8/15/2018 – Polson, MT / Flathead Lake

Got the RV ready to move to Flathead Lake in Polson, MT, and hit the road. When we got in the truck, we high-fived to acknowledge how smoothly everything went this time. We took our time and, for a change, were quite relaxed when we left. It was just a short 1 1/2 hour drive to Polson…….as it turned out, thank goodness for that! When we pulled in to check-in, someone came over to us and asked us if we knew our SATELLITE DISH was STILL UP!  OMG…..we had completely forgotten to stow it for the trip. We were so lucky that we didn’t come across any bridges or low wires that could have ripped it off the roof of the RV. Once we got settled, I checked it out and everything worked fine.

But this great day wasn’t over yet. After someone told  us our satellite dish was still up, and after Nancy went in to register us, another couple was walking by and when they got near the rear of our RV, I heard the wife gasp “OHHH, NOOO”. I jumped out of the truck, went around to where they were standing, and saw that both bikes were laying over on their side. Nancy’s had fallen down to the street, and mine was resting on top of hers parallel to the road. Both of Nancy’s handle bar ends were ground down at least two inches, a right brake lever was ground down, and her bike bag was mangled. But the rest of the bike was actually ok and repairable. In fact, Nancy called a local bike repair shop and they were able to replace components and return it to us same day at a very reasonable cost.  As best we can tell, my bike survived unscathed (so lucky!)

We can only imagine the sparks that must have been flying as the bikes metal handlebar ends dragged on the ground! And the entire area is under an extreme fire alert! Her bike was literally dragging on the road for miles. The road to Polson was a two lane road so nobody had chance to pass us and tell us something was wrong. And you really can’t see anyone behind you that may have flashed their lights. And nobody was honking their horn to alert us. We were SO LUCKY this short trip didn’t end up far worse than it did. I’ll speak for myself……I felt like a complete idiot!

Obviously, everything didn’t go as smoothly as we thought. We need to start using a checklist……PERIOD!  We took a look at how we have been attaching the bikes…… I think we have figured out how to better attach them so they don’t fall again.

When we got down to the south end of Flathead Lake (Polson), the smoke was every bit as bad as it was in Columbia Falls/Glacier. I guess the smoky air is a big problem in the entire northwest part of the country. It’s not so much the smell…it’s mainly just the thick smoky haze in the air that virtually makes the  mountains almost invisible. We’ll here until Sunday.

Left and right side of the handlebar. Note the right side brake lever.

Pray for us!