Day 04. North Fork, IDaho to Dillon, Montana. 124 miles.
We woke up late this morning. Must have been the incredible quiet of that amazing and remote valley, and perfect sleeping temperatures with our windows open at last, and snuggled cozily under the blankets. Even Maddie had a sound sleep!
By the time we got up, Dave and Robin were up and Dave had the coffee brewed and ready in the percolator on their stove top. Delicious, strong, coffee on the “stoep” (South African for “veranda”), while we chatted away in that cool, crisp, air. No traffic sounds! Birds chirping away. The only way this could have been even better was for a few elk to come on down the mountain, but not today.
No matter….this is the kind of place that my dreams are made of. Folks often laugh when I say that I’m an introvert, but I am! I’m a sociable introvert. I enjoy hanging out with close friends, but I need alone time to recharge the batteries. Karen, on the other hand, gets her energy from being with people. She does not do well being alone too long, even if I’m around. She loves to be with her people! We’ve learned to compromise, but the conclusion here is that no matter the beauty of this place, it’s not for us, as Karen would not be happy.
Anyway, after a delicious breakfast of scrambled egg, fried potatoes and salsa, we played with the dogs on the front lawn. Maddie loved playing soccer with Dave and myself. Their doggie, Goose, is a 17-year old Jack Russel! Still pretty energetic for the age!
Dave then showed me their solar shed with all their inverters and batteries and the panels outside generating the power they need to be fully offgrid.
Then we moved on to his huge workshop/garage, where he stores his GM Prowler, a very Southern Californian custom styled car that GM produced for a couple of years, with real swoopy styling. We laughed like hell at his story of a high speed run he made in that car, with his buddy, Art, in the passenger seat. I won’t go into details here, to protect the innocent! 🙂
After that, we started to pack up to get on the road for the last leg of our trip, to Dillon, Montana, where we’d booked a month stay at a little RV park recommended by our friend Julie in Yuma.
We said a begrudging goodbye and thanks to Dave and Robin for being such gracious and generous hosts. We had an absolutely awesome time with them despite the short stopover visit. I’m sure we’ll see them again before we both head South to Yuma for the next winter season!
So on the road again, retracing our steps for a a few miles until the main gate, and then turning North on the 93 to head up to the Summit instead of back to Salmon. At the summit, we turned East onto the 43 towards the little town of Wisdom in Montana.
Soon after getting on the 43, we came across a sign pointing to the “Big Hole National Battlefield” on the left. We turned into the access road to see what this was all about. It turns out that this beautiful, lush, valley was the location of an ambush by Colonel John Gibbon, on the morning of August 9, 1877, against the Nez Perce people who were resting at this spot. Between 60 and 90 of the Nez Perce men, women and children were killed before the Nez Perce retreated and regrouped, mounting a counter-attack on Gibbon and his men, and killing 31 and wounding 39 soldiers. The graves are still there today.
After the Big Hole site, we then turned off the 43 and onto the 278 at Wisdom, heading South-East to Jackson towards the I-15, where we would end the trip at our campground for the next month, Countryside RV Park, in Montana.