Travel from Marion to West Glacier, Montana

We drove our coach 64 miles, about 1 hour of driving, from Marion, Montana to West Glacier, Montana.

The map route, heading northeast:

Map route

Leaving the McGregor Lakes RV campground:

Leaving campground

US-2:

US-2

A barn:

Barn

An interesting building:

Interesting building

Crossing Flathead River:

Flathead River

We stopped at Woody’s Country Store for lunch; unusual in our coach, but I noticed that they have parking available for big rigs:

Coach parked at Woody's

Reserved parking

Woody's

Woody's

Woody's

Tasty BLT and excellent fries:

Lunch

Back to our coach:

Our coach

Paladin in the steps:

Paladin in the steps

Flathead River again:

Flathead River

Bridge

Hungry Horse; a place name that reminds me of a Hungry Horse restaurant I went to as a kid in New Zealand:

Hungry Horse

The Huckleberry Patch, where Jenn later got a huckleberry pie, pancake mix, etc:

The Huckleberry Patch

Our destination, Moose Creek RV Resort and B&B:

Moose Creek RV Resort

Approaching the office (a little narrow for a big coach):

Office

Jenn checking in:

Checking in

We unhooked our truck out front:

Unhooked truck

I drove the truck to our site, while Jenn drove our coach around a longer route, to avoid a sharp corner:

Coach approaching

Coach approaching

McGregor Lakes RV

We stayed at McGregor Lakes RV in Marion, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A one-night stay, with a restaurant across the road.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-09-01
  • Check out: 2022-09-02
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temp at 87°F, low at 52°F
  • No real wind

Noise:

  • Some highway road noise,  train noise
  • Not much neighbor noise

Site:

  • #4, pull through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; we left it connected, since only staying one night
  • Somewhat level
  • Medium site: about 90 feet long by about 30 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
    • Didn’t connect water or sewer, since only one night
  • Picnic table and fire pit on grass
  • A few small trees

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 9-25 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • AT&T: no service
  • Verizon: no service
  • T-Mobile: no service
  • Campground Wi-Fi: limited, not used

Amenities:

  • Dumpsters
  • No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice spot for a quick stop

We stayed here one night on our way to Glacier. Our site was reasonably level, and it was easy access to the highway but without any road noise. Having the lodge restaurant across the street was very nice on a travel day. We camped at McGregor Lakes RV in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

A video of the bedroom slide coming out:

Paladin in the steps:

Paladin in the steps

View across the road:

View across the road

The Lodge:

The Lodge

The Lodge:

Lake view:

Lake view

Food:

Food

Food

Sunset:

Sunset

Sign:

Sign

Other sites

A good idea; using a bucket to carry a water softener (something I plan to get one day):

Water softener in bucket

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Travel from Athol, Idaho to Marion, Montana

We drove our coach 170 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Athol, Idaho to Marion, Montana.

The map route, heading northeast then southeast:

Map route

Our coach:

Our coach

Our coach

Getting ready to hook up our truck:

Our coach

We used the dump station on the way out of the campground, since we didn’t have a sewer:

Dump station

Dump station

Entering US-95:

US-95

Roadworks:

Roadworks

A barn:

Barn

Paladin not overly concerned:

Paladin

Jenn changed the settings on the TV, and now the mirrored GPS is in color instead of grayscale. Yay!

GPS on TV

Jenn driving:

Jenn driving

US-95 bridge over Lake Pend Oreille:

US-95 bridge over Lake Pend Oreille

A train station:

Train station

North of Lake Pend Oreille is a town called Ponderay, which is how the lake is pronounced:

Ponderay

A Pringles snack while driving down the road:

Snack

A seaplane:

Seaplane

Canada or Kalispell; hint, not going to Canada (yet; probably in a few years):

Canada or Kalispell

Entering Montana, and Mountain Time Zone:

Entering Montana

A stream:

Stream

Kootenai River:

Kootenai River

Car on a pole in Libby:

Car on a pole

Bird on a pole:

Bird on a pole

Bees!

