Clearwater, Montana to Helena, Montana

Bill left the camper early this morning, 7:15. He wanted to be able to do the MacDonald Pass later today. I took a quick shower and washed up the dishes and.....out of water! Looks like we'll have to be in a campground tonight. But that's okay, I was done anyway so stashed and secured everything and was on my way an hour later. It's very rural here and the small towns are barely towns at all. I found another place to park to wait. It was a big square space outlined with the concrete dividers you see on the highway. It was right next to a store, so I thought I was okay. Turned out it was part of someone's driveway! Oopsie! So I moved. Bill pedaled up and we discussed the next leg of the route. He has had to keep moving today as the rain has been following him all morning. The mountains are just beautiful here. I continued on this quiet road heading toward Elliston,the town just before MacDonald pass. The weather was still misty and rainy and I needed gasoline badly. The Garmin said there was a Sinclair station there in seven miles so I continued on my way. I had visions of a big truck stop with lots of parking....it wasn't like that at all! LOL! It didn't even have the word Sinclair on it anywhere! So I drove past it then realized my error. I found a place to turn around and pulled in. Now this trailer is a little tricky to get into most gas stations so Bill has done that part for me. But this one was just a drive up, no overhangs, no parked cars to dodge so I did it myself! I guess I'm becoming a bad mama jama! LOL! So when Bill arrived, he was surprised that he didn't have to drive it up and put gas in. We made some lunch and looked at the large black clouds over the MacDonald Pass up ahead. As we ate lunch, it seemed to brighten up a little but I suggested he put on his raincoat for the trip and he was off.

I secured everything and left a few minutes later. It was just a light rain when I passed him and he waved me on. Another 6 miles and I was at the top. Then the weather started getting interesting. I was parked in a pull off when heavy rain and wind started up and the truck and camper shook with each gust. The sign on the pole next to me was shaking in the wind and there were times when I couldn't see anything in the rear view mirror. About 40 minutes later, I saw him slowly coming up behind me. Just as he arrived, a State Trooper pulled up. I went over to the car and he asked if we were okay. I told him we were fine and what we were doing. Bill and I looked like a couple of drowned rats hollering over the wind thanking him for what he does. He was surprised and pleased and let me take his picture with Bill. I snapped the picture and while the rain and wind were pulling at my light jacket, I ran back to the camper to get a patch to give him.

I was concerned about Bill going down the other side as he can reach over 40 mph going downhill and the wind was fierce and the road was wet. Trooper Zufelt agreed and advised Bill to ride in the truck on the way down. I wanted him to have that ride, but I didn't want it to be his last. We'll be meeting the rest of the force tomorrow. We got to the bottom and headed for Lincoln Road RV Park so we would have wi-fi and be able to fill our water tank. Also, here is a picture from the ride up the pass 27 years ago, what a difference!

The sign is gone now and so is Frontier Land where this was taken.

So a big congratulations to Bill for making it up MacDonald Pass and a great big Thank-You to Trooper Zufelt for taking the time to make sure we were okay!

Keep the Thank-You Tour going by donating at Generosity.com