Island Park, ID to Plummer, ID

June 15 - 27, 2026

We left Island Park on Tuesday, June 16 and headed to Yellowstone's Edge RV Park south of Livingston, MT to see my cousin and his wife. They usually spend the summers there and since we were so close we wanted to stop and see them. It was their wedding anniversary two days before ours. The RV park was full hookups for $105.84 per night. We probably wouldn't have gone there if we weren't going to see family. I was having such a good time I forget to take pictures.

We left on June 18 and went to Divide Bridge Campground in Divide, MT. It was a BLM campground with no hookups and with our senior pass it was only $7.50. It was quiet. I enjoy camping like that.

One our way to Hamilton we went by this sign. Many years ago we took our picture here, again in 2024, and again on June 19. It's become a tradition that we have to stop and take a picture.

We stayed in Hamilton, MT at Anglers Roost RV Park. It was full hookups for $69.54 per night. It was right off Hwy. 93 so there was some traffic noise during the day but it was quiet at night.

Friday, June 19 was our 50th wedding anniversary. We had dinner with John's friend from elementary school and his wife, and his wife's sister. We went to The Wild Mare in Corvallis to celebrate. It was good to see them again!

Saturday we went to the Farmers Market in Hamilton and got a huckleberry pie, an organic romaine lettuce bunch for $3, and some grass fed and finished cube steak. The pie is long gone and so is the lettuce, but the meat is in the freezer just waiting for us.

Sunday, Father's Day, we went to Bitterroot Valley Calvary Chapel in Hamilton. It was a very good message and the people were friendly. Although we watch our Sunday and Wednesday services on YouTube it's always nice to be in church again.

On Monday, June 22 we drove to Coram, MT with an unplanned detour to Whitefish. When we were in Hamilton the truck gave an error message and John thought it was the air filter so he changed that and thought it was fixed. But when we left the campground he got a different error message. The truck seemed to be working fine and we had a schedule to keep so we left. When we got to Missoula the GPS routed us to a 13' railroad tunnel, but we are 13'3". So we stopped, created a small traffic jam, and were able to back up to the street we just passed thanks so some nice and understanding people behind us who helped. It would have been nice if the city put a sign with flashing lights to let people know, but they didn't. I looked on the truckers map and also RV Trip Wizard and neither one said anything about a low clearance. After we got out of Missoula we got another error message on the truck that would pop up every once in a while and the check engine light came on. John checked the engine and everything looked good so we continued. About 25 miles from our campground the truck went into limp mode. There was a dealership in Whitefish and we tried calling three times before we got someone in the service department. We told them what was happening and that we were on our way there. They were very nice and a mechanic stayed a little after he was supposed to leave to look at it. John asked the mechanic to clear the codes and we made an appointment to bring it back the next morning. All was good for 10 miles and it went into limp mode again. Thank the Lord we made it!

When I opened up the closet door that night this is what I found. Every single thing that was hung up wasn't any more! Montana has some bumpy roads!

We stayed at North American RV Park in Coram, MT, just outside Glacier National Park. It was full hookups for $95 per night. I had kept the campground informed about our truck problem and I think the man that checked us in felt sorry for us and gave us this nice end site. It was a little short but we made it work.

Tuesday was spent taking care of the truck, and although they didn't have the part they needed in stock they were able to get it overnight. They gave John a rental car to use; we picked the truck up the next day and it was fixed. It had a warning light they said would go away but it didn't. John looked it up (good old YouTube University!) and it said it was the suspension which is why the air bags weren't working. He disconnected the battery for 30 minutes and the air bags worked again. Then the cameras and display didn't work but he let it sit and it eventually came back on. The next morning, Thursday, he got the tires rotated at Costco. All this was an answer to prayer!

That afternoon we went into Glacier to visitor center and the Lake McDonald Lodge. We decided to go on the boat ride that was leaving in a few minutes. It was a beautiful day.

I think these old red buses from the 'olden days' are so cool.

