Drummond, Garrison, or Deer Lodge?

8:00 am - Saturday - July 26th - Deer Lodge, MT - 45° F, 71% humidity, wind - CALM.....crystal, clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 82° F.... the view this morning......

I was up by 6:30 am Saturday morning in anticipation of our departure from Kalispell.  TLE, on the other hand, arose around 7:30 am.  Nevertheless, we were rolling our wheels out of the Elks Lodge a little after 8 am on our way across the street to the Exxon station to utilize their free dump station to do just that.  Within 30 minutes the deed was done, and we were heading southbound on US-93  toward I-90.....

Just coming into Polson, MT at the southern end of Flathead Lake

.....the drive to I-90 is just over 100 miles passing through milles of beautiful  farmland.  Our Jello plan was to drive as far south on I-90 (I-90 is an east/west Interstate, however, this section goes north to south for quite a few miles) to Drummond, MT to park the Newell at a city park I found in the Days End directory (Escapees) providing water/electricity for $15/night.  I  did neglect, however to check to be sure the park was open, which TLE did do while we were underway only to find out that the park had been closed in late March due to the pandemnic, and was still closed......doh!

We pulled off US-93 just before the I-90 to work on plan 'B', and we both thought we had found a small RV park just south of Drummond in a small town called Garrison.  I called the park to be sure they had a space, and got their voice mail, so I left a message, and we continued our journey, this time on I-90.  About 10 miles out of Garrison I received a return call from the park advising they had 'no room at at the inn', so now we begin working on plan 'C' by pulling off the Interstate at the next Rest Area.  We finally find a park in Deer Lodge (Indian Creek RV Campground) which has one pull through space left fitting our 62' length.  I gave Kelsey my name, and we were back on I-90 within minutes.  She advised she might be at lunch when we arrived, and if so, we were to pull into site #67, and come in to pay at 2 pm.  We arrive at exit 184 (Deer Lodge) around 1:10 pm, and find, as expected, Kelsey at lunch until 2 pm, so we proceed to park in site #67 as instructed, and begin to set up.  

Our reason for coming to Deer Lodge was to visist my sister, Hilary, my brother-in-law, Bob, and girls Stephanie and Caroline at their second home located about 10 miles from paved roads on the Rock Creek Cattle Company property.  This is a beautiful, very upscale, destination vacation developement with an 18 hole golf course, a large restaurant, small country store, offroad driving, a large club complex with pool, jacuzzi, poolside restaurant, etc.  

By the time we had packed our overnight bags, and finished deploying the window awnings, and locked up the Newell it was 2 pm, and we were on our way for a two day vacation from her (after stopping in at the RV park office to pay for our stay, of course).  This is the first time since Christmas that we have not slept in the Newell.  It's about a 30 minute drive from the RV park to Rock Creek, and we arrived just before 2 pm to find Bob and Hilary having lunch at the poolside restaurant, so we joined them for some street tacos, and some brews.  By time we finished it was going on 4 pm, so we followed Bob and Hilary in their golf cart to their home (part of a duplex) where we deposited our belongings in the unit next to theirs.....

.......after depositing our belonging at our home for two days I left TLE with Hilary whilst Bob and I joined Caroline, her fiance (Jake), and their two cousins (Julian and Kiki) who were at the driving range.  Bob and I did not play golf with them, but just went along for the ride.....

 Kiki hitting an iron shot

 Julian hitting a fairway wood

......the kids only played 3 holes before it was time to head back home for pre-dinner cocktails, and then dinner at 7:30 pm at the Cattlemen's Club.......

 Stephanie and Kiki by the firepit prior to dinner

.....we headed over to the restaurant at 7:30, and were quickly seated at our alfresco table on the banks of Rock Creek....

 ......we sat talking, laughing, and consuming wonderful food and wine until almost 9:30 pm........

The aforementioned Rock Creek

.....after dinner we all convened at the outdoor fire pit for after dinner beverages, and more laughter (a lot of laughter) before calling it a day around 10:30 pm.......we haven't seen Bob and Hil since they visited us in Maine two summers ago.....way too long.....life is good!

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