Hilltop View

6:58 am:
Yesterday's 11:13 pm Blog post Blogged to you about the sheriff who came knocking. That sheriff told me to get off being parked on a county road. He suggested that I move a mile further up the road where I would be off county property.

It turned out that this move took the Scampy Team to the top of the hill that we are camping on.

This morning the Hilltop View so impressed Little iPhone that he took a pic from Scampy's door for you to see.

The view from Whitehall Montana's highest hill.

Heading Northwest

10:16 am:
The Scampy Team has pulled off US 287 to Blog at you. We are 67 miles from Bozeman Montana.

Little iPhone has achieved a 2-bar T-Mobile signal. Way out here in the sticks, that good a signal is kinda spotty! So, we latched on to it.

About 400 miles northwest of here, is the Ponderay/Sandpoint area of Idaho. At Lake RV in Ponderay, Scampy is going to get her fiberglass slot fixed up. You may recall that George had to make that slot in the fiberglass in order to get the 12 volt DC power wires inside one of Scampy's cabinets.

At Sandpoint Pack & Ship, we will be receiving a bunch of stuff that George ordered in recent weeks.

First Things First

6 am:
The first thing George began doing this morning was to start to edit the videos that Little iPhone captured yesterday. Those videos were mostly of the Lower Yellowstone Falls.

Baby Boid was shaking his head while looking at George. "Why are you shaking your head?", asked George.

"You seem to forever do things in the wrong order", answered Boid.

"Whatta you mean?", questioned George.

Baby Boid paused for a few seconds and then answered, "It's gonna take you quite a while to figure out about editing videos. How about you first getting dressed, giving me my bird food and then making yourself some breakfast?"

"Good suggestions!" said George.

Breakfast this morning

Consumer Cellular

8:45 am:
This morning I have begun a changeover for cellular service from T-Mobile to Consumer Cellular.

Consumer Cellular was recommended to me in a couple of comment by Readers. Thank you for that!

Connected!

7:09 am:
Little iPhone shows that he is connected to AT&T. And Mr. Mac shows that he is connected to Little iPhone's Personal Hotspot. That should not be! But it is. Go figure. We do not throw rocks at gifts!

7:22 am:
Yellowstone Falls
We see on our Rand McNally paper map that we are close to the spectacular Yellowstone River's falls.

Of course, we cannot miss seeing those falls again! The color of the canyon walls. The power of the falls! Wow!

Beartooth Pass or Bust!

8:43 am:
The Scampy Team was up doing stuff this morning at 6am!

First thing up was re-installing Mr. Wave3, our catalytic heater. The temperature got down to 54℉. Too cold and uncomfortable!

Towards the end of each month before paying off our credit cards, we compare purchase receipts with our Quicken records. Doing this makes sure that we are being charged the correct amounts. Also, sometimes the purchase categories are wrong. Doing this accounting catches incorrect categories.

Now that the stuff above is done, we are heading toward Beartooth Pass. The big question of the morning is, at an elevation of 10,947 feet, will Señor Tránsito's 2.0 Liter 4-cylinder engine make it?

Mountain Bound

6:02 am:
We are headed toward Bear Tooth Pass 10,947 feet high. Some folks on The Scampy Team feel that a climb as this one will be too much for Señor Tránsito. On the other hand, Tránsito has been quoted as declaring, "I can make it!"

In any case, Bear Tooth Pass will not be reached until tomorrow! Click [Here] for info about Beartooth Highway!

6am View at our Clark Town Nite Camp

AT&T Incident

9:35 am:
Late yesterday afternoon I was up on the mountain, about 1/2 mile from the campground. This location is the only site where an AT&T signal came thru. I was involved with publishing my Blog. Suddenly, a notice from AT&T flashed on to my computer’s screen.

The AT&T notice stated:
"I had used all of my data. If I wished, I could buy more data."

Right away, I phoned AT&T. I wished to buy more data. A robotic machine answered my phone call. Not a human being. A machine.

I did not want to deal with a machine. I told the machine that I wanted a human. But the machine apparently was not programmed for a customer requesting to speak to a human being.

The robot hung up on me because I was not able to respond to its instructions in a certain amount of time.

Five Springs Campground

6:04am:
Yesterday afternoon, George, the Scampy Team's driver got really sleepy. We were still 27 miles away from our destination of Lovell Wyoming. Right at that moment, we came upon a road that led up a mountain.

So, here was the situation. We could take that mountain road and find our
Nite Camp where George could sleep. Or, we could press on for Lovell Wyoming while George was sleepy. The Scampy Team decided on the mountain road option.

Later that evening, after dark, we learned about Five Springs Campground. This place had very excellent ratings! [Link] Although we were only 5-minutes and 1.4 miles away from what appears as a beautiful place, we should not drive in the dark on a mountain road! So we stayed put.

This morning we decided to head up there! But first, Little iPhone wanted to go outside to capture an image of The Early Morning View.

