Driving Montana

We left Glacier this morning and drove about 430 miles to West Yellowstone.  It's a town in Montana just a few miles outside the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

I talked to Mom today and when she asked how long we had been in Montana, I was amazed to count the days and realize that we had already spent 5 nights in 3 different places in Montana.  We will be here 2 nights or maybe 3.  That will make a total of 7 or 8 nights.  Dang.  I didn't see that coming.  But Montana is one of our favorite states out West.  It is Doug's absolute favorite.  He would move here in a heart beat.  Not me.  I know they have very hard winters and besides, my job is in Michigan and I'm not ready to retire yet.

We drove some U.S. Highways that were very scenic.  We also drove about 200 miles on I-90.  The first part of the drive on U.S. 93, we found the following and dedicate this find to our good friend, Erol.

After leaving I-90, we traveled south on U.S. 191.  It's one of the most scenic drives we have taken.  All along the road are different rivers and creeks.  Here are a couple of photos of some places we stopped.

We are settled in at the KOA West Yellowstone.  Free cable and free, fast WI-FI.  This is the third time we have stayed here but it has never been this crowded before.  We're hoping that a bunch of them clear out tomorrow.  Our tentative plan is take the MH a bit north of here and try some fishing tomorrow, come back to the KOA, rent a car and do the park on Monday.  We will see.

Dinner duties call, but before I go, "Coffee and tobacco are complete repose" - Turkish proverb.

Glacier National Park

On Thursday we left Cut Bank to head to the Glacier National Park area.  Before we even left that RV Park, the bottom hinge on the refrigerator door broke and we thought we had lost our 2nd set of MH keys.  The keys were in the driver's side door pocket (I wonder who put them there?  Jesse must have done that because according to Doug "There's no way I put those keys there").  As for the refrigerator door hinge, you can't just replace the hinge.  It's molded into the door, so we need a new door.  2-3 weeks for delivery, so we will make do until we return home.  At least it closes and stays closed going down the road.

We are staying at the KOA at West Glacier, MT.  It is one of the nicest KOA's we have stayed at.  Nice wide sites and free WI-FI.  No cable, can't even pick up a station off of our antenna.  (We really got to get signed up for satellite TV.  We have a dish, just need a receiver and a service.)  We were here a few years back, but they sure have expanded and improved the park.  There's a whole new area in the back.  Here's our site.  What a view!

Last night's pork chop dinner on Texaco plates.

Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary and we celebrated with a campfire and a game of corn hole.  If you don't know what that is, Google it.  Big time Cincinnati, OH game that we came to know and love from my sister Gloria and brother-in-law Ralph.

I'm grateful for my husband and grateful for our anniversary.  In 2009 when Doug got diagnosed with cancer, we weren't sure we would see that year's anniversary, but we got to celebrate in 2009, 2010 and now 2011.  Thank you Lord!

This morning we rented a car for our trip through Glacier National Park. Vehicles over 21 feet are only allowed to travel a short way, so a car is the only way to do the park.  Even though it was a week day after Labor Day, the park was very busy.  Much more so than the first time we visited here.  But last time, it was a bit later in the month and the weather was cooler.  It was only around 40 when we got up this morning, but it warmed up into the high 80's.  I guess the good weather has got people out here still.

Here are some of our favorite photos from the park today.

We got back around 4:00, I returned the rental car, came back and did some laundry.  Gotta still do all the necessaries even on vacation.  We sat outside with a campfire for about an hour and then Doug decided he was heading to bed.  The dogs went with him and it is so still and quiet in here right now.  It's made writing the blog tonight a snap.

We take off in the morning to head towards Yellowstone.  We're not sure if we will just drive all day and get there (doable, but it would mean a 9 hour day on the road) or just go about half way and let Doug have another chance to catch a Montana fish.  Dang those fish anyways.  Why are we skunked so far?

Like my friend, Dave Letterman says "Way too much coffee.  But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever."

