Monday, 10/10....Nelson, British Columbia

Another cloudy, cool and drizzly morning, so it was good to get moving on our way to Canada. Have been looking to visit Nelson since the movie "Roxanne" was out decades ago (it was shot there)....passing over the border was a non-event....the setting for Nelson is truly remarkable: mountains on all sides, surrounding the gorgeous Lake Kootenay, as well as the town, which sits at the lake's edge. It will be a wonderful place to which to move if Trump gets elected.....

Thought you might like a look at one of this morning's  activities, as it is most days - taking on fresh water:

The campsite we had was terrific, and the Idaho state park named Farragut is really well-mantained and beautiful. Named after an admiral in the Civil War....the drive from there to Nelson was a couple of hours.

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, and we are going out to Bibo, one of the town's renowned restaurants. I know they have some specials planned - not sure if turkey is one of them or not!

Weekend, 10/8-9....Walla Walla

Spent Saturday in Walla Walla - a beautiful little town, centered on wine these days, but with a city center complete with many historical, pretty buildings. Highlight of the day had to be the dog park, where - and I kid you not - we saw a dog climb a tree! This black lab pup (maybe two years old) chased a squirrel along with Molly, but when she came to the big evergreen tree in which the squirrel had taken cover, proceeded fifteen feet up the tree, climbing among the many branches!!! When we came to her along with her human, we really did not know what to do. She was stranded with no obvious way down out of the tree. I really feared she was going to fall, and probably hurt herself seriously. I didn't know whether we should try and catch her, or call the fire department - who, as we all know, rescue many a stupid cat from trees. But a stupid dog????? In the end, she worked her way down to about ten feet, where she was whining, probably beginning to understand her predicament! I tried to make my way under her, but couldn't because of all of the branches. They eventually saved her, as she jumped/fell out of the limb she was on, and landed on some lower branches near the ground and finally was free. No harm done. I hope Molly doesn't think about it too much and think about climbing a tree of her own!

Had a yummy dinner in Walla Walla at Brasserie Four, and a delightful Rhone style red from B. Leighton, a local vintner.

Woke up to showers, yet again, so decided to head north to Sandpoint, ID, where I am typing this, a little before dinner. Hoping to maintain some internet connectivity to listen to the debate tonight. Will have a ragu and pasta, salad and bread. Wonderful campsite at Farragut State Park, on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Tomorrow we cross into Canada, and onto our northernmost destination, Nelson, BC. Hopefully the forecast for sunshine for Tuesday and Wednesday will hold, as we've really been looking forward to our time there. Today marks the start of our third week on the road. It's been a fantastic trip....

Thursday, 10/6....Missoula....

Great town, beautiful setting....enjoyed the day here....looked at the weather forecast, and there is a big storm arriving to the north that will bring rain for four days where we had been planning to travel beginnng tomorrow (Sandpoint, ID and then Nelson, BC). So we've decided to put that off a few days and instead go southeast to Walla Walla, WA! Wine country. It's great to be able to be so flexible when you you travel on an RV!

Took no pics today, but thought I'd post another from our hike yesterday. Man and his dog.

Wednesday, 10/5.....Lost Creek SP, and Missoula

Last night when we took Molly for a walk before bed, it was snowing....I was hoping it wouldn't be a lot of snow overnight, and it wasn't - we woke up to an inch or two. We had breakfast and decided to hike here out of camp for a bit.....had to delay an hour or so because some heavy snow showers came in! But we eventually got out into partial sunshine and had a lovely hike up the canyon, alongside Lost Creek, with peaks towering above us.  Got back to camp, showered and headed out - next stop, Missoula. Amy and I both agree that we have never stayed in a better camp site. The pics below give you an idea of how spectacular of a setting the campsite is....

We arrived in Missoula late this afternoon and decided to opt for a commercial campground that is close to town. We normally prefer state parks, national forests, etc., but the ones around here seem a bit far out from the town, and we want to visit and walk around tomorrow. The place is nice, roomy for a commercial site, and we get to do a little laundry to boot. Full hookups, too. Not a bad trade-off.

