Visit our Popular Forums

crispyboy · 06-10-2009, 11:16 AM

I'm really enjoying your travels while I sit here at my desk at work. Ranchester is one of my favorite small western towns - beautiful area.
If you decide to camp in the Badlands we have friends that own the:
Welcome to the Badlands Budgethost Motel and Campground

They have been long time friends of the family. Tell Larry, Jesse or Alice that Steve Broering from KY say's hello!

**moosetags** · 06-10-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief

Brian,

Just got home from our adventure, and am trying to catch up on forum reading......wifi was not the best on the road.

Great trip report.....after you get back home, we need to get together for a cold one and share some stories.

Safe travels.

Chief

Ron-

That's a date. We'll give you a call when we get back home.

Brian

**moosetags** · 06-10-2009, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverPal

We're a bit behind you....leaving McCall, Idaho today for parts East. We left our Winie ('07 Winick Bambi) at home and are traveling in our SOB. What's your next stop? Are you by chance heading to South Dakota & Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc? If so, we highly recommend Rafter J Bar Ranch in Hill City as a destination resort. Rafter J Bar Ranch, Black Hills, SD , Welcomes You!

Lynda, Jim, & Tucker, the Camp Dawg

Thank you for the recommendation. We haven't really decided which way we are headed when we leave Ranchester. We were in the Badlands and Rapid City last years, so we were thinking of blowing through this time in pursuit of the world's largest ball of twine.

Brian

Gene · 06-10-2009, 12:17 PM

I saw the one in Cawker City, Kansas, back in 1976 when it was the largest. I understand there's competition from another one. You could do all of us who are interested in the world's largest ball of twine a great service if you go to both and measure them.

Gene

**moosetags** · 06-10-2009, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Brian, that radio station is the best yet. Though the building with the clock and the bears is real good too, and the movie theater…. We love small town architecture, especially where it hasn't been ruined with "modernization". I'll have to remember Livingston next time we're in that area—we blew through there in '06 in a hurry to get to Yellowstone.

Gene

Gene-

The KPRK station building was built in 1947, and was in continuous use as KPRK until just several months ago when the station moved to Bozeman. Looking through the glass in the front door, we could see all kinds of memorabilia, records on the wall, etc. We could also see part of the broadcast control room, including the boom microphone.

The station call letters, KPRK, were custom requested as the station is located in Park County, Montana, and originally called itself "the voice of Park County".

I particularly like the faux antenna.

Here are some additional shots of KPRK.

Brian

**moosetags** · 06-10-2009, 09:19 PM

We went up to the mountain this afternoon. It was still socked in with some heavy fog. Visibility was only about 100'. We had about decided to turn around when we came upon a disables fifth wheel in the right lane as there was no shoulder to speak of. We stopped to se if we could help. It was a young family from Racine, Wisconsin. The tow vehicle was a late model Ford F-250 PSD. It had apparently blown a transmission line and lost all of its fluid. They were in a very dangerous situation. They could not get their rig off of the road, and the visibility was severely limited. To make it even worse, there was no cell phone signal at this point on the mountain. The couple were Dave and Karen Peterson and they had three children with them. We decided to do what we could to help them.

SuEllyn stayed with Karen while Dave and I drove down the mountain to get a cell signal. Dave finally got a call into a wrecker service in Sheridan. They said that it would take about 90 minutes to get up to where we were. When Dave and I got backed to the disabled rig, the fog had gotten worse. I turned Daisy around to put her brights into the uphill traffic. Dave and I stayed on the low end to warn of the disabled vehicle in the right lane. SuEllyn and Karen stay at the disabled rig to help traffic around it and warn downhill traffic of the danger.

It was a very long two hours before the wrecker arrived from Sheridan. Several motorists offered help and asked if we had help coming. One man gave us three road flares which were a very welcomed addition to our efforts.

There were several scarry moments where we retreated to the mountain face on the side of the road. I was very disappointed that two different U.S. Forest Service marked vehicles past us by without stopping to see what was wrong and ask whether we needed help. I am now convinced that the U.S. Forest employs functional idiots.

The wrecker finally arrived and towed the fifth wheel rig about eight miles further up the mountain to the Sibley Lake Campground where the Petersons had reservations. The wrecker driver was really good and able to back their whole rig into a back-in site. Their F-250 was towed on to the Ford Dealer in Sheridan.

We returned to Lucy and we actually saw a bull Moose before we left the area. We will head back up to the mountain in the morning, and stop by to see if the Petersons need anything.

Brian

SilverCabin · 06-10-2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

The tow vehicle was a late model Ford F-250 PSD. It had apparently blown a transmission line and lost all of its fluid.

Any idea what caused this problem?

Good on you for stopping to help.

Randy

**moosetags** · 06-10-2009, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverCabin

Any idea what caused this problem?

Good on you for stopping to help.

Randy

It was hopefully a transmission fluid line to/from the cooler, and no serious damage was done. We'll find out tomorrow.