A Day to Relax

On Wednesday, we sat still...well, not exactly sat still, but we didn't head down the road.  Doug slept in and got some much needed rest, I bought a wireless antenna booster from the RV Park (strengthened the signal and like quadrupled the speed), I almost finished my Ivy Malone book, I brushed out the dogs, Doug fished for nearly 3 hours (sad to say, skunked again) and I drank lots of coffee.  I also chatted with a man here from MN in a 21 ft travel trailer who is headed to Kalispell, MT to spend the winter!  I told him he must be a hardy soul.  He's probably early 60's and he said his kids think he nuts.  I told him we only live once and he should enjoy his adventure.

Here's a shot of a cross and statue of Jesus that is at the park.  This view is from the trail that goes down to the river.

And here are some shots at sunset Wednesday night.  

I've really enjoyed our stay here.  I hope we continue to find parks as nice as this one.

They say that petroleum and coffee had no value a few centuries ago.  They're both worth their weight in gold now.  Guess I'll pour me a cup of java and finish my book.

Cut Bank, MT

Yesterday we decided to head a bit further north and drove 130 miles to Cut Bank, MT.  We are staying at the Riverview RV Park.  It's a first-rate park, free Wi-Fi, cable with over 60 channels, freshly painted picnic tables, access to the Cut Bank River and blue ribbon views.  The park is very well maintained place owned by a man named Mike who is originally from Traverse City, MI.

On our way here, we stopped at a rest area where once again we were reminded that we are in the wild, wild, west.

The next time you use the expression "whoop it up" you'll know where it came from!

The view at the RV park is amazing!

Around 6:30 we decided to try fly fishing again.  To get down to the Cut Bank Creek, you take a path that was once old U.S. 2.  Very easy going down and not too hard going back up.

We got skunked once again, but we sure had fun trying.  And besides, the view is so beautiful.

When we got back to the RV, someone had pulled in beside us.  They are towing a car and did not take it off so we hope that they are not staying.  It was nice having an empty space between us and the people next to us.  We had a great view then and hope to have it back after these folks leave.

This will be the first time this trip that we have stayed more than one night in a place.  We have so many things on our list to see while we are out here, the miles are many between places and there's always that pressure to move on.  But today, we will sit, enjoy the scenery, the warm sunshine, read a bit and of course enjoy the ever present cup of coffee.

Fly Fishing Montana

On Sunday, we drove from Spearfish, SD to Hardin, MT taking U.S. Highways instead of driving boring old Interstate 90.  We did 237 miles.  The day was sunny and cool.  It was a good decision to travel the back roads.  We saw a lot of small towns and stopped at the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument.  AKA Custer's Last Stand.

Basically, the U.S. government had finally signed a treaty with the Native Americans and part of the reservation land was the Black Hills of SD.  Some of the bands of the tribes had refused to go to the reservation.  Then gold was discovered in the Black Hills and the white man kept illegally entering the reservation.  The tribes even went to Washington, D.C. to persuade President Grant to honor the treaty and keep out the miners and settlers.  The government offered to modify the treaty by way of buying the land and resettling the Native Americans in Oklahoma.  This was not acceptable to the Sioux, Lakota and Cheyenne because Oklahoma was not their homeland.  Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were 2 famous warriors who continued to fight for their land and refused to go to the reservations.  In time, around 7,000 Native Americans joined them in a camp at the Little Bighorn.

The government told the Native Americans to return to the reservation by January 31 or face military action.  Of course it was winter and the tribes decided to stay put and return in the spring.  Not being good enough for the government, they attacked the tribes with about 270 soldiers suffering a defeat with all the soldiers killed.  It was a major victory for the Native Americans.  Custer had been arrogant, did not understand the pride of the great warriors and way underestimated their abilities.

When we left Hardin, Doug decided that what he really wanted to do was to fish so instead of heading to Glacier National Park,  we drove to Belt, MT.  It was sunny all day.  The morning started out very cool, but it warmed up to around 80.  We drove 254 miles, again using mostly U.S. Highways instead of the Interstate.  We even traveled part of U.S. 12 which goes through our hometown in Michigan.

We are at the Ft. Ponderosa RV Park right on the Belt Creek.  Very small park, free Wi-Fi, but no cable.  We can't even pick up a signal off of our antenna.  There's only one other campsite occupied so the space is fantastic.  We tried our hand at fly fishing and had some bites, but didn't catch any fish.

The RV park even has 2 Texaco gas pumps!  What a bonus for a Texaco collector, like my husband.

