Monday, 18JUN, somewhat recovered from all the wedding activities, we got an early start from Ed & Elaine’s for the trip back to Sultan, WA. Having experienced the pleasures of driving on the secondary roads in North Dakota destroyed by the thousands of semis supporting the oil drilling boom in ND, we decided to stay in Canada as long as possible before re-entering the USA. So we crossed the border at Ambrose, ND, & immediately got grilled about why we were crossing the border at such a remote location??? After explaining that we were looking to avoid oil field traffic, we were informed that we were going to be in the heart of heavy semi traffic & bad roads!!! Thankfully the Border Patrol agent was wrong & we sailed thru Williston, ND, without problems!After surviving ND we overnighted in Glasgow, MT. As we set up camp we discovered that the right rear leveler wouldn’t go down or retract. This is the leveler that we had worked on at Camping World back on 16APR; obviously they didn’t fix the problem! Thanks to the poor economy there no longer is a RV shop in Glasgow anymore; so we made arrangements for a tow company to try & solve the problem at 0800, the next day. Dan mistakenly left all the wood blocks & steel pry bar under the leveler that night; & the air bags leaked air & settled on the wood & steel. But when we started the RV & the leveler mysteriously worked?
Tuesday was not pleasant drive thru rainstorms & wind; but we ended up safely at the same RV park outside Missoula that we stayed at on 02JUN on the drive to Canada. Wednesday was a much better weather & drive, arriving at cousin Bonnie & Steve’s by mid afternoon. But first we had to stop at 50,000 Silver $ in Haugen, MT (a Ryan family tradition described in our previous BLOG) for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find gas prices had dropped 30 cents (!!!) in the ten days we had been out of WA state! Gumbo was extremely happy to be back on the Kiesel farm in eastern WA state & celebrated by rolling around in road apples. After setting up camp it was time for a great meal cooked over an open fire. See BLOG link for our last visit with Bonnie & Steve.
Late Thursday morning, 21JUN, we took Steve & Bonnie’s boat & headed to the Columbia River. After launching the boat the first stop was for lunch at a location called “sand bar” (that’s it, just a sandy beach with no amenities). While there we were treated to 25 or so Big Horn Sheep wandering down from the cliffs to eat the tender young foliage on the bushes & drink water. Cousin Steve being a licensed Master Hunter with WA state, said this was a very rare occurrence! Dan circled around the herd for photos & was treated to a young ram coming up to within 15 feet of him. A truly amazing sight for everyone!
Then we motored up the river to Crescent Bar. The below BLOG details how the long time residents of Crescent Bar are trying to keep their little slice of heaven from being swallowed up by high price condos. At the end of the day it was leisurely cruise back to the boat launch. When we got back to the RV we discovered Gumbo was not pleased about being left alone & had shredded several newspapers & magazines all over the floor!
Then we motored up the river to Crescent Bar. The below BLOG details how the long time residents of Crescent Bar are trying to keep their little slice of heaven from being swallowed up by high price condos. At the end of the day it was leisurely cruise back to the boat launch. When we got back to the RV we discovered Gumbo was not pleased about being left alone & had shredded several newspapers & magazines all over the floor!
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