On Friday, June 26 we were taking a Red Bus Tour Crown of the Continent, which goes from West Glacier, to Many Glaciers Lodge and back again. We left the campground earlier than we had originally planned and it was a good thing. Going to the Sun Road had just opened the Monday before and it took us 50 minutes to get through the gate. (In years past they had a timed entry system but they decided not to do that this year.) Fortunately they called while we were still in line and we told them we were getting to the pick up parking lot as soon as we could.

Lake McDonald from the parking lot. The weatherman said it was going to rain all day, and it was cold.

It was beautiful everywhere we looked.

Our driver, Jammer Ryan. All the drivers are called jammers because back when the buses were new the drivers had to jam the gears. He gave us a lot of history and kept us entertained. The only thing I didn't like was that all the national parks try to shove evolution down our throats. The earth is not billions of years old and everything was caused by The Flood as written in Genesis. All the uplifts, the volcanoes, etc.

This is the three arches bridge. The only three lives in building the road were lost here. They were working on the wall and an avalanche came down and swept them down with it.

I thought this snow cave was cool.

Logan Pass

Logan Pass

Lake by Many Glaciers Lodge. We had the top of the bus open and it didn't start raining until we were almost here.

Front of the lodge

Back of the lodge. We stopped here and had our lunch.

The island in the center was in a movie and beer commercial.

On the way back we stopped at Logan Pass again to take a break, and then it got really foggy. I was glad that Jammer Ryan knew the road so well. That's all he could see out the front of the bus. It got better as we went down in elevation. We started the tour at about 8:50 and got back to West Glacier at 5:30. A long day but so worth it, even if we didn't have the best weather on the way back.

Saturday, June 27 we left Glacier and headed to Idaho. These were some mustard fields not to far from Glacier. I thought the contrast of the bright yellow flowers was interesting against the dark sky.

We made it to Idaho!

I haven't taken a picture of out current campground so will write about that later.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

Psalm 33:6

Little Bighorn, MT - Cabela's, Billings, MT - Livingston, MT - Cameron, MT - Victor, ID - Grand Teton National Park, WY

Thursday, June 6 - Monday, June 17, 2024

We've been busy seeing things and I haven't had time to update my blog.  Thankful for a day to catch up.

On Thursday, June 6 we drove to 7th Ranch RV Camp in Garryowen, MT for two nights.  We had full hookups for $53.25 per night.  It was a nice campground and they even give you 2 tokens for a 'free' ice cream.

We went to Little Bighorn National Monument on a beautiful, windy Friday.  They had a very good park ranger program and a video on the battle and battlefield.  The park ranger brought out some good points about how the culture was in the day.  Although Custer seemed a bit arrogant he was following orders - to get the Indians on reservations.  It wasn't right, but that was the mentality back then.

It was very sobering to see the gravestones of the soldiers and the Indians scattered all over the hills.  The actual battle took place over about a five miles stretch of the hills.  It's beautiful country with a sad story.

On Saturday we drove to Billings, MT to Costco to get the truck tires rotated.  First we went to Walmart and got resupplied, then to Costco, then we spent the night in the Cabela's parking lot.

It was pretty warm but cooled down at night, and the interstate noise wasn't bad either.  We took turns going into the store.  I bought a little lantern and John bought some new boots.

Sunday morning we left for Yellowstone's Edge RV Park near Livingston, MT.  My cousin and his wife who we went to Alaska with, Bill and Lisa, are staying there for a few months.  It's a beautiful area and I can see why they like to stay there!  It was $82.62 per night for full hookups.  A little pricey but worth it to see family.  The weather was rainy with a thunderstorm so neither one of us got a picture of the campground.  We went out to the Emigrant's Outpost for dinner.  It was really good to see them again!

Monday morning we headed to Blue Moon Saloon and RV Park in Cameron, MT for three nights.  It was full hookups for $54.94 with a military discount.

It was a nice little campground out in the middle of nowhere, but quiet and a perfect place for a base camp for visits to Earthquake Lake and Virginia City.