It's another cool morning here and I turned on the furnace.  We haven't decided yet if we will stay another night here or continue north.  It's only 8:30 and Doug and the dogs are still sleeping.   Staying here another night would be just fine with me.  I could read all day, listen to music and walk the dogs.  The coffee pot is empty so I guess it's time to fix a pot.

The Badlands and the Black Hills

Last night, we had a storm blow through.  I had the window open on my side of the bed and the wind was so strong it woke me up.  I tried to wake up my captain, but he rolled over and kept on snoozing.  Thunder, lightning, high winds and then the hail.  It was a fast moving storm and only a lot of leaves and small limbs came down.

This morning we headed out early and drove the loop through the Badlands.  Beautiful scenery.

After leaving the Badlands, we drove to Mt. Rushmore.  We were glad to get a parking spot.  Being Saturday and Labor Day weekend, we figured we might not get a spot.  Our third time there but it never fails to amaze me.  It's such a beautiful carving.

We then drove through Custer State Park and saw a lot of wildlife including buffalo, deer and prairie dogs.

South of Custer State Park is Wind Cave National Park.  We had never been there.  We took the tour and it was very interesting.  The only other cave I have been in is Mammoth Cave.  The Wind Cave has the world's largest display of a rare formation called boxwork.

We drove north to Deadwood.  Wild Bill Hickcok was killed there in 1876 and is buried there next to Calamity Jane.  We had planned on camping at Deadwood, but the town was loaded with people and we headed north to Spearfish.  We're at a KOA on a very large site with free Wi-Fi and cable.  Tomorrow we head to Montana.

We only drove 253 miles today but it sure seemed longer because we were on the road all day.  We have really got to find a spot to stay for a few days so that we can just sit.  The dogs are already quiet, I'm hungry and have drank far too much coffee today.

And the Adventures Begin

We left home on Wednesday morning at 7:00.  It was cloudy and rainy all day.  We drove 288 miles, 6 - 1/2 hours.  We went to the Straits State Park, just over the Mackinac Bridge at St. Ignace.  No Wi-Fi-, no cable, but we did get quite a few stations off the antenna.  We had a nice spot near the water.

Doug made a pot of coffee, we had a cup and I called for the casino shuttle.  I managed to make a small donation.  When I got back, Doug had a campfire going, so we sat outside with the dogs.

Mr. Jesse

Me with Jackie (after she got into BIG trouble for barking at a man walking down the road...see the shame on her face?)

Thursday was mostly sunny and 65.  We drove on Highway 2 all the way to Wisconsin, where we picked up U.S. 8 and drove all the way across the state of Wisconsin.  445 miles - 10 hours.  We stayed just over the border in Minnesota at Taylor's Falls.  No Wi-Fi and no cable, but Doug washed the motor home to get all the bugs off of it.


We left this morning around 7:00 and drove 586 miles - 11 hours.  This is a longer day than we like, but it got us all the way to the Badlands, SD.  On the way, we stopped at IBEW Local 292 in Minneapolis so that Doug could buy a shirt.  Later in the day, we stopped at "The World's Only Corn Palace" in Mitchell, SD.  I always wanted to see it, but it was kind of a bust.  The original Corn Palace, called "The Corn Belt Exposition" was established in 1892. Early settlers displayed the fruits of their harvest on the building exterior in order to prove the fertility of South Dakota soil.  The third and present building was completed for its first festival at the present location in 1921.  While we didn't go inside, Doug did stop so I could take this photo.

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About 20 miles before our exit, we stopped at a rest area and see this guy setting up his satellite dish there.  He was also running his generator.

We had a good laugh about this wondering what was so important that you would go to all that trouble to set it up at a rest area.  Was he planning on spending the night?  Is he obsessive/compulsive and has to watch the ABC Evening News every night?  As we we left, Doug said "Maybe he knows something we don't.  Maybe we should turn on the radio."  I thought about it for a bit and decided that if something tragic had happened, I didn't want to know about it just yet.  Of course, that wasn't the case.  Guess the guy just has OCD.

We are at a KOA in the heart of the Badlands.  Free Wi-Fi and about 15 cable stations.  Tomorrow we will drive through the Badlands and make our way to the Black Hills of SD.  For now, I'm ready for a fresh cup of coffee.