August 24, 2021 - Welding Clinic: SOTF Absarokee, Montana

Here I am! Today I moved into the hay field in Absarokee, Montana! Tim and Jett will stay in the Airstream back in Red Lodge. This will be my home for the rest of the week. My accommodations consist of a domed screen room with my hammock set-up inside. Currently it’s 57* F at 11pm and the low is expected to be 46*. I’m pretty cozy in my hammock set-up and will see if I need to make any adjustments tomorrow. 

(Yup that’s what you think it is!)

Tim dropped me off right before lunch and I spent the rest of the afternoon making the final touches on Dolly Dome as she is now being called. The sisters in the advanced classes started their welding clinic today. Infinite Welding is hosting our event and that shop is just a half block from the field. The remaining sisters in the 101 and 102 welding classes will begin their clinic tomorrow. 

At last year’s event we had probably 18 ladies attend. There are ten ladies this year in the welding clinic. Seven of those were here last year and seven of us staying in the field. The others are either at Maurie’s or at local hotels. I’m the only one in a tent. Everyone else is in their vintage campers. As they rolled in, those already here greet those arriving and see if any help is needed. 

 At six this evening we had our Happy Hour at Maurie’s house. She is the founder of Sisters on The Fly and lives in a super cute western home right in the other side of the field. I’ll try to get pictures of her house this week and a wide shot of all the rigs in the field. 

Visitors through out the day come through the field! 

Tomorrow is going to a lot of fun being back in the welding shop and making some pretty cool projects! 

August 22-23, 2021 - Prepping, Laundry and Jett

SUNDAY, August 22, 2021

Wow! I can’t believe how fast the day went. 

For some reason I thought we had full hook-ups here at Perry’s RV Park in Red Lodge, Montana. The sign out front even says it! Nope. Just water and electric. No problem, later in the week Tim will have to change sites and he can just dump our tank then at the dump station here. Nope … their dump station is out of order. Tim will now have to tow the Airstream into town to dump the tank at a gas station. Good times! 

On the information sheet for this RV park it says that the laundry is closed from 11am to 1pm. We assumed so that the staff can launder items from the cabins. So at 1pm I went to the office to check out the laundry room here before lugging everything up there. I needed to do laundry before my event. Nope! It is out of order too! Due to their septic system!! It so would have been nice to know. Otherwise I would have gone to the laundromat in town early this morning. Ugggh! 

Off to the laundromat we went along with Jett. We couldn’t leave her unattended for that long with her situation. But these are all good things to know, that should have been disclosed to us, prior to our arrival. And it’s really not bad to deal with these issues … it just would have saved me some time knowing and maybe due to Jett’s situation these issues could be slightly magnified on my end. I’m just a worried dog mom. 

This afternoon I was able to do some re-organizing for my welding clinic.. I needed to make sure I have everything necessary for dry camping in a hammock that’s in a tent, that’s in a hay field here in Montana. 

I did receive word late in the day that Jett has an appointment, at my friend’s veterinary clinic, at 10am tomorrow morning. Phew! What a relief to know that she will get some help soon.  

MONDAY, August 23, 2021

Yay!!! My friend Mandi, who is a vet and who owns a clinic a few miles away from where we are staying, was so accommodating and handled Jett with the best of care that anyone could give her. The staff at Beartooth Animal Hospital was top notch. Jett will be on a strong antibiotic for seven days and we should see some relief for her soon. At a ‘ruff’ guess she has lost probably 8-10 pounds and had eaten stuff off the ground that she should not have, Her weight loss was needed as she had put on a few pounds over the last six months. (not mentioning any names) No wonder she’s been barking at us. She was HANGRY!! She really, really  LOVES going to the vet and had a great time there. 

After we were done at the veterinary clinic we needed to go see the host/organizer for my welding clinic. Sherry was staying nearby and needed help hauling items from Red Lodge to the welding shop up in Absarokee. We decided it would be closer to just go straight there as opposed to heading back to camp, dropping Tim and Jett off. 

I managed to get to the hay field in Absarokee where Tim (ignore the man … it’s an all woman's event) helped me set my dome tent up in the hayfield. The spot I chose was protected on the west side by trees and it should get shade in the evening. My friend Barbara from last year was already set up in her camper. Afterwards Tim’s and I headed back to Red Lodge to eat a late lunch and grocery shop. 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, I’ll return to the hay field for the rest of the week for the Sisters on The Fly Welding Clinic!!! 🔥

Tim and Jett will stay in the Airstream in Red Lodge the rest of the week while I’m in Absarokee. As of this writing (end of day Monday) Jett seems much better. We believe the meds have already begun to kick in. What a relief! 

August 21, 2021 - Wyoming to Red Lodge, Montana

Our night last night was not as bad as we had anticipated in this sketchy campground. Sounds bad but the oil worker staying next to us came home to his big coach only to blast Marty Robbins music. It actually sounded pretty good inside our Airstream. Then he shut it off at 9pm! Jett only needed out a few times during the night. Then the oil workers were as quiet as they could be departing for work this morning.  

