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.