![]() The green tugboat perched on her saltwater trailer was the talk of the campground and only the second boat to stay the night this year. At 6 pm we decided that we were too tired and elected to stop for the night at Harden, Montana at a KOA. After a quick lunch, we pushed on hoping to make Sheridan, Wyoming to meet Norb Hattendorf whom we had an email conversation with about boating. She was definitely out of the apprenticeship stage of boat trailer driving. Laurie drove from there and in the next 90 minutes crossed a huge pass and we traversed the Continental Divide. After Missoula, we stopped at Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historical Park at Deer Lodge, Montana for a short tour of the largest ranch in Montana during the late 1800’s. We were on the highway at 0830 hours and an hour later were getting gas in Missoula, Montana. Mountains to Plains Photo: the Corn Palace in South Dakota On the first day, we drove about 450 miles, the trucked earned 9.1 miles to the gallon and our speed was mostly 50 to 55 miles per hour. It was a day of several firsts: Boots had spent more than an hour in the truck, Laurie drove the truck and trailer for the first time over some scary passes in Idaho, the Tug had never been on the road longer than an hour and never east of the Cascades. We were all tired and though we had stopped for gas twice, Ellensburg and Post Falls Idaho, lunch at the rest area in Ritzville and one rest stop, it was still a long day. We drove to 6 pm and found a Forest Service campground near Missoula Montana. Seattle traffic was maddening of course and we were glad to clear Issaquah and head east on I-90. For the rest of the day, I watched those bearings and checked their temperature with an infrared thermometer at every stop because excessive heat is often the first symptom of a major problem. ![]() We checked that there was sufficient grease in the bearing and with no charge by the garage we were off an hour later. Their conclusion was that the brakes had overheated in the stop and go traffic, causing the grease to heat and liquefy where it oozed past the grease seal. We limped cautiously to a nearby tire store where they pulled the wheel, did an inspection, and determined that nothing was amiss. Soon the grease was gone and the brakes cooled, so the smoke was gone. We pulled to the shoulder and I saw liquefied grease coming from the front wheel hub and this dripped on the hot disc brakes. We had our first challenge at the beginning of the second hour on I-405 near Bothell when we saw smoke coming from one of the trailer brakes on the passenger side. The alarm went off at 0445 and both us did not sleep well due to the pre-trip anxiety, but we were up and working the last list that resulted in pulling out of the driveway at 0615 hours. We want to make progress, pace ourselves, yet not let the schedule become the trip. We travel best when we have a blend of predictable patterns with the opportunity for spontaneity. We will try for 500 miles a day with the first stop near Missoula Montana, the second night in Sheridan Wyoming, the third near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and then near Davenport, Iowa. We have a short-term itinerary and this seemed to work for us. We are gone physically but remain close, personal and accessible by the radio frequencies. Each of us had a cell phone and the Verizon aircard allowed the laptop to be connected to the Internet nearly all of the time. This trip was different for the others in the sense of connectivity. We have said the good-byes to family, friends and neighbors over the last few days. The Dodge Truck is lightly packed with the dinghy, traveling supplies and the support system for Boots, the cat. The boat is rigged for travel the trailer is greased and hitched to the truck. Laurie’s car is in the garage, a feat that has never occurred in the 22 years that we have lived in the Marysville house. ![]() The freezer and hot tub are shut down, the refrigerator is nearly empty, and the last of the garbage is ready to be put on the curb for the morning pickup. On the last evening before this massive trip, the house was ready for the exit.
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