After leaving Cody, Wyoming, we stopped for 2 nights in Butte, Montana. At one time it was a thriving town, but due to steep, continuous declines in copper prices the Berkeley operation was shut down in 1982. Currently there is only a very limited amount of mining in operation and the population has shrunk considerably. We took a trolley ride to learn the history of the town and to view the mining area. The guide told us there was still a lot of pride in the city, but that jobs have been lost and many people have left the town. As part of the tour we viewed the Berkeley Pit. The Pit is 7,200 feet long, 5,600 feet wide and 1,780 feet deep. The current volume of water is 40 billion gallons of polluted water, that rises an average of 1 foot per month. Sirens went off during our tour which happens when any flock of birds tries to land in the water or anywhere near the Pit. These sirens were put in place to protect the birds from the contaminated water. From what the guide told us, it appears the EPA and the mining owners have been in contentious discussions for many years on how to clean up the contamination.
We left Butte on Sunday morning. We crossed into Idaho at Look Out Pass, elevation 4,710 and made good time until we got about 15 miles from Coeur d’Arlene. There was a 5 mile backup due to construction that caused us, at least, a 45 minute delay. We still made it to Blackwell Island RV Park early in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to join the other caravan members in a pot-luck dinner. I can’t believe we are finally with the Fantasy Caravan! On Monday evening we joined some of the caravan members on an optional sunset evening dinner cruise of Lake Coeur d’Arlene. The best part of the dinner was the huckleberry dessert and vanilla mousse but I also liked the salmon. The lake is beautiful with many gorgeous homes. I checked and the current water temperature was 66 degrees which explained why i didn’t see anyone IN the water. Tuesday night we had a small dinner of salad and baked potatoes with all of the fixings provided by the caravan ambassadors. while we had a short meeting on what to expect on the trip. On Wednesday night we had dinner provided at The Cedars Floating Restaurant which is right outside of the park. The salmon and prime rib were very good and we had another gorgeous view of the Lake. All we had to pay for were any drinks we ordered!
While we have been here we have been making sure we have everything ready for Thursday’s crossing into Canada. I made sure we got the Canada Insurance ID cards we needed for the ShowHauler and the Jeep. I also took Ty to a local vet to get him his 30-day Health Certificate that is required for Alaska. It’s not required for the Federal border requirements, but it is required by Alaska state law. I was told we probably don’t need it, but thought that it would be a good thing to have. Just me being “in-the-box” but I know how much trouble we have had in the past on border crossings, so thought it would be a good idea. Hopefully Randy can behave himself at the border and not let the agents get to him and we can have an uneventful crossing! We will see!
