Missoula, MT
Friday, September 20
Poor Tory was up all night coughing. Living in a 124 ft. home on wheels means we were all up listening to her cough throughout the night. I got out of bed at 4:00am to give her another dose of cough medicine, but it didn’t seem to touch whatever bug she has.
At 6:00am, I got out of bed to workout since I couldn’t sleep. It was cold outside until I got my blood pumping, but it was a beautiful view! A heavy fog hung over Holland Lake making it look mysterious beyond our campsite.
Meanwhile, Andi and Aden made breakfast for themselves — sausage, hashbrowns, yogurt, and applesauce — while Tory slept. I’m glad she was finally able to get some rest.
Around 9:00am, we left Holland Lake for Seeley Lake — about 25 minutes south in the Swan River Valley. While we drove, Andi and I talked about our travel plans the new few days. We hoped to get to Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho with enough time to sight-see and to scope out a good place for the kids and I to stay while Andi travels back to Minneapolis for work … which didn’t leave us much time to spend in Montana over the weekend. We felt torn over the abundance of gorgeous campsites along the Swan River Valley in Montana, but we were also itching to get to Coeur d’ Alene.
Before we made any travel decisions, we wanted to see Seeley Lake. The entire Swan River Valley is beautiful with so many camping options, so we wanted to see it for ourselves before deciding where to go next. We found a great spot along Seeley Lake to hang out for the day. Now that we had cell phone service, Tory and I did school while Andi talked with a fellow camper and Aden rode his scooter around the campground.
Andi took a few work calls and I blogged while the kids watched a cartoon. Then, we looked at the calendar and decided Idaho is where we wanted to spend next week. With that, we moved on from Seeley Lake (though it was beautiful) in favor of spending the night in Missoula. Andi called a KOA campground there and made a reservation for that evening.
With all the dry camping we’ve done in Montana (aka: no hook-ups), we noticed our RV batteries weren’t holding a charge like they should. Those batteries are responsible for powering the lights and running the refrigerator when we're not plugged into electricity. Andi did some research and decided to order a new set of house batteries from Batteries Plus+ in Missoula. He wanted to take time to replace them now vs. letting them die a slow death the farther we traveled this fall. So, on our drive into Missoula, we stopped by Batteries Plus+ to pick up the batteries for Andi to install in our rig. I’m thankful for Andi who handles all the maintenance care for our RV and our electric bikes. There’s so many little things he takes care of on a daily basis that keep us safely traveling on the road.
By the time we picked up the batteries and made our way to the KOA campground it was almost 7:00pm and we were all starving. For the fourth time on this trip, we chose to eat a nearby fast-casual pizza restaurant which is something we never do back home. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve eaten pizza this year and yet, that seems to be the theme of this RV trip across the northwest.
After dinner, we checked into the KOA Campground across the street and settled in for the night. As we pulled in, a couple in the campsite next to ours was having a romantic dinner alfresco … that is, until we pulled our rig right in front of their scenic view. Andi apologized which turned into small talk with the couple, of course. He and Aden are no stranger to making friends on the road.
Tory wasn’t feeling that great, so she and I stayed inside the RV playing Uno. She whooped my butt like always; that girl is one strategic card player!
Shortly thereafter, it was bedtime for all of us. Tomorrow, we planned to explore the city of Missoula.
