North to Montana 2016

We agreed to work in Montana again for the summer at the 7th Ranch RV Camp, where we had worked the year before.  Great bosses, a great park and amazing things to see and be closer to family for another summer.

Apr. 14 - Thursday  We took a different route this time, planning to take just a few days to get there due to a forecasted snow storm in Colorado.  The first morning we drove northeast of the Junction on Hwy 77 to Globe, then Hwy 60 through the Salt River Canyon to Show Low.  The elevation drop and driving up out the canyons were 6-8% grades, so we unhooked the car and I drove separately until we arrived in Show Low.  The canyon is very pretty and we stopped several times for the overlooks.

The road bridge at the bottom of the Salt River Canyon

An overlook view of the canyon

We stopped to have a lunch break in Show Low and then continued on Hwy 61 to St. Johns, on up Hwy 191 until we turned east.  Here we went over into New Mexico through Zuni Pueblo to Grants, NM.  This was planned to be our stop for the night, but it was only 5:00 PM so we decided to go on.  We had been watching the weather forecasts and the reports said that Denver and most of Colorado would have a severe winter storm beginning on Friday night and through the weekend.  So we decided to push forward and landed in Las Vegas, NM for the night.  There we stayed at the Elks Lodge in one of their RV sites.  One of our longer days of driving, 570 miles.

The next morning we got up early and hit the road.  The weather forecasts still predicted snow, so my Captain decided we would try to get through Colorado that day, destination Cheyenne,WY.  We got on I-25 and proceeded north.  We hit Denver at 12:30 and sailed on through with stops only for gas.  We arrived in Cheyenne at 2:30 and stopped.  We checked the forecast again and Cheyenne was to get snow overnight, so we went on thinking Casper would be better.  As we left Cheyenne there were light snow flurries, then rain as we went on through Douglas, WY.  Nearing Casper, the forecast again showed snow overnight.  We really did not want to have to scoop three inches or more of snow off the motorhome the following morning, so we decided to go further.  The forecast said Buffalo, WY - one hour north of Casper was just outside the storm swath, so we landed there.  The wind really picked up for the last hour drive, but we were glad to land in Buffalo with dry ground.  We stayed at an RV park there.  After setting up, we went out and found the brewery for supper and to celebrate our safe travel on I-25 of 710 miles that day!  This was clearly one of the most miles we have traveled in one day, and not normal for us, but we accomplished getting north of the storm and wasn't too hard on the driver.