Bees

Middle Thompson Lake:

Middle Thompson Lake

McGregor Lake:

McGregor Lake

Our destination for one night, McGregor Lakes RV Park:

McGregor Lakes RV Park

Travel from Plymouth, Washington to Athol, Idaho

We drove our coach 217 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Plymouth, Washington to Athol, Idaho.

The map route, heading northeast:

Map route

Since we didn’t have a sewer hookup at Plymouth Park Campground, we used the campground dump station on the way out:

Dump station

Leaving the campground:

Leaving the campground

A stowaway spider inside:

Spider

Skoolie:

Skoolie

Bikers:

Bikers

Bridge:

Bridge

Exit towards Spokane:

Spokane exit

Paladin:

Paladin

Passing Coyote Run RV Park, where we stayed one night on the way home from Yellowstone last year:

Coyote Run RV Park

Coyote Run RV Park

US-395:

Yellow

Exit to a rest area:

Exit

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin:

Paladin

Back on US-395:

US-395

I-90:

I-90

Sprague Lake:

Sprague Lake

Petro truck stop:

Petro truck stop

Truck stop

Some interesting (but gloomy) architecture in Spokane, Washington:

Spokane, Washington

Spokane, Washington

Paladin again:

Paladin

Welcome to Idaho:

Welcome to Idaho

Farragut exit:

Farragut exit

Farragut State Park:

Farragut State Park

Checking in:

Checking in

Paladin on the dash, driving to the campground:

Paladin

Plymouth Park Campground

We stayed at Plymouth Park Campground in Plymouth, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Spiders!

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-08-24
  • Check out: 2022-08-27
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 96-99°F, lows around 63-66°F
  • A little wind

Noise:

  • No road noise or train noise
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #32, pull through, asphalt
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Fairly level
  • Large site: about 90 feet long by about 90 feet wide
  • Partial hookups:
    • 50 amp power conveniently located
    • Water not used due to boil notice (we arrived with full tank)
    • No sewer connection
  • Picnic table and fire pit on gravel
  • Large trees
  • Spiders!

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 22-82 Mbps down, 8-16 Mbps up, 95 ms ping
  • Verizon: 0.1 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 800 ms ping
  • AT&T: 26 Mbps down, 13 Mbps up, 58-122 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: unknown

Amenities:

  • Dumpsters
  • No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Not for the Arachnophobic

This is a beautiful park, right along the Columbia River. When we arrived, we particularly enjoyed the large shade trees and green space at each site. However, when we woke up the next day, it was as if we’d spent the night in Mirkwood. Spiders. Spiders everywhere. All over our motorhome and tow vehicle. Every nook and cranny had spider webs and a resident spider (orb weavers, so not harmful, but still). Looking up at the trees, it was obvious that there was a major infestation as there were spiders hanging between every branch. I am not arachnophobic, but it really made me not want to sit outside. It’s probably just the time of year, and it may not be such an issue any other month, but it was really, really bad at the end of August. I spoke to another camper who had been planning on staying a week but was going to leave the next day because they didn’t want to deal with the spiders. I kind of wish we’d left earlier than planned as well. We knocked down as many as we could see before we left, drove over 200 miles, and are still dealing with them a couple of days later.

It should also be noted that they were having some issues with the water system at the park and issued a boil notice, so you need to be prepared with your own water supply before coming. If they resolve the water issue and the spider issue, I’d be happy to stay here again because it really was lovely otherwise. We camped at Plymouth Park Campground in a Motorhome.

The RV park maps:

Map

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

A bug:

Bug

Spiders!

Spider

Spider

Spiders

Spider

Spider

Spider

Spiders

Spiders

Spiders

Spiders

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Other RVs

Playground:

Playground

A nice campground… other than the minor detail of the spider infestation, and unavailable water and sewer.

Travel from Kelso to Plymouth, Washington

We drove our coach 231 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Kelso, Washington to Plymouth, Washington, with a stop in Woodland to get a new couch and cabinets installed (more on that later).

