Montana - Big Sky Country

The sun greeted us this morning through the haze.

We just can't shake getting up early.   Today was no exception.  We were up by 5:30.  We were on the road by 7:15 a.m.  We needed gas and, had the night before, found a good gas station which is Big Rig friendly; so, we were able to fill up and get on the road without too much stress.  We turned the motor home west on I-94.   We sadly said goodbye to beautiful scenery of western North Dakota and hello to Montana.

Although Eastern Montana didn't contain the same beautiful scenery as North Dakota, it still had a view that was pleasant to watch go by as we traveled west.  We crossed the state line about  9:15 a.m.    Notice how clear the sky is in this picture compared to the rest of the pictures.

As we drove further into Montana, we encountered smokey haze.  It didn't affect the view of the highway but limited seeing very far in the distance.

We realized that the sun was shinning but the smokey haze kept it hidden most of the day.
We had planned to stop at a rest area for lunch but when it was lunchtime, the nearest rest area was closed and being rebuilt so we kept going.  The next rest area was closed as well, so we continued driving west. One big advantage of having a motor home is the fact that I was able to fix us sandwiches and chips for lunch and we didn't have to stop driving.  We arrived in Billings and filled up with gas at a TA Truck stop Exit 347.  We arrived at Red Lodge KOA around 3:00.  It had begun to rain by the time we got to our assigned spot.    The spot we were given didn't work for us.  We could not pull into the spot completely without having our car out in the drive through for other vehicles. For the first time ever, I went to the office and asked for another spot.  They were able to reassign us a better spot.  The rain didn't last long enough to help the people of Montana.

Finally set up, we relaxed.  For the first time this trip, we watched the local news.   Our neighbor in North Dakota had told Carol that parts of Montana had not had any rain since June and things were very dry.  The local news announced that a fire was burning on Highway 87 just north of Billings.  They also showed other parts of Montana having fires as well as those in Washington and Idaho.   We have been on the road and oblivious to what was going on in the west as far as weather goes.   Evidently, this weekend the temperatures may be a record high in the 90's.   The good news is that the humidity will be in the 20's.  Of course, low humidity is not good for an area with no rain and dry grasses and trees.

We are here for three days and four nights.  There is a lot to see in Big Sky Country.  We want to take the Bear Tooth Road into Yellowstone and visit The Battle of Little Big Horn National Monument.   I don't know which we will do first.    That decision will be made tomorrow after a good night's rest.

A Long but Good Day

Both of us were awake at 5:00 a.m. and because we couldn't sleep, we decided to get up.  We had breakfast at the RV and at 7:30 headed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Teddy Roosevelt came to this part of North Dakota from New York as a young man of 24 to hunt buffalo.  He fell in love with the area.  When his wife and mother died within hours of each other, he came back to the area to mourn and renew himself.  He became president when President McKinley was assassinated.  He championed the national park system by playing a part in setting aside the land for several national parks including Yosemite.

The first animals to greet us were prairie dogs.  The park has several prairie dog towns scattered through the park.

Theodore Roosevelt N.P. is sometimes called the Badlands of North Dakota.   I don't think it is as uninhabitable as the Badlands of South Dakota.  It is a lot greener as these pictures show.  It is very beautiful and we enjoyed driving the loop road around the south unit of the park. 

We took a couple of short hikes.  One of them took us to the original east entrance of the park.  When I-94 was built, a new entrance along with visitor's center was opened from an exit off the interstate and this one was closed in 1968.

Another hike we took was to the top of  Buck Hill which is the second highest point in the part at a little over 2000 feet.

The park has several herds of wild horses and we were lucky enough to see a couple of herds including this one.  These two horses were at the upper bank of a small creek.  

The remainder of the herd was by the creek.    Among the herd was a small colt and his/her mom.  The colt was very frisky.  He would nurse and then kick up his heels in pleasure before nursing again.  It was fun to watch them.

Just outside the park, was a state park on the site of  a packing plant built by Marquis DeMores.  DeMores founded Medora which was named after his wife.

This chimney is the only part of the plant left after the fire

We had lunch at the Cowboy Cafe.   Carol had a hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy and I had a Reuben sandwich.  Both were delicious.  Dessert was strawberry/rhubarb pie.                               

These pictures were taken at the Painted Rock Rest Area.  This was not only a rest area but had a visitor's center for Roosevelt N.P. and was located east of Medora.

We returned to camp about 2:00 p.m. and I decided to catch up on our laundry.  It was a great time because there was no one else using the facilities.

About 5:00 p.m. we decided to visit the Enchanted Highway before we left this area.  This highway is a collection of the world's largest scrap metal sculptures constructed at intervals along a county highway to Regent ND.   Gary Greff, a metal sculptor and retired school teacher, lived in the town of Regent.  He could see that the town, 32 miles off the interstate, was dying, and decided someone had do something about it.  His master plan was to create ten giant sculptures to bring people down the county highway to Regent.  It worked because we were on that highway and saw cars from other states as well enjoying his sculptures.

This one is entitled "Deer Crossing."

 World's Largest Grasshopper.

The size of the largest grasshopper dwarfs Carol and Sandy.

This one is entitled "Fisherman's Dream.  It depicts fish leaping  up 70 feet through a metal pond surface.

A Covey of Pheasants.  The rooster is 60 feet long and the hen is 50 feet.  Three 12-foot high chicks complete the family.

This one honors Teddy Roosevelt showing Roosevelt on his horse and a stagecoach and team.

A Tin Family.  Dad is 45 feet tall and mom is 44 feet tall.  Below is the son holding a sucker.

The sculptor has plans for additional  projects for the Enchanted Highway.  We enjoyed the drive through the rolling hills.  Farmers were in the fields harvesting wheat.  A Black-tailed ferret ran across the highway at one point.

It was nearly 7:30 before we got back to the camp.  We put the car on the dolly and Carol washed windows in preparation for leaving tomorrow.  We hope to be camped at the foot of the Bear Tooth Highway tomorrow night for four nights.  Our neighbor here at the park had just come through that part of Montana and he told Carol that we would be driving through a lot of smoke because of all the fires in Montana.  That will be a new experience for us.  One that I would just as soon not have.