The Road Traveled....August 2010

We have now been on the road for 6 days…of which the beginning was extremely stressful for this traveler.  This is the inaugural journey for Lola and Lucy, our 12yr old Blue Russian/Siamese cats, …who appear to have met the challenge and are adapting. I, on the other hand was completely stressed out the first day – on arrival on our first night out we could not find them inside the RV. They had discovered an opening to get underneath the bed, one that we had not detected…and it may have been the smoothest ride, most likely for them. Every new noise within the RV, to the deployment of the slides, whistling teakettles, birds and the neighboring dog  has resulted in a mad dash for the other side of the bed – really what they want is to get ‘under’ the bed, but with the slide out, they are relegated to the wall side of the bed and throw a cat glare in my direction for putting them in this predicament in the first place. 

  

I am confident that they will survive, none worst for the wear…they now ride inside their kennels on top of the bed or, at least that is what I’m telling myself. Getting Lola out from underneath the bed is a chore, so we are looking for the best solution to closing the gap during travel.

 Lola is ignoring me....have attempted to get her to pose, but to no avail.

Spent two days in Kellogg, ID with our friends Pat and Mike Gaylord…friends of Mike for 30+ years and from whom we are getting educated on the RV life… they “retired” about 12 years ago after he survived a near fatal car crash…so they have paved the way and we are looking forward to traveling with them this coming winter and beyond.  While we were parked in their sideyard, the weather turned cold at night and after near freezing  our tookuses off, we ventured to Wal-E-World for a decidedly warmer blanket (note to self: --- put the down comforter in just for good measure next time out.)

We spent the past 2 days in Deer Lodge ,MT… a stop on our way to So Dakota – our goal destination. We toured the Old Montana State Prison, now a museum.

Entrance to the museum - Deer Lodge, MT

part of the massive toy collection - Playthings

Also, as a part of the museum is the "Playthings from the Past" museum, a re-creation of a small town - Cottonwood City, Desert John's Saloon Museum (the wood bar was shipped up the Missouri River and then overland during the Gold rush days) and is filled with artifacts of guns, whiskey flasks, cowboy and gambler gear.

Me and John in the Saloon

Cottonwood City Jail

if there's a jail-we capture the moment

(If you know us, we just like the 'idea' of jail...so we have many photos of our time behind bars. Given the destinations on this particular journey there may well be more sightings.)

I digressed...onto the museums, both prison and auto.This is most likely the only time in handcuffs one will see me in-twas the admission stamp for the 5 different museums.

Outside Desert John's...Mike was playing his part while I tried to stretch further than the actual length of my arm to snap this photo.

Mike's Paddy Wagon

 

 

just prior to entering the prison....operational from 1871 to 1979.

Mike as a guard

Once inside with book guide, you are on a self-guided tour of the prison museum with descriptions numbered and mounted along a neatly trimmed yard....this one to the right is the first one and describes how the wall was built with inmate labor and locally quarried stones to replace the board fence that had been standing since 1871-started in 1893, it was completed in 1894. The original prison opened in July 1871 with 14 cells, 9 prisoners were received, demolished in 1931 for the construction of an administration building

With overcrowding the new cell house building (left) was constructed in 1896 - in only a year, again using inmate labor. With 32 cells it housed 256 inmates.

We visited the solitary confinement areas of Siberia East & West, the bakery, the infirmary, intake lobby, the cellblock, warden's office and dining room. We even saw the gallows used...the whole experience left me grateful for my freedom.

Inmate Mike

 Another photo opportunity, inside the Montana State Prison. (Yes, photo's of me inside are available - on Mike's camera)

Now onto the fun part of this tour...120 automobiles, from Model A's & T's to 1960's Mustangs, GTO's, Barracuda's and Corvettes....they even through in some trucks, a 1930's tent camper and a amphibicar. We really enjoyed this part of the tour. The Prius isn't the first electric car as you will see below two earlier examples of environmentally progressive minds thinking into the future....

1928 Chrysler Imperial Roadster

Cool Old Cars

1974 Citicar Electric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1931 Detroit Electric Car

Below is a 27 sec video of a 1949 Hudson....the license plate at the end was worth the tour.....there is an arrow in the lower right corner of the photo frame

Come back and visit us as we travel the road traveled....