Brian

Gene · 06-11-2009, 09:06 AM

It amazes me how few people do stop to help. Good for you guys.

FS employees are under great pressure from above and get used to being stupid because intelligence has been frowned upon for a while. It used to be a desirable job, but political interference changed that.

Gene

Relentless · 06-11-2009, 02:26 PM

There, but for the Grace of God, go we. That kind of thing could happen to almost any of us. Well done, Brian and SuEllen.

John

76sovereign · 06-11-2009, 04:20 PM

SO nice of you guys to help them out...Espically with the 3 little ones....That made me nervous just reading about them in the truck until help came...Gods bless you for staying around and making sure they got to their site.

REMEMBER:
PAY IT FORWARD

**moosetags** · 06-11-2009, 11:24 PM

This morning at 7:30 we called the Ford dealer over in Sheridan, and asked them to take a look at the Petersons' F-250 PSD. We then drove up to the Campground where the Petersons were camped in their fifth wheel. We took Dave up the road where he could get a cell signal.

Dave Peterson called the Ford Dealer in Sheridan. He was told that the transmission was totally fried and had to be replaced. If there can be a good side to this situation, the dealer could get a new transmission from a nearby dealer and have the truck ready to go by tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

The cost for the new tranny will be $4200, but there was not much choice for Dave being 1000 miles from home with his family and a fifth wheel. Dave told me that he bought the 250 PSD new in 2001, and that the OEM transmission had blown at 32,000 miles, and had been replaced under warranty. The truck now has 75,000 miles on it. This new transmission will be waranteed by Ford for 3yrs/36,000 miles.

We told Dave that we would come by the campground tomorrow afternoon and give him a ride to the Ford Dealer in Sheridan.

We are really glad to be able to help out the Petersons. Dave is a Firefighter in Racine, Wisconsin, and he and his family are delightful people. As someone has said, this could be any of us.

We are PAYING IT FORWARD, and will ask Dave to do the same.

Brian

**moosetags** · 06-11-2009, 11:44 PM

Even though we had some business to attend today, we still had a great day of Moose Hunting in the Bighorn National Forest. We had 22 moose sighting. It seemed like Mooses were everywhere we looked. We even saw two separate cows with very young calves.

We also hit snow at the 9,000 foot level.

Brian

thecatsandi · 06-12-2009, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

[deleted]
Dave Peterson called the Ford Dealer in Sheridan. He was told that the transmission was totally fried and had to be replaced. If there can be a good side to this situation, the dealer could get a new transmission from a nearby dealer and have the truck ready to go by tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

The cost for the new tranny will be $4200, but there was not much choice for Dave being 1000 miles from home with his family and a fifth wheel. [deleted]

Brian

Brian and SueEllen

Just curious if they had a factory or auxilary transmission temp guage and if it gave any warning of the fluid loss.

Kudos to you for stopping to help. You are a true Airstream Ambassador

I also want some moose spotting tips. We have a lot of them around here and for the life of me I have never seen one.

**moosetags** · 06-12-2009, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

Brian and SueEllen

Just curious if they had a factory or auxilary transmission temp guage and if it gave any warning of the fluid loss.

Kudos to you for stopping to help. You are a true Airstream Ambassador

I also want some moose spotting tips. We have a lot of them around here and for the life of me I have never seen one.

Michelle-

I will find out later today about about the temp gauge on the Petersons' PSD.

As far as Moose spotting goes, we look for low wet areas near the road. This is where they like to feed. We also look for a dark spot on the landscape. Many times when we first spot them, they look like a dark brown rock as they are bent over feeding. They generally like to stay somewhat near to a stand of trees to retreat to if threatened. They are most active near dusk, although we have spotted them at all times of day.

Brian

Gene · 06-12-2009, 09:33 AM

Moose are reclusive and don't like to be seen. Most of the ones we have seen are on or near a road where they do stand out. The place you really don't want to see one is on the road as you round a curve. Everybody loses in a moose/vehicle collision. In fact, you don't want to meet one face to face either. They have a reputation for being bad tempered and they are very, very big. I think moose hunting with a telephoto lens is the way to go and Brian and Suellyn have perfected it.

Gene

76sovereign · 06-12-2009, 10:33 AM

Thanks for sharing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

Even though we had some business to attend today, we still had a great day of Moose Hunting in the Bighorn National Forest. We had 22 moose sighting. It seemed like Mooses were everywhere we looked. We even saw two separate cows with very young calves.

We also hit snow at the 9,000 foot level.

Brian

ibgl6 · 06-12-2009, 03:30 PM

Well it has been in the ninety plus range at home by the time yall get back we may all be melted. Great show helping them folks. I am liking all the pics of the differant places.. Your neighbor in the Panhandle......SAM

**moosetags** · 06-13-2009, 12:43 AM

Sad to hear that summer has already begun at home, but that's the price for living in the Florida Panhandle. The temperatures here in Wyoming are really nice now, but just think about January.

Brian