Sept. 14, 2011 - It was a long day crossing the high plains of Montana on a narrow, two-lane road with a wide RV heading into an east wind. The loose steering wheel on the RV makes it a challenge to keep the vehicle in our lane. Tom was frustrated with RVing today. Our engine battery is dead every morning and Tom has to switch over to the RV cabin batteries to start the RV. We are not impressed with the Ford chassis (FORD = Fix or Repair Daily).
Montana is a wide state - 667 miles crossing on Highway 2. We were glad to get into North Dakota late this afternoon. We headed for Trent Lake to spend the night, but discovered that spring floods devastated the recreation area and closed it to camping. A young man fishing at the lake filled us in on the details of the area. The lake, a wide spot in the Missouri River, rose 6 feet during the flood. There were even white caps on the water over the road! He is working for the oil companies that are extracting oil in this area. He is from Minnesota and sends money back to his mother and sister. He reminded me of the young CCC men who worked after the Great Depression to send money home to their families.
We got back onto Highway 2 and found an RV park just down the road. We’re parked near the highway again tonight, but we’re glad to have a spot. With all the oil workers needing lodging in the area, we heard it would be hard to find a place. It’s late and we’re tired and hungry. We drove into Central Time at the Montana/North Dakota border. By the time we got settled and started dinner, we were eating about 8:30 pm. We needed a special boost tonight, so we put a favorite Leonard Cohen DVD into the player and actually ran our TV! It’s the first time that the TV has been on for this trip - eight days on the road.
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