Kalispell, MT

Wednesday, June 27.  Obviously, we didn't make it to Canada on Monday since I am writing here today.  As we were pulling out of Nola's yard Monday morning I noticed a crack in the driver's side windshield starting in the lower left corner and going diagonally up about 18 inches.  Upon closer inspection I saw the windshield had popped out of it's gasket and I could see through the gap!  Egads!  There was no way we were going to take the motor home into Canada like this.  We were afraid the windshield would pop out or shatter while we were going down the road.  That would not be fun!

I drove slowly out to the main highway and pulled over to make some phone calls.  After several calls we were able to set it up so that a local glass company would replace the windshield at no cost to us thanks to the incredible amount of insurance we pay for through State Farm!  Whew!  Bad thing is, the windshield had to be ordered from Portland to arrive in Spokane on Wednesday then overnighted to Kalispell on Thursday and installed on Friday morning.

I slid a dollar bill through the gap just so you would have an idea of what I'm talking about.  

See the crack starting below the Smog Cert.?  

We had been "Glamping" at Nola's house since last Thursday and our black tank was full and ripe.  Oh, glamping is "glamour camping," a phrase that was bandied about over the weekend.  I guess when you camp with all the luxuries a motor home has to offer you can't really call it camping now can you?  During one of our drives into Kalispell we noticed an RV park on the Flathead river so we called them and asked if they had availability.  Luckily they did.  We were able to get in and set up without losing the windshield, yay!

That's the Flathead river raging in the background, it is VERY HIGH!

Monday was a beautiful day but that evening it started to rain, and rain, and it rained all day Tuesday.  We drove up to Eureka, MT which is about 7 miles from the border crossing into Canada.  We wanted to find out more about taking the animals into Canada and back into the states.  Didn't really find out much more than we already knew.  We're not going to worry about it anymore, if we get in we get in, if not, then we go to Michigan through the northern U.S.  

When we got back to the RV park we noticed that water was beginning to accumulate in large areas around the park.  That evening 3 of the rigs in front of us were relocated to higher ground in case the large pools of water grew overnight.  They didn't but the ground is very soft and one rig got stuck in its' new location and had to be pulled out with a tow truck.  I'm glad we opted for a site away from the river and on higher ground.  The site we have backs up to a large green area where Jenny can run off leash which is great for her and less stress for us.  Here is a picture of the river, it is very high and is running very fast.  

That is a small berm at the river's edge.  It is doing a great job of keeping the river from overflowing into the RV park.  

We'll be here until Friday morning then we will head into Canada.  As to where, well our plans are still evolving.  July 1 is a big holiday in Canada, their equivalency to our Independence Day so every RV park I have called is booked solid through the weekend.  I'll keep trying until we get something somewhere.  Brian & Elaine Coggle in Leduc, AB (outside of Edmonton) have been great about trying to find something for us near them.  I'm hoping to find a park in a remote area that is not booked and stay there through the weekend then go up to Leduc to see B&E before heading to Michigan through Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

Stay tuned as the saga continues...