The first leg map route, heading south:

Map route 1

The second leg map route, heading south then east:

Map route 2

Since the first leg was less than half an hour, and we weren’t sure of the situation on arrival, we drove separately, i.e. without hooking up the truck to the coach:

Driving separately

After the installation, we continued down I-5:

Bridge

A rest area stop:

Rest area

RV passing:

RV passing

The I-205 bridge over the Colombia River:

Bridge

Entering Portland:

Entering Portland

Welcome to Oregon:

Welcome to Oregon

Driving along the Colombia Gorge:

Gorge

Paladin asleep in his safe space:

Paladin

A tunnel… not a huge amount of clearance there:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Gorge:

Gorge

Another rest area:

Rest area

Rest area

Wind turbines and a barge:

Wind turbines and arge

Dam:

Dam

Gorge

Paladin sleeping:

Paladin sleeping

Wind turbines (and dirty window):

Wind turbines

Irrigation:

Irrigation

I-82 bridge, crossing back into Washington:

Bridge

Welcome to Washington:

Welcome to Washington

Rail bridge:

Rail bridge

Plymouth Park entrance:

Plymouth Park entrance

Plymouth Park entrance

Approaching our site:

Our site

Little did we know of what was in store for us!

Brookhollow RV Park

We stayed at Brookhollow RV Park in Kelso, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A convenient stop.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-08-21
  • Check out: 2022-08-24
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 81-85°F, lows around 59-63°F
  • A little wind

Noise:

  • No road noise or train noise
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #13, pull through, cement
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked across road from coach
  • Level
  • Small site: about 50 feet long by about 35 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power conveniently located
    • 60 PSI water pressure; conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)
  • Picnic table on cement, no fire pit
  • One shade tree between each site

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 36-54 Mbps down, 3-6 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
  • Verizon: 30-60 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • AT&T: offline (we need a new SIM card)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Dumpsters
  • No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient Stop on I-5

We stayed here for a few nights while we had business in the area. It was quick and easy access to I-5, which was convenient. Looks to be mostly permanent residents, but the park is clean and tidy. A bit spendy for what it is, however. We camped at Brookhollow RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

RV park map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

We needed to park our truck across the road from our site:

Truck parking

Paladin in our doorway:

Paladin in doorway

Our site from the dike opposite:

Our site

Our site

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Our site

Our site

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Next to the RV park is the Brookhollow 55+ mobile home park:

Brookhollow mobile home park

Brookhollow mobile home park

Brookhollow mobile home park

Travel from Concrete to Kelso, Washington

We drove our coach 215 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Concrete, Washington to Kelso, Washington.

The map route, heading south:

Map route

Paladin looking a little concerned in the steps:

Paladin looking a little concerned in the steps

Rail bridge:

Rail bridge

Do you think they’d wash a 40-foot motorhome?

Car wash

Historic train:

Historic train

Entering I-5:

Entering I-5

Bridge:

Bridge

Paladin:

Paladin

Rest area exit:

Rest area exit

A nice rest area dump station:

Dump station

Dump station

Pink car:

Pink car

Bridges:

Bridges

Trains:

Trains

Seattle Space Needle:

Seattle Space Needle

Seattle:

Seattle

Seattle

Seattle Convention Center:

Seattle Convention Center

Seaplane:

Seaplane

Paladin on the back of my chair:

Paladin and David

Seattle traffic:

Seattle traffic

Green car:

Green car

Tacoma Dome:

Tacoma Dome

Paladin:

Paladin

Another rest area:

Rest area

Lunch:

Lunch

Paladin:

Paladin

Gee Cee’s Truck Stop, a nice fuel option on I-5:

Gee Cee's Truck Stop

Gee Cee's Truck Stop

Kelso exit:

Kelso exit

Arriving at the RV park:

RV park

RV park

RV park

Mount Baker day-trip

We took a six-hour day-trip around and up Mount Baker in northern Washington.

