Central Montana

Lewistown, to be exact. Just a bit northwest of Billings and 280 miles from our last stop in Terry, Montana. We elected to leave our friend I-94 in Forsyth, MT, and take US 12 northwest. From Forsyth to  Roundup, MT is 103 miles of two-lane road, surrounded by grain fields, hay fields, and ranch land.

On that 103 miles we saw exactly 40 other vehicles. Yes, we counted them...

Eleven miles of road construction slowed us down to 20 miles per hour. We felt like we were packing down the gravel for the worker guys! A pilot car led us the whole way, but had trouble slowing down to our snails pace. We didn't want to send rocks and gravel back onto the tow car.

At Roundup, we turned north on US 87, which is a much better road overall than US 12, but still had some rough spots. The countryside continually changed from rolling hills with pine trees to flat range land. Very interesting!.

This state is truly awe inspiring! The length and breadth of the "wide, open, spaces" is amazing.

Nearing our destination of Lewistown, we began to see thousands of round bales of hay. Hay in every direction!.

In Lewistown, we're site 33 of Mountain Acres Mobile Home Park and Campground. This is a great park, with wide and long spaces, good utilities, and good weather (at least this time of year). This next weekend is the annual Cowboy Poet event, but sadly, we'll be gone and on....

As we were walking Sasha tonight, we discovered a hidden treasure just across the street from our rv park. Keep in mind that Montana is known for great fishing, and this area in particular is a favorite fly fishing area. We found a perfect little river tucked into the trees. I just know that there are hundreds of fish in there!

Beauty and the Beast

Our second day in Montana started with a couple of loads of laundry and a good breakfast. A cup of coffee fixed just the way we like, and we're off to a good start!

As we left Terry in late morning, we passed by the Kempton Hotel, the longest continually operating hotel in the state of Montana.

The Yellowstone River is just outside of town, so we went to look at it. This muddy mess looks nothing like the clean river that flows through Yellowstone Park.

Driving about 40 miles northeast on I-94, back the way we come yesterday, we found Makoshika State Park. Had to take a look!

This park is situated in an area of badlands where many fossils have been found. From the entrance station to the end-of-road turnaround is just a few miles, so here we go...

Just barely visible in the far distance is the ranching valley that follows the Yellowstone River.

Sandstone, laid down millions of years ago, has been attacked by wind and rain, leaving interesting formations under harder pieces of stone.

The road winds to the top of a hill, about 2,500 feet in elevation, that is named "Radio Hill" for obvious reasons!

They don't call this Big Sky Country for nothing!

Erosion has laid bare the many layers of sediment laid down when this area was a great ocean.

From hundreds of small "hoodoos' to great, long ones, it is amazing to think that these have resisted falling for thousands, or millions, of years.

Parking at the end-of-road turnaround, we set off to see a formation called "Twin Sisters", only to find that another visitor was on the trail! This 3 1/2 foot specimen was simply enjoying the warm sunshine. We gave him a wide berth nevertheless!

Geologic time is measured in epochs, several of which are visible here.

How do these things support those huge rocks?

Our first glimpse of the Sisters.

The trail leads through a coniferous forest, with pinecones just forming.

The Twin Sisters....

And at their base, as if to be an altar, a great slab of stone is supported by soft sandstone. The many little white specks are small, abrasive, white pieces of hard rock. I'm sure a geologist would know what to name them, but we just called them "salt"!

No more dramatic view of natural erosion can be seen than here in Makoshika.

Leaving the Sisters to stand watch over their home, we turned our attention to home.

And it's a Big Sky!

Returning to Terry, we walked with Sasha around the residential district of town. Only a few blocks in each direction, we couldn't help but notice the sad state of the town. The baseball field in the city park is overgrown with weeds and in disrepair. There may not be enough young people in town anymore to field a team.

Many occupied homes are in need of repair.

And more than a few need to have the weeds removed, or at least cut down to a manageable height.

It's so sad to see a town slowly fading away. Businesses have closed, the last dentist left town years ago, and the hospital is staffed only as needed by out-of-town people. Emergency? Call for an appointment, evidently...

We will remember the friendly owner of Small Towne RV Park and his young helpers, and wish him and his family well as they struggle to keep heads above water. Good Luck!

The Terry Terriers

Interstate 94 shoots right on by our rv park of last night, Prairie Breeze. The next town is Bismarck, North Dakota, and then on and on it goes.

The  skies were overcast and a low fog hugged the ground, but it didn't bother cattle grazing along the road.

In Medora, we stopped at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center.

This area has never been developed or farmed. Large herds of bison graze amongst prairie dog towns, and prairie flowers bloom in profusion. This place is protected and unspoiled.

Being new to this selfie thing, we managed to cut off most of the sign that we really wanted to see!

Then, back on I-94 heading west.

We stopped for fuel in Glendive, Montana, and just as we left the skies opened up. We were caught in another of those heavy thunderstorms that dot the landscape around here in the summer.

Out of the storm at last, we followed our gps off the highway in Terry, Montana, looking for an rv park where we had reservations. Turning on Towne Rd, it quickly turned to gravel...uh oh....

This little gem of a park has several unique qualities. First of all, the owner lives onsite, and came out of the house to bring us a small, clean trash can and a door mat. After helping us to connect, he gave us directions to the local attractions, as well as a binder with other things to see and do in the area and the state. His two young sons came out after a bit and chatted with us while we set up. Nice!

Later this evening, just after Sasha and I finished our constitutional, the boys returned with a half dozen eggs from their backyard chickens! They didn't want to sell them, just wanted to share, but a small contribution to their candy fund made a hit. While the park is a bit rustic, it is perfectly serviceable and the owners are very nice. We like it!

We will be here two nights so we can do some laundry and maybe sleep late. There's not much to do in Terry, we've already seen the high school home of the Terry Terriers, and the two restaurants in town are closed tomorrow, so we'll have to go a little farther afield.

We'll see what happens!

Menoken, North Dakota

Leaving Steinbring Motorcoach in a driving rain, we made our way to I-94 and headed northwest. A hundred miles or so later, we cruised into and out of Fargo, North Dakota, and settled into one of the longest and straightest highways I've ever seen!

 Lingering clouds didn't do anything to slow drivers down. The legal speed limit here is 75, and most drivers exceeded that by a substantial margin.

This highway is in excellent condition, and we were able to maintain a safe speed other than a few minor (read 11 miles) of construction one-lane road.

Passing through Jamestown, ND, we caught a glimpse of the World's Largest Buffalo! We intended to stop at the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown and get an up close look at these magnificent creatures, but decided otherwise when we saw that the roads into and out of the area were a bit small for our "road train."

If you look very closely in the left center of this photo, you can see the south end of a northbound buffalo on top of the ridge. The statue is billed as the world's largest, but it sure didn't seem to be very big from the Interstate!

West of Jamestown, heading toward Bismarck.....again with the straight and flat!

Eventually we slipped into site 12 of A Prairie Breeze RV Park, 278.5 miles on the road today, just a bit more than yesterday. 49 sites here, about half with the 50 amp power supply we would like to have, but we're doing ok with 30 amp power and only one air conditioner running. It's in the low 80's here, so we need some cooling! This is a nice small park with narrow sites, but the roads are wide and easily navigable by any rv. We were fortunate to be able to get a site here, as it seems that the entire United States RV community is on the way to Minot, North Dakota, for a huge rally this next week. The park is packed, and will be for the next few days.

We're slam bang in the middle of the prairie here and there is a light breeze blowing. We hope to get a look at a good sunset tonight.

And so we did...

It was a fine day! More adventures tomorrow!