Monday, August 13, 2012

Truckin' on Through Montana

You forget how far it is across Montana. It doesn't matter if you're going east to west or west to east, it takes forever!

We saw lots of stubble fields as we drove along I-94. It looks like harvest is pretty much finished in this part of the country. If you can judge by the thickness of the stubble, the crops were pretty good.


We're getting close enough to Spokane to start making doctor appointments and to look at getting in to get haircuts and maybe even a massage. I really like that Group Health lets you make appointments on-line. I was able to schedule our appointments, then send a secure email to our doc letting her know the date so that she could order lab work ahead of time. I also made appointments on-line for eye exams as well. I can hardly wait to get a new pair of glasses. Mine are really scratched up. I thought about doing it before we left last Fall, but didn't want to take the extra time.

I had to use the phone to call Forry's dermatology office and was quite surprised that I was able to get him in next week. Usually, appointments are two to three weeks out and we end up waiting around for them.

As we got closer to Big Timber, we noticed more and more haze in the sky. It really began to look smokey. It's hard to tell where the fires are as the smoke can travel for miles --


I'm sure glad we only made a reservation for one night at the Big Timber KOA.When you make a reservation on-line, the KOA web-site asks what kind of rig you have and what size it is, then shows you what sites are available for you. We had the choice of a 50 amp full hook-up pull through or a 20/30 amp pull-through site with water only. (The other sites they had listed all had red remarks saying they were not acceptable for us...) Since I knew we would be emptying tanks before we left Miles City and it was only going to be one night, I opted for the 30 amp site. The website also requires a deposit for the first night which we paid.

When we arrived here, the teenager in the office seemed skeptical about the 30 amp site and went for his manager. She insisted that the "fire marshal" did not allow them to rent 30  amp sites to big rigs that were designed for 50 amps... When I said we had been using 30 amp sites all across the United States, she made a rather sarcastic remark about "how they must not have fire marshals who know their jobs." She also remarked to the teenager that we should have known we wouldn't fit into the site we had requested...

We should have just kept going and found somewhere else to stay, but Forry was tired, so we paid them the additional $11 they wanted for their 50 amp site.

The teenager lead us to the site. The little grass there is is all dried out and there was quite a bit of trash on the site. I picked up several large pieces of paper and wrappers as I was guiding Forry in. The kid just sat on his golf cart and watched, didn't even offer take the garbage with him as he drove off. Then when I went to spray the water faucet with my bleach spray, I saw a pair of used surgical gloves laying there!

I don't know which disgusts me more, the idiot who carefully puts on gloves to empty his black water tank, then throws them on the ground for someone else to deal with, OR the campground operators who don't even walk their campsites after someone leaves to make sure they are clean!

Needless to say I will NOT be giving this campground a good review NOR will we ever stay here again!

It's too bad because we generally like staying at KOAs. Even the older ones have had very gracious, helpful and friendly staff and we've had clean campsites.

1 comment:

  1. So sorry for your experience at that KOA. We always get great comments here, and invariably someone will tell us about a particular KOA that didn't live up to standards. Trash and used gloves at your site...disgusting! Keith is constantly checking for trash in the sites and in the whole kampground. It should be that way everywhere! Hope your next experience is better!

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