Every time Tim sees an RV pulling a small trailer, he grins and says “We need to look into that. We could get a screen house and be able to sit outside and have shelter, and you can bring your recliner camp chairs and get a Blackstone!” I just roll my eyes. First, they are ugly and wouldn’t match our van! Of course, it would have to be the same color. I can’t have something that doesn’t match. Plus, I do not like towing anything. He says they are so small, I wouldn’t even notice it that much. “When we get back to OH in August, we can figure out if that’s what we really want to do, right?” Well, no...

After leaving Idaho, we found a great dispersed campground on a river about an hour from Missoula, MT. We stayed five nights. Bathing in the snowmelt river was sooo sooo cold, but exhilarating! Our fresh tank only holds enough water for limited use when we stay in dispersed areas. Potable water sources are not always located in these areas. Between cooking, dishes, and toilet flushing, we go through the tank pretty fast. We were grateful for the snowmelt bath.

All the fresh water we have goes into either the black tank (toilet flushes) or the gray tank (sink and shower usage). So, after five days, those tanks need to be dumped and fresh water refilled.

Next stop: Missoula! Headed to Robin Koehler’s brother’s property. Mike and Heidi have a great spot where we can hook up to electric and get water if needed. Mike referred us to Bretz RV, where they have a free dump station and potable water. There was a line of RVers waiting their turn to dump. As we sat there, Tim spied—you can guess—a trailer. “That’s what we need! It even matches the van! Let’s just go look at it?” OK!

Two hours later, we leave and go to Mike’s to think about it. Well, had it been just an ugly trailer, I wouldn’t have been on board. This one has a mattress that can be folded in half and leaned against the wall, heat/air, and outlets... It matches the van... and can store all the luxuries of home we don’t have room for, including at least two kiddos at a time! So, you’ve guessed by now—we have a room addition to our cozy home!

After spending three days with Mike and Heidi, we headed north to their cherry orchard in Bigfork, MT. We have been here over a week. The location is across from Flathead Lake and an hour from Glacier National Park. We did a wonderful hike at Glacier. There is still quite a lot of snow there. Mike just arrived this morning, and Heidi is coming up tomorrow. Tim was busy mowing and trimming in the orchard this week. He’s going to help Mike with some plumbing tomorrow. We will go back to Missoula with them on Monday and head out to Wisdom, MT.

Been a great 10 days so far in MT!!

From Eye Roll to Extra Room: The Trailer Saga

Fishing, Foxes, and Fourth of July Fun

To the Potato State!