Masters of RVing Adventures

We met up with our friends who all own fifth wheels manufactured by DRV / Mobile Suites. They were holding their week-long Western Regional Rally at McCall RV Resort. We joined them, although we were in the odd-ball Super C. We were able to spend time with four of the couples we traveled to Alaska with last summer, as well as meet many new DRV club members.

Day 22 – Friday – Brew Time!

We arrived at the resort, which is the same resort we stayed in the previous time we were in this area last fall. McCall RV Resort is a very nice, large park with conscientious staff members. After driving a few hours, setting up and walking Timber along the river, we decided we were unmotivated to cook dinner. We walked up to Broken Horn Brewing Company for a beer (Mark), a cider (Amanda), and two tasty smash burgers! Timber stayed back to guard the rig and munch on his dinner.

Day 23/24 – Saturday/Sunday – Restocking Supplies & Rally Kickoff!

Found a new Natural Foods grocery store and a public market called Ridley’s near the campground for groceries, as well as visiting our favorite shopping store from last year, Albertsons.

Rally Services

As part of the rally, several companies were offering their services. Mark called to talk with Kleen Tank and decided to have our black and gray water tanks thoroughly cleaned. Prior to cleaning, we received a grade of C+ on our black tank and an A on our gray tank. We are now making a concoction of Calgon bath beads, Pinesol and water to add to our black tank after each time we dump the holding tank!

Mark also scheduled to have Jackson get a super-duper wash.

Most of the weekend was spent watching folks roll in, get parked in their assigned quad, and then meeting & greeting everyone during the Sunday evening opening kickoff event with Pizza 🍕 dinner. There were raffles you could enter, signups to help out or cook, signups for events, and more.

Quad Assignments

This campground layout is unique in that they have quad sites, where 4 campers park in such a way that all the doors face onto the quad of grass. They also have single back-in and pull-in sites surrounding the quads. Our quad consisted of Debbie & Vick (Full-Timers who split their time between MT & AZ, have two of the cutest French bulldogs named Jax & Cooper- that Timber adored!, was their second rally), Laura & Brian (seasonal campers who live in AZ but summer camp on a family farm in WI, Athena the cat that walked on a leash & definitely was not a fan of Timber!, first time ever attending a rally), and Orville & Cyndee (went with us on the AK trip, have a home in UT & one in GA, have been to many rallies). Since Mike & Liz (Full-Timers who spllit their time between AZ and MI, became great friends during our AK trip) were in one of the surrounding back-in sites, they were adopted into our quad.

Day 25 – Monday – Ya-Hoo Corrals

After a huge breakfast 🥞 , depending on which tour you had signed up for, you were either in our group going on a horse 🐎 trail ride in Payette National Forest with views of Payette Lake or you were in the group going on a wagon ride out near Tamarack Resort. We had a nice, slow, gentle ride with guides who were knowledgeable and friendly 🤠 . See the pictures ⬇️

Morning Breakfast with Steve & Sally, Liz & Mike; Ya-Hoo Corrals; truer words never penned “You can lead a horse to water…”

Day 26 – Tuesday – Dust Devils

After a continental breakfast (that was again way too much!) and some morning free time (which Mark & I spent working), a large group of the rally goers rented side-by-sides for an afternoon of off-roading to the top of Brundage Mountain 🏔️ known as Brundage Lookout, then back down the back side to Brundage Reservoir. We were dusty dirt devils by the end of the ride, but we all had a lot of fun! We ended up renting a four-seater with Mike & Liz and were so glad we did. They had a lot more power than the two-seaters.

Day 27 – Wednesday – Devastation & Rain

Wednesday morning, after what the Rally Directors labeled as a ‘Cowboy’ Breakfast (whatever the chuckwagon cook had on hand) consisting of a very odd version of a breakfast casserole, beans and cornbread, Mark and I were heads down working for a few hours before meeting our real estate agent to view a few properties. Due to some Lock-box code mix-ups, we were only able to view the outside of one house and took a complete tour of another property before re-scheduling for Friday.

We ate lunch in town at a cute place that serves their original takes on breakfast and lunch. Mark and I had open-faced tuna melts on English muffins. Afterwards, while Timber and I went for a trail walk by the river, Mark drove a few miles out of town to track down this bakery that sold fresh sourdough loves only on Wednesday afternoons from 2-6pm.

Senseless Shooting

On the drive back to the RV resort, Mark checked his phone and read the devastating news that Charlie Kirk had been shot at the UT campus event; and not too long after we learned, as everyone did, that the shot was fatal.