Tonight is yankee pot roast (courtesy of Simply Good in Birmingham, MI) paired with a '06 Guigal St Joseph. Sipping  it now!

Tomorrow we'll explore Missoula a bit. And we're having dinner at The Depot, which is owned by a good friend of one of our good friends, Jim King (JK). JK teed it up for us, so I bet we have a great dinner!

Tuesday, 10/4.....Anaconda and Phillipsburg

Started out partly sunny this morning and walked through the ghost town of Bannack, as described in yesterday's blog entry. Then onto Big Hole National Battlefield, where the Nez Perce native Americans were attacked by the U S Army in 1877....a beautiful setting marred by this massacre. Drizzly and chilly while we were there....

Then north to Anaconda and Philipsburg....the huge smelter smokestack of the Anaconda Mining Co. is still here, and it is taller than the Washington Monument! Unfortunately, this area, including Butte, is the largest Super Fund site in the country. And what an incredibly beautiful setting. That makes TWO places today where a gorgeous Montana setting has been marred by our conduct. Saddening, really.

Philipsburg has a very well regarded BBQ house, and we stopped and bought some ribs and pulled pork to eat for dinner at our campground. It's killing me not to eat it as I sit here typing this, before dinner....hit snow on the pass between Pburg and Anaconda, yuck.

Lost Creek State Park is a few miles outside of Anaconda, and it is a spectacular setting. Huge granite walls on both sides of a canyon, with our campsite in the middle. Looks like we may be the only campers tonight...

Monday, 10/3.....Virginia City and Bannack, Montana....

The storm continued this morning, with a drizzle at our campground....it let up for a bit so Molly and I took a nice walk in the Gallatin National Forest which abuts the campground....today was moving day, and we had our last breakfast at Running Bear Pancake House before heading northwest into Montana...first stop was the old mining town of Virgina City - population 108 now, down from its peak of 10,000 in the 1860s when gold was discovered there....now it is a somewhat-preserved ghost town....named after the First Lady of the Confederacy, Virginia Davis, interestingly enough....

We had thought we might stay at Elkhorn Hot Springs, but when we arrived there, it was snowing, so we reconsidered....backtracked a bit to Bannack State Park - the town of Bannack was Montana's first territorial capital, and is now one of the West's most well-preserved ghost towns. Home to 3,000 people at one time during the gold rush, many eventually left for Virginia City, which had much greater gold deposits....there are two basic campgrounds at the park (i.e., no hookups), and we are the only campers in one of them...it's along Grasshopper Creek, and is very peaceful...pulled in around 5:30pm, and it's still raining a bit, so we'll tour the town tomorrow morning, when I hope to get a few nice pics...state officials do not renovate nor modernize the old buildings (which supposedly number almost 100 structures), but they do "stabilize" them. Should be interesting to see them! Update the next morning: Bannock IS and incredible town! Walked through it early this morning with Amy and Molly....

Dinner tonight is ragu bolognese, salad, and a nice crunchy baguette we bought in West Yellowstone this morning before we departed....it's 38 degrees outside here in Bannack, it's still raining a bit, but the three of us are nice and cozy inside toutou, which is a toasty 72 degrees.....music is on, we're watching a video (Amy), sleeping (Molly), and typing (me).....and now I'm going to open a bottle of wine and have a bite or two of the Comte cheese we brought with us before prepping dinner...

Sunday, 10/2.....West Yellowstone

Poor weather day, rainy and cool....a couple of sunny spots here and there - enough to get out and walk the dog a bit....also did a week's worth of laundry.....highlights? Buttermilk pancakes at Running Bear:

And, the Ryder Cup win - able to watch it on my iPad in toutou as it rained....Molly didn't think much about it, though:

The weather forecast for the next couple of days is not great, and we head off to the north and west into Montana on Monday morning....I'm sure we'll figure some fun things to do, though, rain or shine....

A pic from yesterday: Molly, with great interest, in the front seat, watching the bison on our road....