Day 18 – Billings, MT to Devil’s Tower to Custer State Park, South Dakota

Day 18 – Billings, MT to Devil’s Tower to Custer State Park, South Dakota

August 14, 2013

After showers and a breakfast, we got back on the road in Billings, Montana. Our drive today was long and much of it was on Interstate 90 across Montana. I tried to help drive more today and managed to exit around Sheridan, MT. We drove down the Main Street to try to find a market or grocery store for fresh bread. It was one of the larger towns we saw, but we did not find any food stores. A man outside an antique sign shop gave us directions to an Albertsons. Albertsons was another exit east and in the middle of the ugly sign filled urban sprawl part of Sheridan. We had our lunch on the road, heading east.

I drove to Devil’s Tower with Alle riding shotgun and helping navigate. Ricardo sat in back, playing with the boys and ultimately taking a nap. Afterwards, he said that he got more of a taste for being in the RV as a passenger, and “it’s awful”. It can be quite nauseating in back, especially on hills when there is a gas smell coming in from the exhaust. Peter and Ricardo slept, while Ted built different magnetic cars with one of the new games I had brought for the trip.

We loved Devil’s Tower, a National Monument in the northeastern corner of Montana. It rises up from the land and we caught glimpses of it as we made turns in the small roads leading to it. There is nothing really around the huge monolithic tower of rock and it is not on the way to anywhere. One has to just want to see it and find it in the countryside. The tower is a sacred site for many of the Native America Indian groups from this area. One of the legends about it tells of a family of seven daughters and one son. The son turns into a large bear and hunts his sisters. The women go to the top of the land, which rises up to protect them. The bear scratches the sides of the tower, giving it large groves in the sides, which today aid the many rock climbers who try to scale it. The area around the tower is kept natural and it is a lovely site.

From Devil’s Tower, we took smaller roads heading south and east into South Dakota. Unfortunately, the migraine headache which had been chasing me for the past two nights came on with a vengeance. I ended the day, groaning in the back of the RV as Ricardo navigated in heavy rain to Custer State Park, a bit east of Custer City, SD. We are in the Legion Lake campground for the next two nights.  Here is Legion Lake of the Black Hills, SD.

I made dinner for the gang around 8 pm and went to bed. At about midnight, I woke from snoring around me and moved to sleep above the driving area with Alle. I woke up Alle because I thought she was sleeping downhill. So, we went outside to check and see the stars. Out here without much civilization around us, the stars are so vibrant and bright. We noticed that the RV was downhill on one side and went in and shifted our beds. About two hours later, another thunderstorm blew through and I felt a bit of rain. One of the other features of this dilapidated RV is that the sunlight above Alle’s space is stuck open.  It started to pour in on us and I lept up and woke up Alle again. We succeeded in taping plastic grocery bags over the opening and went back to sleep. The adventure continues.

Day 17 – Canyon Campground, Yellowstone Park through the Beartooth Scenic By-way to Billings, MT

Day 17 – Canyon Campground, Yellowstone Park through the Beartooth Scenic By-way to Billings, MT

August 13, 2013

Here is the view from our stop for road work in the Beartooth Valley just northeast of the northeast entrance, or in our case, exit from Yellowstone.

We left our campsite at Canyon Campground in Yellowstone Park this morning

and stopped at the large and too-commercial Canyon Valley center of shops and visitor center. It is one of the newer centers in the Park and it handles large crowds. We purchased a toy replica of the historic yellow Yellowstone buses (to complement the red bus we purchased in Glacier),

some hats, t-shirts and ice and were on our way. We have two reservations tonight; another night at Canyon or Buffalo Bill State Park in Cody, WY. We’ve decided to head towards Cody.

Our first stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It is spectacular. We stayed on the north rim and the pull-outs along the separate one-way loop road include three inspiring vistas.  The first was of the falls of the Yellowstone River. It falls over 300 feet into the canyon.

The canyon itself is about 1400 feet deep, 24 miles long, and 2400 feet across. Here the “yellow stone” for which the park was named is more clearly visible. The Yellowstone River continues from the falls in a fast paced rush of white and deep green water. We enjoyed every walk and view of this area.

The boys were so excited about their new Yellowstone hats that even Ted was willing to pose for pictures.

At one point as we were looking back towards the river and falls, an osprey glided past us and into the canyon.

A storm blew up on our last vista stop, so we decided to stay for a quick lunch in our RV in the rain. Everyone is still enjoying lunches of random sandwiches with a variety of luncheon meats, left-over meats from dinners, and, of course, PB and J. Alle and Ricardo had PB and B or with banana. We still have about 20 pounds of the about 30 pounds of salt water taffy I brought along from home, so it was salt water taffy all around for dessert.

