White knuckle drive

After the Caverns we took the long way back to Ennis, going through Virginia City again, over the hill and down into town. We tried to find a place to fish but all the rivers are high and wide. We did stop at a little town, found a city park and spread the blanket out by a river and took a well needed nap. I found a fishing hole with lots of fish outside of Virginia City but it was for kids only. That's all I need was to get caught without a fishing licence and fishing in waters closed to adults.



We hooked up and headed out on the 8th. On the way we decided to stop and stretch our legs and I figured this was a good place to get a photo of what our rig looks like going down the road. A nice backdrop of the mountains would look good. As I backed up to get this shot I realized that the big dark spot in the rocks was the huge opening of a cave. Not sure if it's a mine or what.

We continued down the road and went through Anaconda, Montana looking for the "Georgetown Lake Road" that Jackie had got directions to our next stop. We found the road and took it real slow because it was a very narrow dirt and gravel road. It just kept going and going and going until we came to across a "Y" with no idea of which way to go. We stopped a car and the man said that "Piney" campground was just a short ways up the road just before you start up the hill. Off we go again and found the hill but no campground. We hit pavement and thought "good we must be close", and then back to dirt and gravel again. We finally came to an intersection with a sign to our campground.

We pulled in, set up camp, had a cold one and just relaxed. Come to find out that we should have taken the second "Georgetown Lake road" that was all pavement and just 6 miles from the main road. We ended up going all the way around the lake, and getting the truck and trailer dirty to boot! It was a huge lake.

Here is a picture of part of the lake with our campground to the right of center.

While there we visited the little town of Philipsburg and toured the streets, both blocks and then went back to Anaconda to do get some groceries. Checked out several camping places but most Forest Service sites are too small for us.
On the 10th we pulled out heading for Missoula to get some work done on the suspension of the 5th wheel. We got there just at lunch time so had to wait for them to finish and also to complete work on another rig. Finally got ours into the shop when the wind picked up and turned the inside of the building into a dust storm. Yes, we had all the doors and windows open. Still trying to get it out.

It took them about 2 hours to do the work then we were able to get out of town. Our destination was Lewiston, Idaho but we decided to only go part way because it was getting late and I was tired of driving. We got off I90 onto highway 12 and headed to Lolo summit where there is a visitor center and large parking area. We found a place to park and spent the night there. Our elevation was about 5200 feet and it got down to about 40 at night.

Up early, had a shower, breakfast and headed down the big hill. Lewiston is about 700 feet of elevation so had a long drop on a road that was narrow and it followed the river all the way here so it was really one curve after another. We did stop a few times to rest and here is one of the pictures of the river. I did have white knuckles on this one. Jackie said the river was beautiful on the way down. Did see a few deer on the way down, not what you want when you come around a corner at 50MPH with no place to go.

Finally reached Lewiston and we are camping at Hells Gate State Park. We got in only because there was a cancellation just before we arrived. Turns out nearly everyone else in our loop (B) is a member of the church that Jackie's nephew and his wife, Jim and Shelley, are members of. They have a "family camp" every year here. Jim and Shelley are not here this year because Shelley gave birth to Morgan just three days ago (9th).

Still trying to figure out the best way to get out of Lewiston and get back to Ephrata. No matter what way you go there are some big hills to climb. Hopefully I will have it figured out before we pull out of here next week. In the meantime, we'll be visiting with Jim and Shelley and also Jackie's sister Teri and her family. We'll include info on that in our next post.