We're almost home...Montana-2 parts

[4buckeye]

Even though we're home already, we felt "almost" home on this leg of our journey....
Montana, which we loved, deserves multiple links. We did Glacier, Hungry Horse last year, this year was dedicated to more southwestern MT. We are in love with this state. (almost as much as Colorado.)


Montana- Chapter 1....

http://www.4buckeye.blogspot.com/2013/10/montana.html


Montana- Chapter 2....

http://www.4buckeye.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-rest-of-montana.html

 

[Riverrunner]

Montana might be nice...but I hope they have better beer than just PBR!

I've enjoyed your adventures and good luck in whatever the future holds for you guys.

 

[4buckeye]

Montana might be nice...but I hope they have better beer than just PBR!

I've enjoyed your adventures and good luck in whatever the future holds for you guys.

Haha....believe it or not, that was my first time ever having a PBR and hopefully last! Usually drinking a good micro brewed IPA. Did try McMenamin's Hammerhead while out in your neck of the woods too....not bad.

I'm glad you've enjoyed it....we definitely are eager to move out somewhere....actually just sent a resume out to Ashland, Oregon....we shall see.

 

[ski3pin]

Once again, we have enjoyed you sharing your travels with us! Best of luck with your changes and possible move west. The Lady has had some of her past players move to Montana with volleyball scholarships for college. You know it, we had to climb up to the big M in Missoula.

 

[Foy]

You visited my favorite neck of the woods--southwest Montana. There is in fact some mighty fine beer made in Missoula: Big Sky Brewing produces a variety of products there. Next time you're there, be sure to go to The Oxford, a 24/7/365 restaurant & bar where they don't have locks on the doors since they never close.

My wife and I have schemed about moving to Missoula one day. Last trip, in 2011, I about had her convinced to find a job and an apartment in town and I'd spend the summer in the truck camper over on Rock Creek, where she could come for a visit on weekends. Didn't quite get the persuading completed, though.

Interesting you were told about the difficulty of reaching Lemhi Pass. In reality, from the ID side, there is a knarly route (Agency Creek Rd) and an easy route (Warm Springs Creek Rd). The latter is "Camry-rated" and has the additional advantage of going by Sharkeys Hot Spring.

I'd be interested to hear about your truck's transmission issues. Mine is similar or exactly the same: an '02 F350 diesel single rear wheel with a 4R100 automatic. It sometimes upshifts HARD into 3rd, but mostly when it's still cold in the mornings. Feel to PM me to keep this fine thread from going adrift.

I'm very much enjoying the posts and pics.

Foy

 

[Riverrunner]

Haha....believe it or not, that was my first time ever having a PBR and hopefully last! Usually drinking a good micro brewed IPA. Did try McMenamin's Hammerhead while out in your neck of the woods too....not bad.

I'm glad you've enjoyed it....we definitely are eager to move out somewhere....actually just sent a resume out to Ashland, Oregon....we shall see.

We have good beer in this state...and lots of it! One of my favorite McMenamin brew's is a combo of Ruby and Terminator aka Rubinator. No reason to ever drink PBR in these parts.

Gotta love Ford trannys...I've been lucky, 150K on the orignal. When I bought the truck (55K miles) I installed a temp gauge and an additional 20K aux cooler. I'm pretty sure that is what has made last as long as it has. They can get real hot creeping around the back country.

 

[takesiteasy]

Enjoyed the report. Good luck with your hoped for move. I sometimes think how nice it would be to live in the west. But then, we live in a pretty nice spot too.

 

[4buckeye]

Once again, we have enjoyed you sharing your travels with us! Best of luck with your changes and possible move west. The Lady has had some of her past players move to Montana with volleyball scholarships for college. You know it, we had to climb up to the big M in Missoula.

Ski- thanks! Of course you did the M!!

 

[4buckeye]

You visited my favorite neck of the woods--southwest Montana. There is in fact some mighty fine beer made in Missoula: Big Sky Brewing produces a variety of products there. Next time you're there, be sure to go to The Oxford, a 24/7/365 restaurant & bar where they don't have locks on the doors since they never close.

My wife and I have schemed about moving to Missoula one day. Last trip, in 2011, I about had her convinced to find a job and an apartment in town and I'd spend the summer in the truck camper over on Rock Creek, where she could come for a visit on weekends. Didn't quite get the persuading completed, though.

Interesting you were told about the difficulty of reaching Lemhi Pass. In reality, from the ID side, there is a knarly route (Agency Creek Rd) and an easy route (Warm Springs Creek Rd). The latter is "Camry-rated" and has the additional advantage of going by Sharkeys Hot Spring.

I'd be interested to hear about your truck's transmission issues. Mine is similar or exactly the same: an '02 F350 diesel single rear wheel with a 4R100 automatic. It sometimes upshifts HARD into 3rd, but mostly when it's still cold in the mornings. Feel to PM me to keep this fine thread from going adrift.

I'm very much enjoying the posts and pics.

Foy

We love Big Sky Brews! We also tried some Kettle House Brews (I liked Double Haul IPA) and some of Tamarack's as well. Missoula is awesome....keep working on your wife! ;-)

As far as Lemhi Pass, we took the Agency Creek Road from the Idaho side.

The tranny wasn't having problems until a bit too much fluid got put in before we left and loosened that seal (which we ended up having replaced (which was replaced with the wrong size) and it blew). As Riverrunner said, we believe if we had had a temp gauge this all may have been avoided. Definitely different driving in the mountains than Ohio, and doesn't take much to heat up. We plan on having a gauge installed before anymore mountain climbing in the future.

 

[4buckeye]

We have good beer in this state...and lots of it! One of my favorite McMenamin brew's is a combo of Ruby and Terminator aka Rubinator. No reason to ever drink PBR in these parts.

Gotta love Ford trannys...I've been lucky, 150K on the orignal. When I bought the truck (55K miles) I installed a temp gauge and an additional 20K aux cooler. I'm pretty sure that is what has made last as long as it has. They can get real hot creeping around the back country.

Definitely....we contemplated at least having a temp gauge installed while we were in CA...I'm just glad we made it home without any more problems. Temp gauge and a cooler are on the list.

 

[4buckeye]

Enjoyed the report. Good luck with your hoped for move. I sometimes think how nice it would be to live in the west. But then, we live in a pretty nice spot too.

Thank you! I know what you mean, where we live (even though we are surrounded by flat cornfields) we have many metro parks that are amazing. Just took the dogs down to Oak Openings (http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metro/parksandplaces/index.asp?page_id=510) yesterday and the colors area phenomenal. But....we still would love to be out west permanently!