After lunch, we headed through Lamar Valley to the northeast corner of Yellowstone Park. It is known for wildlife sightings. Ricardo had heard wolves in this area last night, but we spotted mainly bison herds.  After exiting the park, we headed north to see the Beartooth Range and valley. It is a 65 mile rambling scenic route, winding into Montana and back to Wyoming.  The Beartooth Highway is a National "By-way" and has been called America's Most Beautiful Drive by Charles Kuralt. Parts of it were more breathtaking than the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier.

From here we planned to head south again to Cody, WY.  Instead, we spent so much time on the winding mountain roads of Beartooth, driving at over 10K feet, mostly above the tree line and through lingering snow,

we stopped for dinner in Red Lodge, MT and decided to stay the night near-by, outside of Billings, MT.

We are now officially on our way home –  to Devil's Tower, WY, Custer State Park in South Dakota and into Iowa over the next four days.

Day 16 – Northern Yellowstone National Park, Canyon Campground

Day 16 – Northern Yellowstone National Park, Canyon Campground

August 12, 2013

Today was an exhausting day; the boys were stroppy and difficult most of the day. On the bright side, we saw the beautiful sites of northern Yellowstone. From the hike around Tower Falls



(the rest of the family took the unofficial trail down to the river -- I took photos),

to the interesting white and orange travertine terraces of Mammoth Falls and River,

and finishing with huge open valleys around Norris,

where we spotted bison and elk.

We pulled into our new campsite in Canyon for a lovely fireside meal of rack of lamb grilled over the fire. It helps to eat really good food while camping!

Day 15 – East Glacier, Montana to Canyon Campground in Yellowstone, WY

Day 15 – East Glacier, Montana to Canyon Campground in Yellowstone, WY

August 11, 2013

The drive from East Glacier Park to northern Yellowstone Park is a bit of a crazy drive to attempt with two three year olds in an RV in one day, but we wanted to get back to Yellowstone to see the northern half and we had reserved a spot in Canyon for three nights. So, we decided to go for it.

Ricardo started his day very early at 6 am, driving in our rental car from East Glacier to the airport near Kalispell, MT to return our car and pick back up our RV. Glacier does not allow trucks and RVs over a certain length onto the park roads, so we’ve had a rental SUV for the past three days. It is about four hours round trip. The rest of us got us leisurely, said good-bye to the large stuffed bear in the teepee inside the lodge,

ate at the breakfast buffet at the Glacier Park Lodge, dipped our toes in the swimming pool outside, and visited the gift shop. The boys are enamored with the red jammer buses in Glacier Park, so we purchased a small toy version.

When Ricardo returned, we packed up the RV and were on our way again at around 11:45 am. Not early, but with enough time to complete the eight hour drive.

In hindsight, it probably would have been better to find a camping spot before Yellowstone, in Gallatin Canyon, for example, but we drove on. Luckily, it is a lovely drive. The first half is through completely open, ranch lands first on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, then in central Montana. We drove on Montanta highway 89 and then 287, stopping briefly in the friendly town of Choteau. Both of these smaller highways go south all the way to Yellowstone. The shortest route includes some time on Interstates 15 and 90.

We also stopped for gas in Manhattan, MT when I realized today was the first day I could book individual tickets for the Metropolitan Opera in NYC for our visit with my Mum in October. While Ricardo filled the RV with gas and my family sat patiently, I got Internet access via Ricardo’s iPhone hotspot and tried to secure four tickets. It was one of those somewhat silly attempts to connect with a different reality in the middle of a holiday and in the middle of nowhere.  Somehow I did manage to select seats, enter my credit card information and purchase tickets while we bounced around on the highway after our stop.

We decided to take a bit of a longer route through the Gallatin Canyon and enter Yellowstone via West Yellowstone. The Gallatin River and Canyon are worth the extra time. Route 191 is a scenic and beautiful route, used for the river scenes in the movie “A River Runs Through It”.

We saw many fly fishermen on the river and even glimpsed the light filled snap of a fly cast as we looked back and took photos from the RV.

We drove up the mountain to see the Big Sky skiing areas, which we had not been to before.

We entered Yellowstone late in the day, a bit before 8 pm and were surprised by the commercial section of West Yellowstone. Suddenly, after seeing mostly cattle and horses and only a smattering of small towns during our drive, we were surrounded with lots of pedestrians eating ice cream, loud t-shirt shops and fast food signs. We haven’t seen a McDonalds or KFC sign for most of our trip. My inclination was to go through as quickly as possible and seek the quiet of Yellowstone.