Here’s an interactive map of our route:

Our first stop was at the Acme Diner for brunch:

Acme Diner

Acme Diner

Acme Diner

Acme Diner

Acme Diner

Acme art:

Acme art

Continuing on:

Bridge

Our second stop was at the Glacier Public Service Center, where Jenn collected a cancellation stamp, and we got a paper map with local info:

Glacier Public Service Center

Glacier Public Service Center

Log

A one lane road:

One lane road

Next was Nooksack Falls:

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Nooksack Falls

Then up Mount Baker to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, a very picturesque area:

Mt Baker

Mt Baker

Wild Goose Trail

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Visitor center

Lake

View

View

View

Visitor center

Visitor center

Visitor center

Cancellation stamp

View

Visitor center

Visitor center

Gift store

And to the end of the road, Artist Point:

View

View

View

View

International Overlander:

International Overlander

View

View

View

View

View

View

View

An enjoyable day-trip.

Concrete / Grandy Creek KOA Holiday Thousand Trails

We stayed at Concrete / Grandy Creek KOA Holiday in Concrete, Washington. (Campground Reviews listing.)

An interesting hybrid park; about half of it has Thousand Trails sites, about half KOA sites. We stayed in a Thousand Trails site, so free for us. No sewer, and only 30 amp, but that’s fine for less than a week.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-08-16
  • Check out: 2022-08-21
  • 5 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 77-91°F, lows around 59-63°F
  • No significant wind

Noise:

  • No road noise or train noise
  • A little neighbor noise (kids and dogs), especially at the weekend

Site:

  • #23, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach (on gravel)
  • Not very level, sloped up at the back
  • Smallish site: about 55 feet long by about 30 feet wide
  • Partial hookups:
    • Only 30 amp power; conveniently located
    • 45 PSI water pressure (we boosted from our tank); fairly conveniently located
    • No sewer connection
  • Picnic table, fire pit on gravel
  • Several trees for privacy

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 40-65 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • Verizon: 13-28 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • AT&T: offline (we need a new SIM card)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool; hot tub unavailable

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Close to North Cascades National Park

We stayed at this park with our Thousand Trails membership. It’s also a KOA, and each site is marked with a green or yellow utility box depending on which “side” you’re on. There are very few 50A full hookup sites allocated for Thousand Trails, and most of them seem to be taken by seasonals, so we were stuck with a 30A site that didn’t have a sewer connection. Most of the sites seem to be electric/water-only. It was in the 90s while we were there, but luckily, we’d recently had SoftStartRV units installed on two of our ACs, so we were able to have them running even with the 30A connection. Between the narrow roads and the large trees jutting out into the roads, it was a little difficult driving and parking our 40′ motorhome. Once we got settled, the trees were nice cover from the heat of the day. They seem to be having severe staffing issues as the camp store was closed the whole time we were there.

On top of not having a sewer connection, the one and only dump station was out of commission for our entire stay. They finally opened up a sewer site (back in) for folks to dump, but what a hassle that would be. We waited until we left and made use of the excellent facilities provided at the next rest area on I-5. We camped at Concrete / Grandy Creek KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

The site was sloped up at the back, so the front was fairly high with the coach leveled. So I used the accessory step:

Step

An interesting tree on our site:

Interesting tree

The utilities — 30 amp power, 45 PSI water, and no sewer (at Thousand Trails campgrounds it’s fairly common to clip the check-out date to the power pedestal):

Utilities

To help the jacks get level, I added some plastic leveling blocks. The first time I’ve tried them with our coach. They are supposed to be rated to 40,000 pounds, but I’m not convinced:

Jacks

Somewhat crushed:

Jacks

The jack pads as we prepared to leave; sometime I’ll try again with a flat topper, to see if that helps:

Jack pads

After visiting North Cascades National Park (see a future post), I added the sticker for it to our slide:

David adding sticker

Our National Park stickers for the parks we’ve visited so far:

National Park stickers

The entrance:

Our destination

Entrance ranger station:

Our destination

Welcome:

Welcome

Cabins:

Cabins

Dog park:

Dog park

Laundry:

Laundry

Big jump pad for kiddies:

Jump pad

Playground:

Playground

Playground

Big board

Hot tub closed:

Hot tub closed

Swimming pool:

Swimming pool

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Mini golf

Grandy Creek:

Grandy Creek

Group campsite:

Group campsite

Maintenance barn:

Maintenance barn

The dump station was closed due to a pipe leak:

Dump station closed

Other RV sites:

Other RV sites

Other RV sites

Other RV sites

Other RV sites

Other RV sites