Installing Solar and Devils Tower

9/16
We got off I-90 at Moorcroft, WY but we still had 30 miles of gravel roads before reaching Eddie's "Ranch". It was mid-afternoon when we arrived and it didn't take us long to get set up, we'd be dry camping during the install.  While we had our new battery bank (2 Trogan T105RE's, giviing us 225Amp Hours) installed back in Oregon, we'd have to be rather conservative with our power until we got the solar panels on line. The rest of the afternoon was spent organizing all the parts and developing a shopping list for the locally acquired parts we'd get tomorrow morning.

Moon rise of the Wyoming prairie.

9/17
After the morning shopping trip to Gillette, WY, (a 100 mile round trip) the assembly started that afternoon. A solar system consists of 3 major components: the Solar panels on the roof, the battery bank and all the electronics that connect them together.  Well, I guess you could say there's a 4th component, the wiring that connects everything together.  In fact, one might say the wiring is the MOST important component! You can have the best quality equipment on either end and if the wiring is deficient, they'll never perform to their designed potential.

We decided to mount all the electrical components to on a piece of  plywood then mount the assembly inside the front hatch.

Installing panels.

Always a traumatic event, drilling a hole in the roof.
Eddie hit just the right spot in the wall cavity
behind the power center.

Installing junction box leading inside the camper.

Over the next few days the install continues until we found that we needed additional parts.  We had some down time while waiting for the parts to arrive via UPS so we decided to take a day trip to Devils Tower, only14 miles away as the crow flies...

 ...but 47 miles by road.

As we neared the end of that 47 mile drive, the view got more and more impressive.

The 1.3 mile Tower Trail meanders around the base of the impressive monolith giving many views.  There were benches along the path to enjoy all sides of the Tower.

There were many climbers on the tower.

One spot along the trail you can touch the base of the tower.

Can you see the secret message
in this picture?

On our way out, we stopped by a sculpture designed to frame the monument.

 It also looks pretty good "au naturel" too.

This is where we started seeing the first fall colors of the year.

Back on the ranch...

Here's some critters that wandered around the camper during  our time here.

There was also a herd of cows that made sounds like a vibrating cell phone.  We'd wake up in the morning and say "I wish that cow would answer his phone!"

Wide open spaces.

09/22

The installation complete, we said our good buys to Eddie, Aileen and daughter Laura before heading back to the real world.

Coming next, Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

9/16
As we were heading east toward Wyoming, I looked at the map and saw the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument was just off I-90 along our path.  I looked at the satellite view and decided we could maneuver the roads with the camper in tow.  Not knowing when we'd be coming this way again, we took about an hour out of our schedule to check it out.  Basically, we drove the 5 mile long road leading to the Reno-Benteen Battlefield Monument, stopping along the way (where we could fit with the camper hooked up) to read some of the interpretative signs and take some pictures.  There were white markers in the fields showing where soldiers had fallen during the battle of "Custer's Last Stand".  There were also red granite markers showing where some of the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors had fallen.

We encountered some horses along the 5 mile drive
to the Reno-Benteen Battlefield Monument.

 

It was a beautiful day and we would've liked to stay longer, spending time at the visitors center and listening to one of the Ranger talks, but we were on a schedule.

When we come this way again, we'll stop again and spend more time.

Coming next, the long awaited Solar Install and Devils Tower

Visiting Friends near Butte MT

9/12

After Glacier, we planned to spent a few days visiting friends (Holly and Laura) from Salt Springs, FL. They have a beautiful summer home on 40 acres near Butte, Montana.  The landscape is mostly open range and they routinely see Elk rambling through their land.

What a view from the kitchen window.

No need to to go anywhere for a hike, just walking around their land and enjoying views was enough for us. Another good thing about the visit, they had room for us to park on their land.  If we didn't have to stock up for the Wyoming Solar install adventure and a broken fresh water pump in the camper, we'd have never left their place.

View from hill behind home.

After a couple days we were heading east again towards Wyoming.

Coming next, an unexpected stop at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Heading East, Glacier National Park

9/6
We left Yaquina Head on a drizzly morning heading north then east through the Columbia River gorge on I-84. We'd been told how pretty the drive through the gorge was but this is all we saw...

We had an appointment on Sep 15 to have solar installed on the camper.  The un-expected job at Yaquina Head delayed everything about a month and we thought we'd have to skip Glacier Nat'l Park.  After a review of our driving time to arrive at northeastern Wyoming, we decided we could take a 2 day whorl-wind tour of Glacier on our way east.

Eventually we out ran the weather as we started traveling into the rolling hills of northeast Oregon and southwest Washington.

9/8

After overnight stops in Hermiston, OR and Spokane, Wa. (our first over night at a Cabela's), we headed into Idaho on I-90.  We discovered the Idaho visitors center also had information on Montana. As we suspected there wasn't a Montana visitors center so it's a good thing we stopped in Idaho.  After zipping through Idaho (a state we want to spend much more time in next year) we continued on I-90 to Regis, MT where we picked up MT-135 heading north.  

Stopped at a roadside turn out somewhere in
Montana for lunch. 

Rain storm over Flathead lake in Montana.

We had reservation at Glacier Campground in West Glacier, MT, just outside the west entrance to Glacier National Park.

Our pull through campsite at Glacier Campground.
We thought it was one of the best sites in the park.

We'd scheduled 2 days to explore the western side of Glacier N.P.  I know, I know, not enough time to fully explore the park, but this would be just a taste, we plan to return! 

9/9

The first day was just learning our way around, as is usually the case in these big national parks.  We decided to stay parked at the visitors center and ride the free shuttle bus up the twisty & winding "Going to the Sun Road" to Logan Pass. The day was less than ideal, overcast windy and cold.

Logan Pass visitors center.

When we got to the Logan pass visitors center it was down right cold, still overcast, 45 degrees, with a stiff north wind.  The visitors center wasn't heated so the only protection it gave us was from the wind.  We took a few pictures and jumped back on the bus for the return trip.  

9/10

Our second day in Glacier was much nicer.  The weather was scheduled to be mostly sunny and warmer.  Also, we had a plan!  We'd park at Avalanche Creek to catch the bus, shortening the bus ride considerably. We had lunch packed along with a thermos of hot tea, planned to hike out somewhere scenic and have a nice picnic lunch before hiking back to the Logan Pass visitors center.  Here's some pictures.

 

While the mostly board walk trail didn't appear to be very challenging, for us sea level flat landers, it was all we wanted! 

After returning to Avalanche creek, we hiked the short Trails of the Cedars nature trail.

We finished the day with a nice walk around the "village" and the Lake McDonald shore.

When one of my cousins heard through Facebook we were going to Glacier, she told us that her brother lived in Whitefish, MT, about a half hour west of our campground.  Later we found out another cousin and her husband were flying in on Saturday 9/10 for a visit.  So, we pushed our appointment out by one more day, and spent the extra day at Glacier, so all these Florida natives could have a nice mini family reunion in Whitefish, MT.

9/12 

We left West Glacier, MT heading south. This time we drove down the east side of Flathead lake on MT-35 angling further east toward our next destination, a visit with friends near Butte, MT.

  

Coming next, Visiting friends near Butte, MT.