Although Bear and I did not take the planned weekend cruise, we did go for a Sunday afternoon ride. A stop at the hardware for propane and then to Wayfarer’s for a walk.
Bear loves to go anywhere but the motorhome is very exciting…the big windows, the room…even a short trip is a grand adventure!
After a noon walk around our home loop, Bear was in the woods keeping an eye on a chittering squirrel when I started the motorhome to let it run for a bit.
Bear heard the engine start and ran to get aboard.
I’m planning a very short and very close to home shakedown this weekend before a longer trip in a few weeks. Something drained my brand new (in April) battery with no definitive cause. Bear has just a few day trips and the one overnight when I picked him up, for rv experience. A new Bob/house-sitter has been employed. Sara moved to Utah :( …but we all LOVE Hailley :)!! So, a short trial run for all to make sure everything is in order.
Bear is ready to go!
Girls love their shoes and Wild Thing is no exception…4 new ones were the order of the day, this Friday.
Two of her six “shoes” are new from two years ago. The remaining four were due to be replaced a year ago. I have an upcoming trip which you all are welcome to come along on via From the Front Porch. I hate planning trips. Wild Thing will be departing some time after September 1 and no later than September 11. September 11 is the most likely, but you never know :)!
To the point…I was not risking another trip on the old tires.
Karl (see the black furry back end) and I parked behind the Kalispell Tire-Rama, hoisted Wild Thing on her own leveling jacks and let the techs from Tire-Rama mount, balance, shuffle and install, while we napped/worked respectively.
The cold front arrived the night before – the day was pleasant – and we were out and about with visions of an upcoming adventure in our heads. Just another Friday at the office.
I thought I would be posting this afternoon or evening from the parking lot camp ground of the rv dealer that has been working on my Winnebago. I am, however, posting from home. And the Winnebago is home – her name is Wild Thing…because she moves me…
When we left this story, just yesterday in the telling, although Saturday in actuality, Karl and I had made the trip to Missoula in the Jeep to pick up WT. Her steps had been replaced and body work done. But, the steps – they went in and out just fine. There is, though, a step off/on switch just inside the door. When in the off position, the steps stay out. When in the on position, the steps extend when the door is open and retract when the door is closed. There is another feature…no matter what position the switch is in, when the ignition is on, the steps retract – a safety/convenience/stupidity avoidance mechanism to prevent an operator from driving off with the steps extended. The problem on Saturday was that the on/off switch was operating in reverse – on kept the steps out and off extended/retracted with the door open/close.
Saturday…there was a tech available, but not the one who did the installation. But surely, this was a simple “wire cross”. Mais, non! And I should have known as I was present, holding the flashlight, when the damaged steps were removed. 4 bolts and a wiring harness – in reverse for install, i.e. no wiring need be done by the installer. Heads were scratched and it was decided that input from the manufacturer was needed so Karl and I came home as documented in the previous post.
And…I told the dealer to take their time considering the condition of my road and drive.
I received a call fairly early on Monday that things were fixed. A number of calls back and forth because I was dumbfounded that it was so “easy” and in the back and forth a feeling that I was getting the run around. And there is that loss of confidence that happens when you don’t feel like you are getting accurate information. Enter my insurance agent who seriously went to bat for me with the dealer and suddenly, they cannot do enough for me – things like a wash, wax, something from their rv shop…
I decide that it would be best to get to Missoula ASAP, make sure all is truly well and bring WT home, while the entire fiasco is fresh in all minds. So I shuffle meetings and committments in order to drive down this afternoon, stay the night, and back Wednesday afternoon before the weather changes to winter again as forecast. The dealer phones this morning – a Kalispell customer has a locked up motorhome, a tech is driving up to deal with that…he could drive my motorhome, towing a car, i.e. they want to know if I’m open to them delivering the motorhome to me in Kalispell. YES, I say! All goes well, I meet the tech not far from my house. He unhooks his tow, I hook up my Jeep and off we go. The step was operating correctly.
I turn on to my road in the nick of time…
It looked like snow, threatening clouds over the mountains, but all held off..
Karl rode shotgun. My road was clear, my driveway was icy. A decision had to be made whether to drop the Jeep and come in motorhome only with no tow. I was tired, I wanted it over, I left the Jeep on and drove like I meant it. 21000 pounds of motorhome pulling 3800 pounds of Jeep did not hesitate.
In, turned around, backed up, parked and plugged in. All are home.
The rest of my Saturday – fetching the Winnebago (see 2/27 post “the start of my Saturday”):
I loaded the Jeep with camera, computer, WINE, dogfood/treats and a few other odds and ends that would allow Karl and I to spend a night in the motorhome if I didn’t feel like making the drive back home from Missoula, 110 miles south. Bob was situated with plenty of food and water, a freshly cleaned litter box and the assurance that we would return…sometime. I pulled out of the driveway at 11:20. The relatively late start was planned to allow temperatures to rise to the point where ice on the road would be water. That part of the plan was successful. Except for the 1/4 mile of road nearest my home, it was clear sailing.
