Jun 18, 2013 - Helena, MT

We had a nice drive through some of MT yesterday as we drove from Bozeman to Helena. Drove down the main street in Bozeman and was really impressed. It was at least 3/4 mi long with businesses, shops, cafes etc. It was really alive and well. The whole area seemed to be growing and well taken care of. Was nice to see such a nice vibrant Main St. There were snow capped mountains all around us. The road went through rolling plains and hills. A lot of it was brown and sagebrushy, but then we came to green, green and more green. The irrigation...

Jun 18, 2013 - West Yellowstone, MT

We made a very scenic drive today to West Yellowstone, Montana. We had snow-capped mountains in sight just about all day. We are out of the plains and I don't think we will see flat land again for a while. About 20 miles east of here is Three Rivers, Montana, where the Missouri 'ends' at the confluence of the Jefferson, Galletin, and Madison Rivers. The Jefferson is the true headwaters of the Missouri, and I'm not sure why it is given a different name. We were about 80 miles from Yellowstone Park when we our route brought us into the...

Jun 16, 2013 - Yellowstone NP and Bozeman, MT

Well today, Sun we drove from Cody WY to Bozeman, MT. After 5 days without TV and very sporadic (usually none) internet and phone service, we are happy to be back in touch with the world. Fortunately I jotted down my thoughts. Thurs. June 13, 2003 Got up at 6AM to get an early start into Yellowstone. Saw 2 Bison just next to the Ranger check in station. First area we saw was Yellowstone Lake. It is the largest high altitude lake in North America. It is 14 mi wide and 20 mi long with 110 mi of shoreline, 136 sq miles average depth 139 ft and...

Jun 16, 2013 - Day 5 & 6 West Yellowstone

Day 5 was a bad weather day snow and Hail in the AM so hung out at the Rig until noon then went into West Yellowstone for some shopping and since I haven't seen a bear in the wild we went to the grizzly and Grey Wolf Museum where they have live bears and wolves on exhibit. Very nice Museum and informative watched a short movie on the introduction of the Grey Wolves back into Yellowstone. Day 6 we headed out for a day trip for the Grand Tetons about 80 miles away through Yellowstone out the South Entrance into the Tetons. This was a very...

Jun 16, 2013 - An old Grizzly re-visits the U of Montana Grizzlies

Today, we spent the day walking the campus where Dan went to college It is a beautiful campus with huge pine trees that were smaller when he was there 40 years ago. We saw Old Main, or the administration building, the Forestry Building, gym, library, new and old student center, among other things. I felt like a parent doing the college visit tour thing again, and there were families doing just that...and on a Sunday, too. We visited the dorm where Dan stayed his freshman year. He still remembered the windows where the boys used to sneak in...

Jun 16, 2013 - White Sulphur Springs, MT

Today we drove through Great Falls on our way to White Sulfur Springs, Montana. Great Falls is the location of the "Falls of the Missouri". When Louis and Clark made the decision to follow the south fork, they we happy to find the falls because it confirmed that they had correctly chosen the 'true Missouri'. After they got to the Falls they were not as happy, because they found not one waterfall, but 5 different falls spread over 12 miles. The river drops 187ft in the 5 falls, and another 425ft along the riverbed. They made a long and hard...

Jun 15, 2013 - Missoula, or Moo U

Today, we arrived back in time forty some years for Dan. We made it to Missoula! Leaving Livingston, we went from lush green to dry brown and back to green again. Missoula sits at the juncture of five mountain ranges and it feels like it driving here. I now know what the TOW HAUL feature is for on the Expedition. It's when the engine says you've got to be kidding as we go up and down the mountainsides. The drive itself was not too very long. We seem to average about 4-5 hours a day driving and about the same miles per gallon! No, not that...

Jun 15, 2013 - Yellowstone, dans la neige

Jeudi 13 Juin On rentre à Yellowstone par l'entrée ouest, donc par la petite ville de West Yellowstone. Elle ressemble aux anciens villages du FarWest avec ses stationnements en diagonales devants les petits commerces tous fait en rondin genre pièce sur pièce. La météo a changé...ici il fait maintenant 17 degré et on est 15:00. On traverse une partie du parc pour se rendre à notre camping...donc encore 70 km....le parc est énorme. On arrête en chemin pour voir les troupeaux de bisons sur le bord de la route, c'est extraordinaire et le...

Jun 14, 2013 - Cold and cloudy

Our third day at Rock Canyon, we ventured into Livingston, looked around at the town, which is about as large as the area from Palm Bay Road to 192 and from Hollywood to Babcock. It was once the end of the railroad and has quite a history connected to the railroads. Our campground owners, Kim and her husband, have told us of a resurgence going on in this part of Montana due to the arrival of a younger generation of entrepreneurs basing their services on the tourist trade. She and her husband are part of this. They came to the campground...

Jun 14, 2013 - Ft Benton, MT

We have crossed the center portion of Montana to Ft Benton, the oldest settlement in Montana. We traveled along the way across the prairie, which were once covered by a herd of 30 million bison, and is now the most beautiful rolling green farmland that you could imagine. Ft Benton was the highest point along the Missouri that riverboats could reach and therefore became a major trailhead and shipping port. Lewis and Clark stopped near here for 12 days in June, 1804, at a place now called "the Decision Point". This is the confluence of the...

Jun 14, 2013 - Days 3 and 4 Yellowstone

Day 3 was a down day we stayed home cleaned the rig and changed the oil as it rained most of the day. Right now it's snowing in West Yellowstone the 14Th day of June. We are at 6000 ft. and the wind is blowing, snow flying and temps in the 30's WOW! There are 2 loops in Yellowstone and Yesterday we did the Mammoth Hot Springs and back to the Canyon South Rim. There are 3 different types of terrain the steaming hot springs and mud pots the mountains with there Pine forest and the open plains. It changes from one to another within feet of...

Jun 13, 2013 - Garrison, Montana

This morning we left Billings to start our Alaska adventure. The weather was great, we got up early and got an early start. We said our goodbyes to Jim and Jeanette and hit the road. For most of the trip the weather was sunny and nice. By the time we got to the continental divide, the sky had gone grey and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. When we go 30 miles from Garrison it started to rain and the wind was blowing. When we pulled into the RV park a guy on a golf cart escorted us to a site and we quickly set up in a light rain. Mileage...