Arriving in Missoula, MT

Greetings from Missoula, MT

How did you end up in Missoula, MT? you are asking??? The journey began on Saturday, Sept 19. We left Beachwood (Birch Bay) at 7:55 p.m. We stopped and got gas at the Grandview station and then for groceries at Winco in Marysville. We then drove, uneventfully to Indian John Rest Area (just east of Snoqualmie Falls). Spent the night there. Got up and drove pretty uneventfully to Lewiston. We noticed that climbing hills seemed to be a challenge. We arrived in Lewiston Sunday afternoon and spent the evening with Brandon and his family. We shared a delightful dinner of a Greek pasta salad along with grilled fish - yummy!

Monday Ron and I slept in and then went on a ride to Clarkston where we checked out Costco, bought some more groceries and then went on a ride around the surrounding area. It was a beautiful day. In the evening Brandon, Danalyn, Max and Christopher came for dinner at the motor home. I made a green salad, BBQ pork sandwiches and macaroni salad.

Tuesday morning we got up early and went over to the kids' house to do laundry before heading back on the road. The motor home was "gasping for air/fuel" so we decided to have it checked out ~ after replacing the fuel filter we were back on the road. We left Lewiston about 1:45 p.m. planning to drive to Missoula for the night. As we climbed the Lolo Mountain Pass the motor home really began acting up ~ like it couldn't get gas. After struggling for about an hour we decided to just pull off the road for the night. It was 6:30 and was going to get dark soon. We hadn't been pulled over for more than 15 minutes when two men showed up wanting to know if everything was okay. They had gotten a call that we had gone over the side ~ fortunately we had not, just quit going!

I made dinner of hamburgers and green salad and by then it was 8:00 p.m. and pitch black outside. With nothing else to do we went to bed. We had to sleep with our feet at the head of the bed due to the level (we were on an uphill slant) but we slept well. Woke up about 6:45 this morning and watched the sun come up over the mountain - it was beautiful.

After a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese, Ron got the Explorer off the trailer and we drove to Lolo Pass Summit. Ron called our insurance and they arranged everything for the tow truck to come and get us. After the tow truck arrived we were informed he could not pull the trailer behind the motor home so we left it locked at the gravel pull out. We followed the tow truck with the motor home the 47 miles into Missoula. After a lengthy discussion with the mechanic they ordered the fuel pump for the motor home. It arrived at 5:30, just in time for closing. So we are staying at the car dealers for the night. They graciously let us plug into electricity so the fridge is running on electric power and we have internet so I could get caught up on emails and post to the blog.

The plan for tomorrow is the techs will put in the new fuel pump first thing in the morning. We then drive the motor home back to pick up the trailer. You might be asking why didn't we tow the trailer behind the Explorer - wrong hitch! Once we pick up the trailer we will come back to the car dealer's to pick up the Explorer and put it on the trailer for us to continue our journey.

Some random thoughts - the scripture for today: "I am guiding you in the way of wisdom, and I am leading you on the right path." Prov. 4:11 God's reminder to me that He is the one in control and guiding our path. His path may not be the one or the way I think it should be. Ron also said " God is good, we have had no accidents, we have a safe place to park (two nights in a row) and we are both healthy."

So ends day 4 of our 11 week vacation. Stay tuned for more to come. Alice