It was that 1/4 mile of turning, steep, narrow, snow and ice covered road and my ever narrowing driveway and turnaround that caused a bit of concern. I nearly turned back. I had walked the drive and looked at the turnaround and planned how I would drop the Jeep in Bigfork and come in on my road with just the motorhome, but it just looked like it could be NOT fun. I went with a bit of a Scarlett O’Hara attitude: “I’ll worry about it tomorrow”.
Although the day had started clear as a bell, the valley was hazy and as I got south of Bigfork and the lake came into view, signs of an inversion were visible in the low cloud cover moving in. I stopped south of Woods Bay, parking in The Raven Bar’s lot…
As noted, The Raven is home to the Polar Bear Plunge, the January 1 swim in the lake. And, no, I have NOT participated. I’ve partaken of a brew in the bar on occasion, mainly for the view. Today, I skipped the bar, but used the parking lot to catch the start of the inversion.
We continued south. Montana Highway 35 hugs the lake most of the way between Bigfork and Polson, although above the lake and in some places quite a distance above with cherry orchards on the slope between the highway and the water. At about the 9 mile mark, the road heads inland as it approaches Polson. As I rounded the south shore of the lake, the mountains to the north stood out. While hazy, the fresh snow on the high peaks of the Swan Range made a majestic background to the lake.
I headed into a subdivision that I thought might have a spot where I could see and take some photos. I found a spot between 2 homes at a gated entrance to a wildlife preserve area adjacent to the subdivision.
While I was fiddling with lenses…
…I could NOT resist. I believe it was she. I am partial to the Northern Breeds as is Karl. Normally, he would be barking and sounding as if he would tear the Jeep apart to get at another dog – a behaviour confined to when he is in the car and he spots another dog, but this lady caught his eye and they exchanged greetings in a language of their own. I was hoping the people at home would come out and we might make an introduction, but they did not. We said good bye and continued south.
Polson is the southern end of the Flathead Valley and then begins the Mission Valley. The Mission Mountains to the east have several gorgeous jagged peaks. I stopped at a turnout near NinePipes to take a longer look and some photos. Even in the haze of the increasing inversion, they were beautiful.
The rest of the story… As I proceeded south, I decided that I would stay overnight in Missoula, just for the rv fun and change of pace and maybe in the back of my mind I thought to put off that last 1/4 mile and my driveway part of the trip. The overnight part of the plan went awry. A glitch in the repair of my motorhome steps meant that it needed to stay for further work. Although it meant returning in the Jeep, it did not upset me at all. I told the shop to take their time, like 2-3-4 weeks… Hopefully we’ll have had a bit of melt down by then. And also, I’ll take Bob next time and we’ll add a bit of vacation to the pick up – a REAL road trip!
So, somewhat anti-climatically, Karl and I returned with exactly what we left with and that is the rest of my Saturday story.
Five years ago…if you had told me that I would someday own an RV and LOVE rving, I would have said you were nuts.
I own an RV and I LOVE rving!
I even love a 200 mile round trip just to take the beast to a dealer for repair. I don’t love needing the repair, but it was operator error ( Damaging steps ) so I can’t blame the rv. I also didn’t “LOVE” the Jeep hookup yesterday as it was 6 below zero while I was doing it. Don’t let that sunshine fool you – it was cold! And things that normally swivel and extend didn’t want to do that. A hammer and a few choice words convinced them otherwise. The good news was that I wasn’t all hot and sweaty after the hookup…
I packed a lunch, my camera, my laptop – loaded Karl…no steps…I’m glad I’ve kept up with my strength training – and off we went. Destination, Missoula – 100 miles south.
The stop light in Bigfork…too bad about that view, huh?
Although cold, it was clear and sunny and a gorgeous day for the drive which skirts Flathead Lake for 35 miles before going through Polson, Montana and then a beautiful valley with the Mission Mountains to the east and the Bitteroots to the West.
Between Bigfork and Polson, I stopped at a pullout along the lake to allow 2 following cars to pass and to do a safety check.
We continued on. I had planned on a lunch stop south of Ronan, but the pullout there was not plowed. I ended up going all the way to the dealer in Missoula and having lunch in their parking lot. I unhooked the Jeep, checked in with service, transferred computer and camera to the Jeep, took a walk with Karl and then we started back towards home.
The Missions were beautiful – loaded with snow. A thin cloud layer lay about a third of the way between their jutting peaks and the valley floor. I didn’t stop – there are times when I just like to look.
**Added 7:30 a.m. 1/27 – I just visited fellow Montana blogger Montucky – he headed to the city yesterday also, albeit from a different direction. His post in the link is a gorgeous capture of the Missions – worth the click!
I did stop at a scenic lookout just before Polson. It is not somewhere I’ve ever stopped before, although it has the first view of the lake and the entrance to the Flathead Valley.
Home is 39 miles north of Polson. We arrived there in time for a walk before sunset.