The best nights sleep for weeks. For me. Jen, not so.
Again the morning has dawned beautiful. The sun is warm but overall temperature is slightly cool.
On emerging from the Landy we find the camp site has filled considerably. There is a Rodeo on in town on Sunday and it’s a three day weekend.
On the way out of the camp we stopped to compliment the congenial owner and his wife on the cleanliness and efficiency of their establishment.
We have five days to travel 600 miles. This will get us to Portland on Thursday 5th and give us time to meet with friends and family before heading to the UK on the afternoon of Sunday the 8th.
With hills in front of us, we drive down the valley away from White Sulphur Springs through farmland that varies in output by the industry or lack of it, of the respective farmers.
I love the way America celebrates it’s past by erecting historic markers along it’s highways and byways. I hope you find them as interesting as we do.
Up over the range of hills and down into another valley. which contains Helena, the capital.
Stopping at Walmart to again try to buy new leads for the multimeter, which was similarly unsuccessful, while Jen stocked up at their fruit section. Helena is a modern’ish town/city. The customary strip malls with all the “brands” represented.
Our lunch stop at 2pm was beside the road about 50m away and beside a small stream.
Crossing through a couple of passes where we stopped to read the information panels at the summits we descended into another valley where we turned off the 12 onto the 141. Only a very thin road on the map, it was little different to the main road we had left. This is lovely country. It’s interesting to see the original farm houses and barns, no doubt built by the homesteader migrants from the east in the 1800’s, rotting away and replaced by more modern ones.
Tonight we are rough camping for the first time in America. At the last camp one of the fellow campers told Jen “there were of course places where you can free camp”. So now she has agreed to do it.
A little bit about this chap and another couple at the same camp. They are retired and have sold their houses, bought large bus sized motor homes and are living in them as they travel around the country. A bit like brother Kelvin and Jen who are travelling around Australia during their winter. In Australia they are known as ‘Grey Nomads’. In many cases, small towns and hamlets in the remoter parts of the country, rely on them to support their communities. The more progressive town’s, supply excellent camping facilities for a paltry fee, seeing the benefit of the Nomads staying for a few nights.
Our camp is down off the main road by about 500m and beside a reasonably swiftly flowing stream. We are protected from road view by a band of trees. There are other campers in caravans, nearby. Our only concern is that if the river should flood overnight from rain up stream, we might find ourselves in a sticky position.
At 7.30pm and the sun about to go down behind the hills, rain in this area is not looking likely.
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