Lima Montana Tour
We woke up to most sunny skies this morning and a cool 42 degrees F. It is now 53 with an afternoon forecast in the lower 60’s.
As promised we will go back to day where we spent the night in the Lima Montana rest area and take a tour of the Lima business district.
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Today’s Mileage: 197
Total Miles to Destination: 1487
We arrived at our destination for the summer at 12:38 Pacific Day Light Time. We had a tour of the RV park were setup by around 2:30 PM. Mik no sooner got his walk, discovering that there are tree squirrels here, when it started to rain. The current outside temperature is 42 degrees F. The rain is steady and looks as if it will continue for a while.
Currently we are planning to stay here three months. I will not be posting everyday but check back from time to time to see our day trips. Also I will be posting more on Lima Montana in a few days, sooner if the rain continues.
Today’s Mileage: 238
Total Miles to Date: 1291
Remaining Miles to Destination: 195
Today’s drive was a little trying due to strong crosswinds and rain. Outside temperature started out 44 degrees F and made it to 58 degrees F.
At lunch, I had to change into a warm long sleeve shirt and long jeans.
We will be spending the night at Bretz RV & Marine dry camping as it is free. We filled propane tank for 99 cents a gallon, the main reason for stopping here, plus purchased a few RV supplies.
Last evening I spent more time documenting the town of Lima. I should get around to editing the video next week so look for it in an upcoming posting.
Today’s Mileage: 255
Total Mileage to Date: 1063
Revised remaining mileage to destination: 422
We left Willard Bay, Utah around 9:10 AM this morning and arrived at Lima, MT around 2:30 PM. We had left the last of the big cities, Salt Lake City, behind and within a half-hour we were finally in the sparsely populated northwest.
We had originally planned to overnight at Clark’s Canyon Reservoir; however we encountered a strong cross wind as we crossed over the Idaho / Montana border. Lima, a town we have stayed at before was just 15 miles up the road, so we decided to check out the new rest area that we observed from the highway last year.
The rest area is in town with ample parking to spend the night dry camping. It is far enough from the interstate so road noise should not be factor. Of course we could end up with an eighteen wheeler beside us running its engine or reefer all night. We do have the rain CD if that happens.
Lima is what I describe as a typical Montana town, several blocks long, a main street and one street running parallel to the main street plus a railroad.
Lima is on the Red Rock River fifteen miles from Monida Pass, which separates Montana from Idaho. The community was originally called Allerdice; then, when a station of the Utah and Northern (Union Pacific) was built there, it was called Spring Hill. The name Lima was chosen by Henry Thompson for his home, Lima, Wisconsin. The first post office was established in 1889 with William Bernstein as postmaster.
Lima is Montana’s first railroad town. Established as a division point on the Utah & Northern Railroad in 1880, the town included a substantial depot, roundhouse, machine shop, and a vibrant business district along the tracks that consisted of hotels, restaurants, stores, and saloons. Two churches ministrant to the community’s spiritual needs. In 1889, the Utah & Northern and the Oregon Short Line railroads merged. The Union Pacific absorbed the railroad in 1935. Lima also enjoyed an important position on US Highway 91 in the twentieth century. Along with the old establishments of the railroad era, new businesses, such as motels and service stations, joined them along the highway.
Downtown Lima
The old and somewhat new
Today we are taking a driving break and are just relaxing in the Willard Bay State Park.
Willard Bay rests atop the Great Salt Lake flood in northern Utah. The lake’s 9,900 acres of fresh water provides boating, water-skiing and year round fishing for crappie, walleye, wiper and catfish.
There are two RV Parks one at the south end of the lake and the other at the north end. The RV parks have full hookups and are shaded by cottonwood and a few other species of mature trees. The only down side is that the parks are located along side of I-15. Traffic noise is on the side 24 hours. Fortunately we had a CD of rain falling that we played during the night to mast the traffic noise.
Our Camp site
Eagle Beach
Willard Reservoir
Marina
Today’s Mileage: 285
Total Mileage to Date: 808
Miles to Destination: 566
Well I guess it is safe to safe that we that we have left summer behind in Tucson as we woke up to 28 degrees F this morning.
We arrived at Willard Bay State Park around 3:10 PM. The current temperature is at 4:30 PM is 69 degrees F. Willard Bay is 15 miles north of Ogden Utah, close to where our son was stationed at Hill Air Force Base, more on Willard Bay State Park tomorrow.
We will spend two nights here. This will provide me with a driving break, allow us to observe the solar eclipse tomorrow and ensure that I have TV reception to watch the latest Jesse Stone movie Sunday night.
Days 1 & 2
Our summer travel this year will be somewhat different from our past travels. This year we plan on staying three months in one place near Coeur D’Alene Idaho. We left yesterday and spent the night in our usual first stop Cameron, AZ located on the Navajo Reservation. Cameron and the trading post have been well covered in our previous travels so I will not bore you with repeat dialog.
We are spending the second night at another usual stop, the junction of US 89 and Utah State Route 20. It is the sight of an old trading post. There is a large parking area and fellow travels often spend the night as the price is right, free.
The current temperature is 41 degrees F, a far cry from the 101 degrees F that we left in Tucson. We most likely will need to run the furnace tonight.
So far we have covered 523 miles of 1500 miles to our destination. Now that we are in the cooler weather, we will slow down the daily mileage.
We have traveled this route many times before on our way to points north so this year’s travel blog will be somewhat abbreviated especially since we will be spending many days in the RV Park just relaxing which translates to burning much less diesel.
Our goal is to arrive at the RV Park no later than May 24th in order to avoid the Memorial Day holiday three day weekend traffic.
Last night’s dinner was at the Cameron Trading Post. Raija had her favorite, Navajo stew with Navajo fried bread. I had Navajo beef with gravy, a large green chili served on Navajo fried bread. The portions were large so we will be having the leftovers for diner tonight.
Crown King Fire taken from Sunset Point Rest Area I-17
Fresh Snow – May 18th
We arrived at US 89 and Utah State Route 20 around 2:30 PM. We completed setting up by 3:00 PM when the sky darken and the wind started to rock the coach and then we were in a driving rain. About an hour and half later the clouds lifted and mountains to the west of our camp site that were bare when we arrived were covered with snow.
At least the rain cleaned the bugs off of the windshield saving me the effort of having to clean it in the morning.