Then our drive through Wyoming today was so surprising. I guess we thought we would only see a whole lot more of nothing. But WOW!!! The landscape was amazing. The area between Shoshoni and Thermopolis was stunning. 

The Windriver Canyon Scenic Byway presented us a beautiful surprise at every bend in the road. The spectacular rock walls rise vertically 2,500 feet from the canyon floor. What a gorgeous scenic drive. Along the way you pass the Boysen Dam. Travel through a number of short back to back tunnels. You can even see the tunnels for the Northern Santa Fe railroad line. 

The river begins in the south as Wind River and borders the Wind River Indian Reservation there. Drive time on the byway is about 40 minutes. As the river progresses it eventually becomes Bighorn River at the Wedding of the Waters. It’s an unusual occurrence of a river changing names without a side tributary present. 

Our day ended farther north back in Montana at Red Lodge. Now here is where it gets confusing. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will prep my tent, hammock camping gear and welding gack. Then Monday Jett to the vet and hopefully I can get set-up nearby in Absarokee in a hay field in my ‘hammock’ tent. I will be leaving Tim and Jett behind in Red Lodge with the Airstream over the course of the next week. My time in Absarokee will be spent with my Sisters on The Fly group. The event I’m attending is an all women’s welding clinic … the same one I attended here last year. No boys and not a good idea to have a sick dog dry camping in a tent. Fun ahead!!! 

With our decision to take Jett to a vet Monday morning we hope we can find a solution. We thought she was getting better but she had a slight set back today. Lucky I ‘know a girl’ here in Red Lodge, Montana who is a vet. She and her husband own a veterinarian facility. They specialize in equestrian, large animals  and also see dogs. Fingers crossed I can get an appointment first thing Monday morning. 

August 20, 2021 - Not All Roads Are Roads

At sunrise we woke up to 39*F. It was a bit cold for Floridians. As much as we didn’t want to depart we had to get on the road. We said our goodbyes to our neighbors … knowing we will be back one day and would see them again. 

Look at what happened up the road while we slept. A snow dusting in the higher elevations! So beautiful!! Throughout the day driving we had many scenery changes. From the San Juan National Forest in Dolores to the snow capped mountains in Telluride to the red rocks near Sawpit, Colorado through the Uncompahgre National Forest to a whole lot of nothing. 

Over the last few days we had researched our route to the next location. Sometimes we would get different travel times. Not thinking much of it and thinking that maybe it was rush hour extended times we took the route with the shortest time. Next thing you know we are north of Craig, Colorado when a turn took us onto a road with faded lines. Next turn was a dirt and gravel road. Best we could tell this would be at least a 25+ mile drive on a gravel road. At which point we backed into someone’s drive (only driveway) and got turned around. 

Once we got rerouted and back on a decent road we began to wonder why didn’t we get routed this way to begin with? Why isn’t there any oncoming traffic? I looked farther ahead on our map app and an accident was noted far ahead. Then we saw it was giving us a 2 hour travel time to drive 26 miles. What? 

Next was construction warning signs! When it says ‘No Motorcycles Advised’ maybe you should turnaround. Wait … there is no where to turn around! Basically there was no accident it was the construction zone. It was over ten miles of construction. Just over eight miles of it was one lane with a pilot escort and NO ROAD! Seven o’clock, sun setting and no road. That’s how Colorado does their road construction. No temporary lanes. Just rip up the road! That 8.2 miles took us thirty minutes to travel. Slowly! 

Baggs, Wyoming is where we landed for the night. We arrived just before dark and over two hours past our anticipated arrival. This place is a little sketchy but acceptable. 

Jett is hanging in there but something tells me we aren’t completely out of the woods just yet. 

August 19, 2021 - On The Mend

As we continue to closely monitor Jett she appears to be getting better. We did have another ‘ruff’ night with her but today was definitely better. The Imodium is helping tremendously. She has had only two ‘episodes’ since 4am. Both Tim and I can definitely use a good nights sleep after this. Now to see how the next few days go. 

On top of Jett’s issues the temperatures have dropped and it has rained off and on for over 24 hours. So it kinda worked out that the rain has kept us inside with Jett. Today the sun would barely begin to shine when the next rain shower would come through. BTW … We LOVE our LL Bean Duck boots! 

There are some areas in the campground that are flooded. I think Jett has drug half the mud from this side of the river into the Airstream. The river has risen at least one foot in depth and the water has gone from clear to really muddy now. The flow has increased as well. Neither one of us went fishing due to the weather and water conditions. This we believe was a blessing being here these last four extra days as we would have been in an area in Utah with temperatures just over 100*F.  

I have included a few photo comparisons from the other day to what the river looks like late today. 

Sadly tomorrow, Friday, is a travel day. We really have enjoyed our entire time here. I feel as though this paradise in the mountains will be in our future again. Just love it here! We have added another favorite to the list. 

Hold on to your seat belts because now that we have come this far south from our farthest point north on this journey we will sling shot ourselves back north to Montana. I know! Sounds crazy!! We have two days to get there and once we arrive everything will make sense as to why we did something that crazy. Then in just over a week from now we will have an even crazier destination lined up. Stay tuned …