Saint Regis KOA
It was a bright sunny day until I got to Missoula. Thee clouds started gathering for a thunderstorm and the wind picked up. I saw lightning ahead. I slowed my pace and made it through a brief storm alright. At 3 pm in Missoula I was still planning on trying to make th KOA in Spokane to ride my bike on the Centennial trail. At 4 pm I pulled into the KOA at Saint Regis, Montana and chose my site. I was tired and still 3 hours from Spokane.
I chose a tent site away from all others, took a shower and uploaded my web pages. When I returned to my site I noticed something different. Traffic noise. I was as close to the interstate as could be and the road was made of concrete instead of asphalt so it was especially loud.
I quickly folded up my tent and moved to the other side of the campground. It was much quieter there and the tent sites had electric and water for no extra charge. I had a great view of the onsite driving range and there were rabbits of all colors and sizes everywhere. They roamed the grounds, nibbled on the grass, and dug holes in the dirt to lie in the sun in.
I rode my bike into the small town a mile away crossing both the Saint Joe and Clark Fork Rivers. I found a fishing access site on the Clark but the water was swift and the bottom grassy. The town was made up of a Super 8 motel, two gas stations, two rv parks and three restaraunt/ casino/ bars. Casinos were everywhere in Montana. Even the KOA had three slot machines and a little bar in its store. The town got its start in the early 1800s because of its access to the two rivers and later was a major railroad stop and logging community. The town is surrounded by a lot of hills and mountains covered with douglas firs. In 1910 the town and the surrounding area were destroyed by a 3 million acre fire. the town never recovered. Last I heard the fires in Arizona were less than a tenth that size.
I returned to camp to find the swimming pool empty so I took a dip for about a half hour. It was warm and a little muggy so I bought an ice cream after a tuna fish sandwich dinner. At 10 pm it was still light out and I began working on my next web journal entry. It was quiet and calm. I had a great view of the entire campground. After the sun went down a dozen or so rabbits and four deer gathered on the driving range to do some grazing. By midnight I was ready to retire. It was a moonless night and I stared in wonderment at the milky way and all the stars. There was not a cloud in the sky. Tomorrow was another day.