Grass Meadows Farm
July 10, Odyssey day 37, and we are heading south now and eventually home. Originally the plan was to drive from Cathy’s friends’ place in Coeur d’Alene down to a stop in southeast Idaho and then a series of one night stays the rest of the way, but since everything changed we decided to add a stop in Missoula. This will shorten the drive distance as we make our way down to Jackson Hole and then on from there.
We book a Harvest Host farm site in Missoula. Before arriving at the site we stop at a pizza place in town and then Costco to purchase the latest versions of the 2 kayaks we borrowed from friends of ours. The kayaks are on sale there, 30-40% off!
We drive to the Grass Meadows Farm late afternoon. This Harvest Host site is a little odd. The previous ones were all wineries and we were accustomed to the hosts meeting us at the site. This one is definitely self-serve. We drive into this residential area down this cul-de-sac. It’s all decent sized homes fairly close together. There’s supposed to be a farm in here somewhere? Well there is. At the end of the street, one of the driveways opens up into this huge farm and there is the sign “Grass Meadows Farm”. We drive in and follow the directions, off to the right up this small hill and there is a huge grass field where we are supposed to park. Another camper is there. The field is kind of soft and good thing there is no weather, because if it was soggy we might have trouble.
There is plenty of space there, probably enough for 50 campers, but again it's strange because I don’t know how anyone would know you’re there. I did call the host number but some guy answered and seemed a little disinterested. I just asked about generator hours and he says just “do whatever you want’. Ok, great! We will definitely need the generator because its’ really hot!
As I said in an earlier post, Montana is a beautiful state and the views from this spot are really great. You have 360 degree horizon views of some of the mountains and valleys. The only negative is the proximity of the Missoula airport which is a major hub. The air traffic is kind of loud. It’s fine for only one night. If you do have a car or vehicle you can drive to different areas, this would be an excellent base because there is plenty to do in Missoula especially biking and fishing!
So we settle in and as mentioned it’s very hot. We turn on the generator for AC. After about an hour we notice a strange smell, like turpentine or something. At first, I thought it was something on the farm but after a more thorough assessment it seems it is coming from the generator and it’s likely a fuel leak there. I turn off the generator and the leak does stop after about 10 minutes.
Ok, so no generator. Add that to the list! Thankfully we only have a few more days to go and after checking the remaining stops it looks like at least a couple of them will have power so we should be able manage.
The plan will be to go to the bike trail in the morning before heading out.
Thanks for reading!
DrDave
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