Showing all posts tagged RV Life

Green Makes Me Happy

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For a must-see in Montana we were told we needed to go to Libby, MT and spend a day in that area. So we did. It was a few hours drive from where we were in Hungry Horse to Libby so we left in the morning.

It was a scenic drive and when we got there went to the Travel office to see what we could do if we only had a day. The nice lady that worked there suggested Kootenai Falls, the rope bridge and the Ross Creek Giant Cedars.

The hike was a fairly short one to the falls, and I was in complete awe of the beautiful trees! Huge trees and beautiful green forest! Giant green trees and mossy forests seriously make me the happiest gal ever. I can’t wait until we visit Oregon and the Redwoods in California. I’m absolutely itching to get there!

We spent some time overlooking the falls and then hiked the other way to the rope bridge that went across the Kootenai River. It was a little drive to the Cedars so we weren’t able to stay too long.

It was a spectacular drive in the mountains to the Cedar area. As we drove, J and I kinda had an off feeling, but chalked it up to it being in the middle of nowhere.

We had left the bear spray at home and were wishing we hadn’t. When we got there, there were only 1 or 2 cars in the parking lot and one was driving off. So as we were downloading from the truck, we noticed on the message board that there had been a bear sighting with cubs in that area a Ranger had posted and someone else had put a handwritten note that day confirming a sighting. So we were like ok..we will just keep our eyes open. But I think we all had a weird vibe thing going. And everything was just eerily quiet.

  • At the beginning of the trail. Yes, they all had jackets they left in the vehicle.

We got about 50 yards in, none of us really wanting to admit we were a little freaked out and our #2, Mr. Eagleeyes spotted very fresh bear poo by a nearby tree. Our southern, flatlander selves decided we needed to listen to our gut feeling and vacate. So we did.

I was so bummed at missing out on seeing the giant Cedars but I think we did the wise thing by leaving. We have had our fair share of bear encounters, we didn’t need another for the books!

~Enjoy the journey!

White Water Rafting

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FYI: Its cold on a glacier fed river in September y’all. It didn’t stop us from having a blast, but we will sure rethink not renting the rubber suit and boot things next time.

So this was quite different from our float trip down the Snake River in Wyoming. The kids were ecstatic. We knew to wear clothes and shoes that were going to get wet. Because: white water rafting. But I was not prepared for the icy shock that we would be in for walking in knee deep water to our raft on the river. Holy Moly! As our family of 5 and another group of 3 got settled in the raft our river guide gave us the spiel.

Our youngest was the only one without a paddle and he wasn’t completely thrilled about it. He was situated in the middle and I think kept the older man from the other party amused.

Much of the trip was quite windy. So much so, that the wind whipping down into the canyon actually pushed up upstream. We had to paddle hard much of the time just to go forward! So crazy! At one point, we were positioning ourselves to go down some rapids and another raft from the company we were with was at the bottom just kind of sitting there. They were kind of stuck waiting for the wind so all they could do was watch us go down the rapids.

As we got to the bottom, our raft swung around quite dramatically toward their raft and as we swung around, our #1 who was in the back next to the guide, threw her arms out (one with the paddle) in a Gladiator moment and shouted, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?” Oh lawdy.

We finally made it out of the windy canyon area and into quieter waters as we unloaded at the exit point and hiked back to the headquarters. Wet, sandy, frozen and numb. But totally worth it.

These are the memory-making experiences we set out for when we started this lifestyle. I love that my kids will have these times to look back on and have forever.

~Enjoy the journey!

Working Out the Kinks…

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So for the first month and change, we stayed at the same campground as my parents to make repairs and learn how in the world to use this thing.

Neither my husband or I have ever owned a motorhome, nor have we done much camping in our adult years.  Maybe three times I can recall?  So needless to say while we could have completely winged it, why 100% wing it, when we can have my dad teach us the basics?

My dad is awesome, and while he probably thinks we’re still a little crazy, taught us how to do light maintenance and he and hubs made some repairs.  My mom helped organize and talk me down when I was feeling like I couldn’t find a place for something.  

It was s HOT month in south Texas, but it was nice to be near my parents and we did get to do a little sightseeing.