It was another hour from the west entrance of Yellowstone past the Madison and Norris campsites to Canyon. Entering the park when the rest of sane campers are either eating or relaxing near their campfires has its benefits. We had empty roads and beautiful views of the sunset framed with mountains or river valleys. We also spotted many elk groups wandering in the stream valleys.  We enjoyed some local Windy River, WY sausages in Choteau, MT market buns for a very late but happy-to-get-here meal.

Day 14 – Glacier National Park, MT

Day 14 – Glacier National Park

August 10, 2013

I am glad that as I write these notes, Microsoft Word completes the date for me. I have no idea what day of the week it is and I could only guess at the date. We have been on the road for two weeks.

Today, we explored the small town of East Glacier for breakfast and dinner and in between drove through the Blackfeet Indian Reservation town of Browning to Many Glaciers part of the park. At the heart of Many Glaciers is the historic Many Glaciers Hotel. It is a similar wooden structure and age to the lodge we are staying in, but it sits at the shores of Swift Current Lake surrounded by mountains and some small glaciers. This morning, the lake was calm and had a mirror like surface.

We were lucky enough to get tickets for the two lake boat ride across first Swift Current Lake and then after a short hike between lakes, across Josephine Lake. There are only 49 seats on each boat and reservations are taken up to three days prior. We were not that organized and were glad to find that they set aside a few seats each trip for people on a waiting list. The boat ride is mellow and beautiful. The views are the most spectacular I think one can have without mountain climbing. The lakes at Many Glacier were my favorite spot of our trip.

After spending the whole afternoon there, we climbed back into our van and headed back towards East Glacier. Based on our experience last night, we were expecting about a two hour drive, which thankfully only took about an hour and 15 minutes. We multi-tasked before dinner with Ricardo doing laundry in the small town, the kids and I shopping for Christmas gifts in a wooden spoon shop, and all of us meeting for dinner at Luna’s. Alle was very excited to find that the wooden carvers made Harry Potter like wands. She selected one and heard the full story about its construction. She signed a special registry and received the numbered wand.

While we ate our second ice cream of the day after dinner, we had the treat of seeing the once-a-day Amtrak Empire Builder train arrive in East Glacier. Many people got off and many people got on the sleeper cars headed for Seattle. It was running a few hours late, but perhaps that is part of the charm. I sent an email to my Mum, who is a huge fan of train travel and Amtrak.  Ted was so terrified of how huge real trains are when they are arriving in front of you, he went with Alle to sit in our car to watch.

We are now gearing up to pick back up our RV, pack and leave Glacier National Park tomorrow morning. We have our longest day tomorrow if we are to reach Canyon Campgrounds in northern Yellowstone Park.

Day 13 – West Glacier, Montana to East Glacier, Montana and Glacier National Park

Day 13 – West Glacier, Montana to East Glacier, Montana and Glacier National Park

August 9, 2013

This is one of those days when I thank God that people have had the forethought to designate some lands as National Parks for everyone to experience and enjoy. Glacier National Park is a gem.

We got up early (for us) today, had a quick breakfast and left our campsite at Fish Creek in West Glacier. We loved this campsite, with its winding roads, many trees and location along the lake and creek. We could hear the water from our campsite and it felt very secluded for an RV site.

The only negative part of the day was that Ricardo had to drive our RV about an hour away, drop it off, rent a car and return to us inside the park. Alle, the boys and I had a nice morning at Apgar Village. We had fabulous views of Lake McDonald, which is a very long lake about 32 miles long. The morning light was peaceful and the lake stretched out in front of us at the docks there.

There is a Park Visitor’s Center, a few gift shops, and a grocery and restaurant in this village. So, while Ricardo did the hard work of driving all morning, we enjoyed time in the village. We took photos of the lake, shopped for souvenirs and Christmas presents, and visited the Visitor’s Center to get maps. I added a poster of Glacier to our collection of the national parks we’ve visited and we decided that having an early lunch was a good idea, followed by, of course, ice cream.

By 12:30, Ricardo was back with a black SUV. He felt raring to go based on being stuck behind the wheel all day and because he had just narrowly avoided a dog on the road on Highway 2. The dog wandered off, but all of our kitchen equipment in the RV landed up by the windshield and the TV had come down on his shoulders.  We left Apgar and entered the “Going to the Sun” Road, which is the 50 mile road winding through the park.