Early Morning View

Leveling

9:46 am:
In the past, the Scampy Team has restricted itself from leveling out at our Nite Camps. We have re-evaluated that decision. From now on we shall level out at all of our Nite Camps.

We restricted leveling at our Nite Camps because of a desire to be stealthy. Thus avoiding detection by our neighbors who may call police on us.

We shall not sacrifice our comfort anymore for the sake of being stealthy!

Scampy Leveled Out!

Air Conditioning

3:00 am:
Here is the thing about why I have never used air conditioning in my RV. MsTioga's A/C was sooooo noisy! Who would be able to sleep with all of that noise overhead?

Then, I came up with the concept of always staying in T-shirt and short pants weather. My thinking was that if I would always stay in weather that would be comfortable while wearing a T-shirt and short pants, I would not need an air conditioner.

And that is exactly what I did for all of those MsTioga years. 2003 to 2014.

I recall one year that I entered the City of Spokane on the eastern side of the State of Washington in the middle of a heat wave! Off I went. 300 miles. Helter-skelter, non-stop all the way to the coolness of the City of Seattle on the western side of the state. More importantly, near the Pacific Ocean.

Of course, MsTioga's Ford chassis was equipped with a powerful in-dash air conditioner. Which meant that while driving to Seattle, I was plenty cool!

Heater Stored for Summer

6:45 am:
Staying at the FMCA rally has provided time to do maintenance on Scampy and Señor Tránsito. For example, replacing Mr. Dometic's lower vent cover.

The old vent cover is made from poor quality plywood and looked ugly. The new vent cover is made from high-quality plywood and will be installed soon. Little iPhone will take a pic of the new cover for you to see.

Catalytic Heater
Our Olympian Wave3 catalytic heater likely will not be used until next December. We have taken the Wave3 down. The heater will be cleaned up and stored while the weather is warm.

Seminars

6:43 am:
This morning Geeks On Tour delivers their seminar:
"What Does This Button Do?". This is a primer on today's iPhones and Android devices.

This afternoon's seminar is, "Smartphone Photography." This is a Hands-On for iPhone photography.

Biz-Z-Bee!

7:10 am:

Mr. Dometic, our noble fridge,  was manufactured with a lower outside vent cover that needed correction. As-is, while moving down-the-road, the wind blows the pilot out!

George designed a plywood replacement vent cover which is solid all over. No slotted vents. The cover does have a rectangular hand-hole at the end where the fridge pilot-igniter button is located.

[Pic coming]

FMCA Plan

8:40 am:
This is my first full day attending the Family Motor Coach Association [FMCA] rally in Gillette Wyoming. Two items are my focus:
➜ Geeks On Tour
➜ Exhibitors

Chris and Jim Guld are friends of mine. They invited me to the FMCA rally. Their company is Geeks On Tour [Link]. They have a booth here at FMCA. 

I will be spending time helping Chris and Jim in any way that I can.

Later this week, I'll be visiting exhibitors at the FMCA rally in order to learn what products could benefit the Scampy RV Team.

Gillette Wyoming

8:11 am:
The Scampy Team has made a Breakfast Camp about 82-miles away from the
The City of Gillette. It's Trader Joe's Maple Pecan Clusters & Ocean Spray Ruby Red Juice!

The first thing to do on arriving in Gillette is to get a haircut. George has chosen Entourage Hair Design.

Then, we must get the Family Motor Coach Association rally Parking Pass printed out.

Interview

6:39 am:
Awaiting George this morning, was non-other than Walter Cronkite III, eldest son of the renown Walter Cronkite Jr. who was anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years.

Cronkite: Good morning, George. May I have a word with you?
George: I am honored!
Cronkite: Your Readers are wondering what you intend to do with that big slot that you sawed into Scampy's front wall yesterday?
George: On our return trip to the west coast later this year, we will return to Lake RV in Ponderay Idaho. We have arranged with Orville Bayless to fill in that slot with fiberglass. Lotsa other stuff too!
Cronkite: Why did you replace your old Interstate battery with a new Duracell AGM battery?
George: We were informed that the Duracell would give us amazing power reserve because we have so small a load demand. We estimate that the Duracell will not need any recharging for over 15-years and continue to give excellent performance!

Color Coded Wires

4:25 am:
This morning all of Scampy's electrical components will be hooked up. This hooking up is sooooo easy to do!

The wires going into Señor Tránsito's 7-pin connector are all color coded. Our Scampy electric schematic shows which color goes to each pin. The wires coming out from that 7-pin connector, have matching color coded wires.

The wires inside Scampy have the same color codes. All that is necessary to do this morning is to purchase an electrical connector terminal strip probably from The Home Depot. Then, all of the color coded wires shall be clamped into the terminal strip so that each color going into the strip matches the same color coming out from the strip.

A terminal strip makes the electric connections as these very neat, easy to do and secure.