To match our melancholy, our open-air dinner cruise around Payette Lake began with an overcast sky and nearby thunder and then quickly became a windy, rainy, soggy affair. 🛥️ 🌧️

Day 28 – Thursday – Hot Soak & Hail

Most rally goers were driving and carpooling for a 240-mile round trip to Hell’s Canyon Recreation Area, to enjoy the scenery and a picnic lunch 🧺 , before the long drive back to camp.

While planning this trip, I had alerted Liz that on this day Mark & I were taking an hour’s drive to the rustic and historical Burgdorf Hot Springs 🥵 for a two-hour soak and invited Mike and her to book the same time slot and join us. We had a relaxing afternoon, spending most of our time in the large pool. We ventured quickly into the ‘lobster pots’ (108-109 degrees F) and posed for zany shots in the ‘bathtub’🛀🏼!

The Burgdorf Hot Springs are on the National Register of Historic Places, the first cabin dates back to around 1865, changing rooms run off solar power with log burning stoves for heat, very nice out houses

On the way back home, we encountered a 10–12-minute mild hailstorm, only to discover McCall and the campground had been subjected to almost an hour of the frozen balls of ice!

We had Liz & Mike over for our hometown friends’ famous brisket (many Thanks to the Roddey’s ) and mixed vegetables cooked on the Blackstone, along with garlic buttered fresh sourdough Mark toasted on the griddle. Yum!

Day 29 – Friday – Rally Finale for the Win🏆

Rally folks like to gather around a great-cooked meal and these experienced regional directors knew how to ask for volunteers and delegate (kudos to Steve & Sally Stoffel 👏)! Mark was cooking 4️⃣ pounds of bacon 🥓 🥓 on the griddle at 6 am. He was also searing 3️⃣ pounds of flat-iron steaks while I was inside frying a pound of sausage. The latter two meats were going into the crockpot, along with a number of other ingredients, for my hastily found chili 🌶️ recipe in the Lodge cookbook that I keep in the rig. We couldn’t find the numerous types of specialty chili powder the recipe outlined, so we had to make some substitutions.

As part of the Rally closing night’s events, there was to be a Chili Potluck Cook Off. Silly me, I misunderstood the meaning and thought everyone was to prepare a chili version of a ‘potluck’ dish. I also made a pan of green chili cornbread to go with my pot of chili.

I was surprised to realize it wasn’t about a potluck at all, it was about a Cook Off – and by making chili I was automatically entered into the Cook Off. I tried to protest and say I wanted my pot to be on the table with the side dishes of mac-n-cheese, pasta salads, fried potatoes, deviled eggs, etc., but to no avail. My chili was given the name “Carnivore Chili” and placed in the ‘No Beans’ category.

Winner Winner Chili Dinner

Much to my surprise, my never made before chili tied for second place 🥈 out of 15 entries!! Find the recipe below ⬇️

Lady on far left won Overall First Place, Brian and I tied for second place, and the other lady won First Place in the non-traditional category for a Hatch Chili White Chicken Chili.

Ski Place Update

We ended up having two very good possibilities: (1) a little further out, but town still easily accessible driving a side-by-side, on 2.5 acres with room to add RV storage and (2) a condo in town with easy walking to most everything. No decisions until after viewing options in the Bozeman area.

Wildlife Spotted during our week in McCall

Day 30 – Saturday – Farewells

Most of the attendees were not departing until Sunday, but Mark & I and three other rigs were heading out on this morning. We had a good five-hour drive to Missoula, MT., unbeknownst that another couple were heading in our same direction. Dennis and Deanne were in another quad and while we chatted in the breakfast line or encountered them at other activities during the week, we had not really interacted with them.

Our drive out of McCall took us through the beautiful, scenic and river winding road through Hell’s Canyon along Hwy 15. In Grangeville, we stopped for fuel and met up with Dennis & Deanne at the same truck stop. Dennis and Mark exchanged pleasantries, mentioned our destination was Missoula; but otherwise, both were preoccupied with getting diesel in the tanks and cleaning their windshields.

We continued on for another 100 miles of curvy, scenic roads rising out of the canyon and going over Lolo Pass along ID State Road 12 before turning onto Hwy 93 into Missoula. Turns out, a few minutes after we turned into the KOA, Dennis & Deanne pulled up behind us at check-in. Deanne & I just laughed and decided to get together for cocktails once we were set up in our sites. We had a pleasant evening getting to know them and ate left over chili together!

Day 31 – Sunday – Travel Day

Dennis & Deanne had a two-day stopover before heading to their home in WI, so we exchanged numbers and wished each other safe travels as Mark & I began the three-hour drive to Bozeman.

Trip Route

We’ll spend the next eight 8️⃣ days in and around Bozeman to explore and get to know the area.