Marathon Road Trip 2024, States #8 & 9

                                    

Cutting across the northeastern corner of Wyoming, we entered Montana. After a long and boring 4-hour drive on State Highway 212 through Big Sky Country, we arrive at the KOA campground on The Yellowstone River in Billings. This is our second stay in the country’s first KOA, est.1962.

As we approached Billings we saw, smelled and breathed smoke from the wildfires.

We later learned there were currently over 60 fires in Montana.

We had a delightful visit with Captain’s cousin Chuck and wife, Terri.

We were pleased their daughter, Lindsey stopped by to see us. (Was it us or maybe she heard her mom had baked a delicious huckleberry pie.)

Chuck took Captain on a Sunday afternoon drive to Pompey’s Pillar, the only remaining on-site physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. There he found an authentic signature of William Clark.

 

Look closely and you, too, may see it.

 

 

A change of travel plans gave us an opportunity to revisit Yellowstone National Park. 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

As many of you have no doubt visited this huge, popular national park, we will spare you and share only a few of our favorite photos.

 

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Fortunately the air cleared while we were in the park and the weather was perfect for exploring.

 

After a roughly 2-mile walk, with a 300 ft. elevation gain at 6735 ft. altitude, we passed an unofficial cardiac stress test.

 

Visibility was clear as we left the park on Tuesday morning. However when we reached I-90, we found ourselves in a wind tunnel with wind speed around 50 miles an hour. Fortunately we were through it in a short period of time.

 

The air remained clear and we enjoyed the scenic drive for a couple of hours. 

And then. once again, we started to see and smell smoke. The closer we got to Missoula, the thicker the smoke.

 

Our home for the night was in the parking lot of Big Sky Brewery in Missoula. Our neighbors were a fun couple, Doug and Lisa, from British Columbia, Canada. After sharing a couple of beers and quite a few stories, we retired to our rigs and fell asleep to the most welcomed sound of rain.

After an intense day of driving on Thursday,

we finally reached our home for the night in Couer ‘d Alene, Idaho. By pure coincidence, our new friends, Doug and Lisa, had also reserved a site in the campground at the Kootenai County Fairground. Another fun evening with stories continued as did our discussion about the differences between our two countries. Exchanging contact information, we hope to see them again, maybe in Kentucky or perhaps British Columbia. These interactions are what make our travels and our lives rich.

 

Anticipating tasting some very good wine, we move on down the road.