We went to Earthquake Lake area on Tuesday.  On the night of August 17,1959 there was a 7.5 earthquake in the Madison River Canyon.  Eighty million tons of rock collapsed into the Madison River at speeds up to 100 miles per hour, moving up the other side of the canyon.  I had seen pictures of the slide but nothing prepares you for the scope of it.  Truly amazing. Twenty-eight people who were camping nearby lost their lives, and the slide dammed the river, forming Earthquake Lake.  Helicopters were sent in to rescue the people that were trapped because the roads were either flooded or broken and they couldn't get out either way.  They quickly made a channel to release the Madison River.  There was also damage to the Hebgen Dam upriver from Earthquake Lake.  If you're interested you can watch a video about it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi8r82QpXM8&ab_channel=ForestService.  

Part of an old tourist cabin area.

This was part of the old road that now ends in the lake.

The slide area.

We didn't pack a lunch but we should have.  It took mostly all day to see everything.  We ended up in West Yellowstone at the Old Town Cafe.  I had a hamburger and John had fish and chips.  Both were very good.

The next day we went to Virginia City and Nevada City, MT.   Gold was discovered in Alder Gulch in 1863.  Within weeks Virginia City was a boom town of thousands.  Between Virginia City and Nevada City (1-1/2 miles away) over 100 million dollars was mined in the 18th and 19th centuries.  In the early 1860s, during the first three seasons, over 30 million dollars was taken out of the gulch.  The discovery of gold in Last Chance Gulch (Helena) in the summer of 1864 foretold the coming decline of Virginia City. Many residents soon moved to Helena. Virginia City's population collapsed to only a few hundred in the early 1870s and never recovered. In 1875, the territorial capital was relocated from Virginia City to Helena. After 1900, few new buildings were constructed in Virginia City and many old structures collapsed. Some were destroyed by fire or torn down.  In 1889 there was interest in preserving the town.  Today it is the best preserved example of an old mining town.  Many of the store owners just up and left, leaving everything intact in their stores.  

We rode the train from Virginia City to Nevada City and back.  It followed Alder Creek.

After we ate our picnic lunch we drove to Nevada City.  I had purchased a pass for the train ride, Nevada City Museum, and panning.  I didn't realize that the museum was a living history museum, with buildings being brought in from other locations to preserve them.  It was interesting, but we've been to other living history museums, so if I'd realized what this was I probably wouldn't have purchased the pass.

Ever seen a two story outhouse before?

After we walked around the town we went to the River of Gold panning area.  One would think by the name that we would be panning for gold, but it turned out to be garnets.  We got one pan each, and we both thought that would last very long, but it took me an hour to pan mine.  We got a few pretty garnets.

Thursday, June 13 we packed up and went to Mike Harris Campground near Victor, ID for four nights.  Bob and Gail Speer, friends from our Montana group, are workamping here for the summer.  It's a forest service campground, $15 per night with electric and our senior pass.  It's been fun catching up with our friends. We went out for Father's Day dinner to the Knotty Pine Supper Club. It was really good and pretty reasonable.

Right now as I write this it's very lightly snowing.  Much better than the heat and humidity at home.

On Saturday we went to Grand Teton National Park.  We had been there before on our way back from Alaska, but it was cold and raining and we couldn't see anything.  This time it was a beautiful sunny day with some wind.  We used our GyPSy tour guide (now GuideAlong).  They have many audio tours that are satellite based.  It senses where you are in a place and tells you about what's up next.  We really like them (except for their earth is millions of years old theory).  Here are some Teton pictures.

This is the house at Murie Ranch.  The Murie brothers and wives were instrumental in saving the elk herds and proposed many conservation efforts.  It was a very cozy house.

This is from the same angle as when Ansel Adams took his famous picture with the Snake River in the foreground.

Overlooking Jenny Lake

We looked ahead at the weather and decided to stay here two more nights.  We would have been traveling today in the rain, and we would have missed the snow, such as it is.

I can see I need to do the blog more often to break it up.  But sometimes I'm having such a good time I forget all about it.

Wednesday we're heading north.  Again the Lord is providing sites for us.  We are so blessed to be able to take this trip!

We'll be Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1