We goofed off in the morning then went shopping a little then headed off to Matt and Linda’s for dinner. Judy and Linda went visiting an old friend and coworker. Meanwhile, I went with Matt to pick up his car that was in the shop. They forced me, ha ha, to cook what I call Mexican stir fry for dinner. We had a very nice evening with me listening to old stories of work, friends and family.
Day 10 Tuesday August 30
We left Kalispell late in the morning and headed East on 35 after getting some diesel. Then took highway 83 south to Swan Lake. This road was at the base of the Bob Marshall Mountains Wilderness It was a very beautiful drive on a fairly good road. Just past Seely Lake, we took highway 200 to Lincoln. It was in Lincoln that Ted Kazenski (?) the uni-bomber lived. We found Sleepy Hollow RV park and got space 11 after the owner tried to get me to back into another space that I could not turn into. We will be spending two nights here as I want to go to a rock hound area to try finding some pyrite crystals.Drove 157 miles today.
Day 11 Wednesday August 31
Rock hounding day. We went Northwest out of Lincoln 15 miles up into the mountains. We were looking for pyrite crystals up to 2 inches in some green rock.
Well we did find a few, one about a inch and a few smaller ones. It as a lot of work breaking apart rock.
And it was raining so we quit before we got sopping wet. We went to a spot on the Blackfoot river about 12 miles west of Lincoln where we were suppose to find agates. I checked it out and found a few. Still raining. We went back home and ate lunch. Then we went for a drive looking for some mines but they were private. We eventually went back to the spot on the river and found quite a few pieces of agate.
It was sunny and nice. Went back home and had a very nice dinner. Fun day.
Day 12 Thursday September 1
We left Lincoln and headed back West on hwy 200 then took 401 south to US 12. At 12 we turned left East to Helena, where we headed North on I-15 to exit 200. We went left for about a mile to Lincoln Rd RV park space 33. It turned from sunny to stormy, thunderstorms before calming down by night time. We went to the store to get a prescription filled and a few groceries.Drove 90 miles today.
Day 13 Friday September 2
We drove into town, stopping a Macy’s to look for some special shoes for Judy. Finding none, we drove through Carroll College campus where Judy’s daughter Molly went to college. Then we went to the capital building and looked around. Realized if forgot my camera back home. It was very beautiful inside and since the legislature was not in session we could go all over. Ate lunch in the cafeteria. Then we went the state museum. It had a whole bunch of Charles Russell paintings and sculptures. They also had exhibits from prehistoric time up to the present. A very fun place to visit.
Day 14 Saturday September 3
Today was a day of sightseeing and rockhounding. We left the campground and headed East to Hauser lake which is formed by a dam.
A very pretty place. All the campgrounds were full.. We then went to hwy 280 and then to Canyon Ferry on the East side of the Missouri River which was dammed to form a many mile lake. We drove about 7 miles south on 284 to the Hell’s Gate Gulch. We then drove 5.6 miles up into the mountains on a windy somewhat rough and interesting road.
Goldie came through as usual. We went to the Argo mine which was mining copper many years ago. Judy and I spent quite a few hours scouring the tailing pile for azurite and malachite copper ores.
We found some really nice samples. We then went back to hwy 284 and continued South to US 12 and back to Helena and then North to our home on Lincoln Rd. A very fun day.Day 15 Sunday September 4
Today was a sightseeing and rockhounding day after going to Mass at the cathedral.
We headed West on Lincoln Rd to the turnoff to Marysville which is an almost ghost town. 
It was a big mining area and the town was abandoned but today people have moved back in. Also, the big gold mine that closed many, many years ago is now reopened and is reported to be getting out more gold than in the mine’s peak when 5000 people lived in the town.
We took off on forest service roads making a 60 mile loop through the mountains. There were many old abandoned mines in the area.
We stopped by some of them and checked out the tailing piles. We did find some rocks with crystal pockets but nothing outstanding.
The day was sunny and warm. We did see a small fire near the top of one of the mountains. When we got back home we did the laundry. Great day.Day 16 Monday September 5
Happy Labor Day. Today was another sightseeing and rockhound day. After breakfast, we drove South to Montana City, 13 miles south of the RV Park. Along the frontage road was a spot to get jasper and agate. We did find some material but not the best.
It was hot so we quit. We headed South again on I-15 to Boulder City and headed East on 69 to Elkhorn “Ghost town”, of which most of the land was private with lots of no trespassing signs.
Also most of the mines were inaccessible too. We ate lunch in a nice picnic area. Back home we had a nice dinner of kabobs outside as the temperature was lower.
The air is full of smoke and it appears to be coming from the direction of the fire we saw yesterday. checked on the internet and it was that fire.
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