Once on the Going to the Sun Road, we drove along Lake McDonald and then McDonald Creek, which held the most clear water I’ve ever seen. We stopped near one of the tunnels so the boys could see the tunnel and the view, all the while getting sprayed with water at one of the many roadside waterfalls. The snow is still melting here. Our main stop was Logan Pass. After battling the other cars for someone leaving a parking space, we had a three hour hike here to see Hidden Lake. Even though the boys were loath to hike when we started, we all had a wonderful time. The path is board walk in some places and very well worn, but everyone is rewarded with fabulous wild flowers, amazing views of mountains, glaciers and snow patches, and many mountain goats wandering the hills and paths.

About four times, we had a mountain goat next to us in the path, happily munching on the grass and new growth on the pines. While our boys watched open mouthed, each walked across our path or posed framed in sunlight on a rock. It was breathtaking. It was 6 to 7 pm in the evening as we made our way back down and although it was getting late for dinner, we loved how empty the path became and the lovely light.

The other negative for the day came when we realized we had a very long drive to the historic Glacier Park Inn in East Glacier. We completed the Going to the Sun Road in St Mary, by the other very long lake of the park, but then had an hour drive out of the park on Blackfeet Indian Reservation land to find our lodge.  We were suddenly in East Glacier Village with civilization again and the huge wooden lodge looming before us.  

Red “Jammer” buses are one of the features of the Glacier National Park. They are a fleet of red historic buses built for the park. Because RVs and trucks of a certain length are not allowed on park roads, many people come here without their own transportation. They leave their RVs near the park entrance or take the train here. They see the parks with one of the modern park buses or one of the Red Jammers. The red buses were all restored by Ford Motor Company in 2002 and we saw them touring all over the park.

When we arrived at the lodge, there was a red bus picking up people with luggage. We also saw tons of people wandering over the front lawn with luggage. Everyone with luggage was heading across the front lawn to the Amtrak station directly across from the lodge.

The lodge land was purchased from the Blackfeet Indians and the lodge was built as an attraction on the expanding railway lines. It was opened in 1913; today everywhere around the grounds there are “100!” signs for its anniversary. The posts for the huge lobby are cedar logs which were each about 500 years old and weigh about 15 tons when they were hauled here and set-up to support the lodge.

We had separated our luggage from the rest of the RV “stuff” earlier in the day. We carried it all up the three flights of stairs to our room on the top floor. We are all in a “family room”, which has the roof lines for a ceiling and four beds in it. It is truly a summer camp type of room with only the minimal “mod cons”. We look out on the promenade of flowers which links the hotel to the East Glacier train station.

Tomorrow we have another day in the park to explore Many Glacier and perhaps Two Medicine hiking areas.

Day 12 – Sun Valley, ID to Elk Bend and Salmon, ID

Day 12 – Sun Valley, ID to Elk Bend and Salmon, ID

August 7, 2013

After one more breakfast buffet at the Sun Valley Inn and filling up on eggs and bacon and breads, we managed to pack up our things at our condo and drive into Ketchum to stock up on groceries. The boys and I enjoyed the mini-Whole-Foods style of the Atkinson’s Market in town. Shopping with the boys is always fun; the only challenge is not purchasing every cool item they find. We found lovely fresh salmon and various steaks to grill later in our trip. Ricardo and Alle picked us up with the RV without hitting anything and we were back on the road.

We headed north on Idaho-75 towards the Galena Pass and Redfish Lake. About an hour on the road, one by one we each sort of melted-down. I don’t know if it was being back in the RV, being back on the road with four hours of driving ahead of us, or just being the five of us again, but Alle expressed it first. She said, “I’m feeling yucky”. Then, the boys found each other and decided that beating on each other was the right thing to do. At first, I said to Alle, “I’ll just let them jostle for a while”. Ricardo continued calmly driving.

Well, the melt-down  concluded with a pull-out stop just over the Galena Pass, Ted standing without any diapers or anything for that matter on his bottom half, screaming by the side of the road, Ricardo negotiating with Ted, Peter claiming the back bed, and me and Alle photographing wildflowers by the side of the highway. We all finally piled back into the RV and the boys were both asleep in about two minutes. Ted slept for two hours and Peter for two and a half.

We drove along the Salmon River all day and were in awe of its meandering light and the beauty of the gorges. We made a quick stop at Redfish Lake to jump off the docks there and cool off.  Here's our view of the Sawtooth Mountains from Redfish Lake.

We found our RV park in a tiny, fairly deserted, quiet curve in the road and the Salmon River called Elk Bend, Idaho. We are surrounded by mountains and rocky cliffs here.

Ricardo and the boys set up the tent and fell asleep outside talking about the stars. Tomorrow we will enter Montana and make our way to Glacier National Park.