Delivery Day & First Campsite

After two days at David Crockett, we moved next to Onondaga Cave State Park. It was pretty warm outside so the next day we took the cave tour as a way to enjoy the park and to cool off.  We also had enough time to do a load of laundry from our first week on the road. We needed to go fill up with gas while the trailer was unhooked so we also stopped at a Cracker Barrel nearby for a "Fried Chicken Dinner" with all the fixins!

Pictures from the cave are shown below.

Wow...this was a pair of weird weather days.  We drove through some of the most torrential rain we've ever encountered.  No wonder our campsite in Milford was still flooded.  We didn't get out of the trailer much at this stop because we pulled in late, and there was a fish-kill in the lake which caused the flies to be out in force.  This was a quick overnight stop then onward to the next campsite in Ogallalla, Nebraska.

During this leg of the trip we stopped at two important weigh points for the Oregon Trail pioneers.  The first was Chimney Rock, NE.  This tall rock formation could be viewed for many days by the wagon trains crossing the plains.  The museum shows historic artifacts from the trail and includes many maps of trail routes and a video presentation on the history surrounding the area.

We pressed on to Fort Laramie National Historic Site and took a bit of time to examine the history of this important frontier fort. Then we proceeded onward to our campsite in Casper Wyoming where we stayed in our trailer, down by the river.

This day is a lighter drive day so we are planning to spend about 3 hours in the Little Bighorn National Monument.

The Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery, explored and mapped unknown places in the American Northwest.  As the Expedition traveled up the Missouri River, Lewis, Clark, along with their guide and interpreter, Sacajawea, arrived at the headwaters of the Missouri on July 25, 1805.  They were the first white men to enter the confluence region, and they named the three rivers (west to east) for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin.  These three rivers flow together to form the Missouri just four miles from the present-day city of Three Forks, MT.  Their original campsite is estimated to be at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison rivers, now depicted on informational boards in the Headwaters State Park. See our photos of the site below. After lunch and a hike at the park we continued on to our campsite at Beavertail State Park for the evening.  As we turned off of I-90 to the park, we had to watch for the uncontrolled train crossing.  We heard at least a dozen trains over the course of the evening and early morning passing through the tunnel and along the Clark Fork river.

As we were driving through the Lolo pass area, we needed to find a rest stop for a little bit.  We saw a roadsigns for an Historic Ranger Station and took the exit.  We drove about 4 miles up the mountain and arrived at Remount Depot.  

The historic Remount Depot at Ninemile Ranger Station was established in 1930 when the Forest Service purchased the old Allen Ranch. The mission for the depot is to breed mules to assist with fire suppression. (This is the area featured in the book 'The Big Burn".) 

In the heyday, there were over 1500 animals at the station with 35 animal packers. Today 200 head make their way from all across Montana, northern Idaho, and some from Wyoming to spend their winters here.  The visitor center is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and a self-guided tour available any time of the year. 

We think this is a must see historic site!

We stopped for two nights at Steamboat Rock State park on Banks Lake.   This lake is formed by pumping water up from Grand Coulee Dam.  It serves as a primary reservoir for the Columbia Basin which is now a fertile farming area in Central Washington.   The bonus was we also were able to visit with family who live nearby.

For the round trip we covered a bit over 5200 miles.  After we got home I needed to clean up the trailer both inside and out.  We washed and waxed the trailer using some really great products for boats.  (See our link to the Oliver Outfitters list on Amazon.)

Given the mileage we put on the trailer, we also decided it was time to grease the suspension components. 

After the maintenance we then decided to put on the official name and hull number on the trailer, Galway Girl, Hull 505. We bought some of the same vinyl material that is used at the factory and used our Circuit to cutout the letters for the name and place them on the trailer. 

Check out the pictures below showing our parking pad with GiGi at home and my most recent mod adding in a waterproof holder for the 7 Pin Connector.  And remember...all the great accessories we've added are available on Amazon.