Hightailing it to Montana: The Great Escape

Welcome once again to our adventure. It's almost over and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have!
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DAY THREE

It's Always The Darkest Before The Dawn 

What can I say? The cold indeed returned but I was prepared with my new blanket at hand, to fend off any breeze, icicle, or snowflake that might decide to appear (you never know).  It actually worked out pretty well for me; The Midget didn't fare so well. Even with the extra blanket, she couldn't shake the cold.

Le Bathroom

 

I stretched out, thinking we might have to spend tomorrow night in the SUV-it's cozy and there's plenty of room when I lay all the seats down.

 

Remember when I was joking about bruised hips? Well the joke's on me after a night that included an intimate encounter with a giant tree root under my tent. I had discovered it around 1 a.m.

 

The Midget had claimed the spot next to me again.  I moved to the right and Voile! Instant misery. After a bit of moving and some silent yet creative cursing, I finally found a spot where I could settle and get some sleep.

 

The trees by our tent

Morning Has Broken

The sun has just started to reach the tent. It's supposed to be up in the mid-90s again. Now I haven't camped in the mountains since I was a little girl and honestly had forgotten how the temperature can vary from day to night.

 

I've mostly camped on the Oregon Coast with my aunt and uncle (Hot and Volcano, respectively-how they earned their nicknames is an entirely different matter). Generally the temps varied by 15-20 degrees on average, not 40!  Rest assured, I will not forget again.

 

If you look closely, you can see an orange blur. The Midget was trying to take a pic of a butterfly in flight.

I absolutely plan on camping in this area again, maybe spending one night at this  place and exploring some of the federal ones before I commit to an unknown. I'd plan to camp here again in August, if possible.

 I should probably get motivated and moving, but it's only 6:30 a.m. I snuggled with The Midget as she's doing her best impression of an icicle once again.

 

 A cool rock The Midget found.

We are awake and the tent is warming much quicker than yesterday.  The water is on the burner (don't judge), and the yellow jackets came to say good morning.  The Midget has decided that she is having two breakfasts today. The first consists of marshmallows, and oatmeal for the second.

 

First peek at daybreak.

 

I forgot to mention that when I first stuck my head out of the tent, I noticed the neighbors had gone. They were really nice people but stuck to themselves. One BIG difference I see between this privately owned campground and a state/federal one is the social aspect. At state/federal parks, there are usually many conversations taking place, new friends being made. and fun being shared. It's almost inevitable.

 This place was quiet and reserved-almost reclusive. It was not something I was used to and you should probably know we are a noisy bunch.  We give new meaning to the phrase 'loud and proud.' 



Berries on the river walk path.

The Midget is VERY social and has no problem starting conversations with anyone,  anytime, and anywhere. I literally had to stop her from going RV front door to RV front door. She wanted to roast marshmallows for the entire campground!

 We are the only tent campers here, and although they have been very gracious about putting us near a power source, etc., next time I will specifically request the tent area that has thick, spongy grass and stay away from the RV spot with its perverted tree root. I have my portable power source and can just let the sun recharge it daily (it would not even dare to rain on me in that situation).

 

Mission: Impossible

Breakfast eaten, dishes done, and coffee inhaled, we went to stow our stuff away inside the tent.  I hear a noise like a quiet snap, and a giggle. The Midget has declared a new mission of the greatest importance.

 

She has decided that all bugs, specifically a daddy longlegs spider, need to be flicked off the tent from the inside. Oh the humanity! We are off to start our (early) day.

 

Lighting the way and repelling bugs at the same time.

 

***NEWSFLASH***

 

We interrupt this camping trip with an urgent bulletin.
 

We have decided it's in our best interest to go home today. I had called home late last night  to make sure my older offspring wasn't throwing a rave in my living room and she asked if some of our friends-well, actually they are more like family-could stay with us for two weeks.  I had agreed and realized I just needed to be home to help them settle in, etc.

 I wasn't looking forward to a night of shivering, to be honest. This is also our week to pick raspberries at the community garden. I'd decided to let it go for a couple of days to let everything ripen up on the bush so there would be lots of goodness waiting.

 

A random fern.

The bees have been quite friendly as well.  I can honestly say I've never seen a bee/wasp fight.  It would make a great horror movie.   The Midget was not pleased with said bug friendliness either.  I simply just didn't want to add anymore bug juice to the pages of this journal.

It's time to start tearing everything down. :(

 

Ramble On

Everything is ready to pack in.  Only the tent remains the same.  I amazed myself-I got the tent taken down in a reasonable amount of time and even rolled up and in to the bag in one try! 

 

Almost done!

I had planned to carve my initials in the giant tree root in revenge.  Tent packed up, I went over and saw....a big ROCK.  Wow I'm glad it didn't tear the floor in my tent.  Or break one of my ribs, lol.

 

Flowers along the river walk trail.

I wanted to return the blanket that I was not going to need and it was in perfect condition so I wrapped it back up packed the car full and went to check out.  They thanked us for staying and mentioned that The Midget was very entertaining (code word: a bit much), lol.  

 

We headed back to Libby and I was honest about the return. It was not a problem and we again headed west in search of home.   As a last minute twitch, we pulled over just to see if our carver was there. He was not, but I  really do plan to take a day trip over and try to find him before winter sets in.

 

Our trip home was uneventful!

Heading home!

 

I am writing this MUCH later,  because I've been busy-birthdays, company, etc.  I'm looking forward to another visit.  I want to explore the Yak River federal campground. I don't care if it's primitive. You can camp right next to the creek, which is win in my book.    Maybe I will just take an overnighter to Libby and explore several of the area campgrounds so I will have a list to choose from. 

 

I also want to explore Idaho's parks. When I renewed by car tabs, I went ahead and purchase a parks pass for an extra $10. It's good for a year and covers the entrance fee to any Idaho state park.  Camping is a separate fee, but often there will be a discount. I'd like to get one for Montana as well. They are more expensive but I think they have more benefits to them.

 

So thus concludes our camping trip.  I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

 

 

Note: all photos used in this post were taken by The Midget. :)