped, the turns are all hairpin and you are typically being followed by some jerk who a helmet cam thinking he's the hottest thing on two wheels. It really takes the enjoyment out of it. I have driven it though --- and it was the strangest thing ever. I almost forgot how to turn the wheel by the end -- you are thinking so hard the whole time at the end you are just exhausted. Frankly, I'd never even consider riding in on 2 wheels. The number broken bike parts laying around tell me its to be a fool to even try.

I've considered moving to that area - Moscow has been called "Gods Country" by a friend who lived there. I suspect if it weren't for life issues I'd be there already, probably sometime about this time last year. Seeing the photos...I'm jealous :D
 
Sweeney said:
Deals Gap says "Hold my beer" --- Look for Tail of the Dragon 318 curves in 11 miles.

Frankly its overhyped, the turns are all hairpin and you are typically being followed by some jerk who a helmet cam thinking he's the hottest thing on two wheels. It really takes the enjoyment out of it. I have driven it though --- and it was the strangest thing ever. I almost forgot how to turn the wheel by the end -- you are thinking so hard the whole time at the end you are just exhausted. Frankly, I'd never even consider riding in on 2 wheels. The number broken bike parts laying around tell me its to be a fool to even try.

I've considered moving to that area - Moscow has been called "Gods Country" by a friend who lived there. I suspect if it weren't for life issues I'd be there already, probably sometime about this time last year. Seeing the photos...I'm jealous :D
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The Dragon’s Tail is a lot of motorcycles & Mini Coopers trying to see how fast they can complete it. Did it once, probably not going back.
 
Nice trip. I’ve been to Stanley, ID when I drove cross country in the early ‘90s. A cousin and her husband lived in Salmon, ID then working with USFS. They are in eastern Oregon now.
 
Jenn said:
Your first pic looks like a magic portal....slide that sheet of plywood through and it comes out the other end as a teardrop.
That buffalo is shooting daggers from its eyes at you....all sorts of captions come to mind there! Great Pic!
Yes, the teardrop AC is the best thing in the world.
Where did you camp in Columbus, MT?
Welcome to the CampInn Family!
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Thank you Jenn.

I think the Bison use that look on all tourists. He sauntered by even closer and didn't give me a second look. But I was in the car ready to gas it if need be. ;)

Mountain Range RV Park in Columbus. It was over 100 degrees when I got there and my treeless space backed to the west as the sun was very slowly going down. (It didn't get dark until 10:00) I had a tough time finding shade for a couple more hours. I even pulled the cooler out to put it in some shade instead of letting it continue to bake in the galley.
 
Jenn said:
Columbus is a stop for me when traveling east/west on I90. Did you like that park? Is is a basic RV place? They did ok with non-self-contained trailers? Thanks for the name and info!

Bison. Bison....not Buffalo. Sorry. Yeah, People have expressive faces, animals, for the most part do not change expressions. They get one look. One voice. Like Bald Eagles always look stern and mad.

Ive been keeping my cooler in the car more of the time now. For the heat and ease of getting to the stove. There is a lot of 'if this, then that' kind of sorting goes on all the time, depending on weather and destination.

thanks!
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Bison/Buffalo, I use them interchangeably without really knowing the difference. ;-)

That park was a prime example of why I called this trip the "any port in a storm" tour. My original plan was to find a Walmart or similar in Billings and in Missoula. When the forecast got over 100 for both I decided to take advantage of my A/C and find a park to plug in at both stops. I chose it for price and location knowing I would only be spending the night. It's not a garden spot but the staff were friendly and the weather wasn't their fault. I think I only paid $25 and it was only a few days before July 4th weekend. My neighbors for the night were staying there because it was the best they could do trying to get to get to Yellowstone. They were going to drive to Yellowstone the next day.

I quickly found that when I was traveling I stored the folding table in the trailer so I could more easily get to my cooler at all the rest stops. I stopped a lot and I always went to the cooler every time. I bought ice daily so I always had cold drinks and food. I hate dealing with ice. I think I see a fridge in my future.
 
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