Decision Before Dawn

4:30 am:
Here is what George has decided to do!

There are presently two circuits:
1. A 2-wire solar circuit.
2. A 7-wire circuit plus 1-ground coming from Tránsito's 7-pin connector.

George is going to drill a 1" diameter hole above the existing small hole that all of the electric wires are presently going thru.

Then, very carefully, he will saw down thru both sides of the 1" hole into the small hole below creating a slot. At that point, all of the circuits will be easily visible and identifiable.

Then, we will return to Capitol Trailer. This is the Helena Montana company that helped us fix Scampy's hitch problems yesterday.

Capitol Trailer will be engaged to make a professional electric hook up coming from Tránsito into Scampy.

Hightailing

6:57 am:
The distance between where the Scampy Team is now in Missoula Montana and our destination of the FMCA rally in Gillette Wyoming is 578 miles.

The rally organizers have asked First Timers to arrive on July 16th. That's four days from today! That's about 150-miles a day!

George has to keep the Pedal to the Metal to do that!

Can this slow pokey guy actually 
drive that much in a day?

What's the Jazz...

8:29 am:
.... tell me what's a-happenin'
The Scampy Team has acquired an AT&T Velocity Wi‑Fi Hotspot! [Link].

This device may show itself capable of keeping the Scampy Team's Blog connected to the Net anywhere we make a Camp.

Blessing View

8:16 am:
We have named where we are Camp Confluence because it is at the confluence of two creeks. Giefer Creek and Mule Creek.

Boid and George awoke this morning just past 7am. It was not until 8:16 am that the rear window blind was raised. First, we had to do our morning things!

And then, the miracle of our Blessing View was revealed! My-Oh-My! We both wondered what a life spent in this perfect place would be like?

Well, not Montana in the Winter time of course. After all, we are California people!

Looking out Scampy's window!

Is that a blessing view?

Camp Geifer Creek

8:21 am:
Camp Giefer Creek
This is our first morning at Giefer Creek. There is a lovely blue sky and white billowy clouds.

[Pic of Giefer Greek]

We have just checked our fresh water tank. Pretty near empty. This means that if we are to continue boondocking, an accessible creek must be found.

Cleaning Time

8:14 am:

Summer Cleaning

When setting up Scampy and Tránsito, George bought a bunch of plastic container boxes from The Container Store. Two of Scampy’s cabinets use these boxes in order keep stuff orderly.

The inside of those boxes gets filthy pretty fast. This morning George dumped the contents of one of those boxes to find something. Wow! That box needed cleaning badly!

So, right here at Yesterday’s Nite Camp in the forest, we are doing Summer Cleaning.

Good thing that George loves to clean stuff!

Fireworks

11:04 am:

Little iPhone was sooooo busy last nite! He captured exploding fireworks being set off at the beach in Whitefish Montana until 11 pm! 

Whatta tough job for this hard-working little guy!

Happy Birthday USA!

6:54 am:
Today is the 242nd birthday of the United States of America! Isn't that fantastic? Everybody on the Scampy Team is sooooo happy for our country!

We had a Team Meeting this morning. Several Team Members wanted to relate to others on The Team how they felt about USA's birthday:
➜ Señor Tránsito told: About how proud he is to be a US citizen. Tránsito immigrated with his family from Mexico when he was only 7-years old!
➜ George related: About marching in the US Army at Fort Devins Massachusetts in 1961. George said, "We marched to John Phillips Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever." I felt that march to the depths of my soul."
➜ Baby Boid tweeted: "I got so excited when George was listening to "Hail Columbia" this morning that I flapped my wings like a super falcon! My molted feathers flew all over the place!"

Our country's first national anthem!.

Glacier National Park

10:03 am:
The Scampy Team is only 79 miles away from Glacier National Park!

We just checked the Campground Status. Every single campground is

open! [Link]
XXXXX

George and MsTioga at Two Medicine Campground. Glacier Park, July1st, 2006
YYYYY

Fixing and Straightening

11:16 am:
I've spent my morning fixing stuff, straightening up, and generally making things look good with Scampy and Tránsito. It all started when I was looking for a suction cup with a hanger hook.

When I was not able to locate that hanger hook in Scampy, I began to look thru Tránsito's storage area. The storage area has been a mess for a while. To find that suction cup, first I had to straighten things up a bit.

About an hour later, I found that suction cup residing in one of the cabinet storage drawers!

In the meanwhile, Baby Boid seemed to be having his own kind of fun with my cable cords.

Boid messing around.

Credit Cards

7:10 am:

Off-Line
We usually pay off our three credit cards on the first of the month. However, here we are on July 1st and we are offline. We will be keeping our eyes looking for a WiFi.

Yesterday we found a WiFi at the Yaak River Tavern. We were able to publish our 06/29/2018 Blogging With Notes from this friendly place!

Their WiFi was not a secure connection. So, we did not go online to pay off our credit cards.

Yaak River Tavern

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