World United States Montana Missoula

FULLTIMING WITH SUE, JOHN AND ARNIE A Surprise Trip to Idaho and Montana

Missoula, Montana Jul 14, 2008

We departed Stanley on Tuesday and headed northeast on Idaho 75. It is a pretty road that hugs the Salmon River.

Route 75 Hugs the Salmon

As we headed east toward route 93 the landscape began to change from the tree covered mountains near Stanley to a more desert-like landscape.

We continued to follow the Salmon as we turned north onto route 93 and the landscape continued to become more arid. Route 93 climbed to the continental divide that serves as the Montana-Idaho border and we stopped for lunch shortly after cresting the summit.

Lunch Break on the Idaho-Montana Border

The scenery from the border to Missoula was mostly colored by rock variations rather than vegetation.

Changing Landscape

We drove about five miles west of Missoula to our stop at Jim and Mary's RV Park. It is a very well maintained park.

Missoula is a town of about 60,000 people and is home to the University of Montana. It's most prominent geological feature in Mount Sentinel

Mount Sentinel

on the eastern edge of town adjacent to the university. During our first day here there was a significant fire on the side of the hill that closed the trail up to the "M" that decorates it.

We found a pleasant trail system that runs along the Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula and out beyond Mount Sentinel. It was a great place to walk and jog. I had come here to run the Missoula Half Marathon, but managed to blow that by forgetting my timing chip in the motorhome and failing to make the start. I took out my frustration by doing a substitute run along the river.

Missoula also hosts a minor league baseball team.

Ogren Field

The Osprey are part of the rookie Pioneer League and are currently soundly in last place with 5 wins and 22 losses. But I took advantage of the opportunity and got a good seat at Ogren Park for their game with Ogden. To our surprise the Osprey pulled off the win with the help of Ozzie Osprey.

Ozzi Osprey

The other major attraction in town is the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Museum. It is an organization founded by four hunters in the 1980s and has grown nationally. It is headquartered in Missoula and the new museum has lots of valuable information as well as lots of stuffed animals. I particularly liked the grizzly bear.

My Grizzly Buddy

On Tuesday we are moving farther east as we take Interstate 90 to Billings.