May 28, 2015 - Three Forks, MT to Shelley, ID

Today was the beginning of our planned journey for the summer after spending 8 weeks in Three Forks, MT.  The first 6 weeks were spent on taking care of Keri and Dustin's five kids while Keri stayed in Billings, MT to care for her baby, Kalista Hope, in NICU. Kalista was born premature on February 17, 2015. Keri's husband, Dustin stayed with her and the baby until the first week of April before returning back to work full-time.  They had several people look after the kids from Feb 17 until April 2. After we left Jacksonville, FL on March 30 we drove for 3 days, arrived in Billings, MT on April 2nd, met with Keri and Dustin to discuss plans for taking care of their house and the kids.  We took over the responsibility on April 3rd.  We stayed there until Keri and Kalista came home from Billings on 7th of May.  We were planning on staying around one more week to allow Keri get adjusted to the routine after being away from home for 3 months.  However, Edith decided that one week stay was not enough, so we spent another week (actually, we really enjoyed spending time with our adopted family)

Kalista Hope

Our adopted family
Dustin, Sasha, Conner, Nikkol, Zella, Keri and Hunter

It was raining, but it was not cold.  The temporary state license tags that were issued when we purchased the motorhome and the Jeep were replaced with the new ones (still temporary).  We have ordered personalized tags and that takes 4-6 weeks before we get them.  Because of that we were advised not to enter and visit Canada this time, so we cancelled that section of our route.

Getting ready to check out of the campground

The Jeep before getting towed to our Lil Home (LH)

Setting up the tow bar for the Jeep

Our LH and the Jeep getting ready to hit the road!

The sun was trying to peek through the thick cloud cover.  There was a small sky break in the distance and we were hoping the weather gets better later on in the day.

We left Missouri Headwaters State Park campground at 9:30 am.  It took us a while to get everything put away in our Lil Home (new name for our Class A motorhome) and the Jeep ready for towing.  Setting up the towing system for the Jeep took a while because that was the first time we had done it. We should have practiced setting it up during our downtime, but there was almost never any downtime for us. (No excuse, we know!)

We decided to get on I-90 Westbound to Whitehall, MT (Exit 249). Because we were towing the Jeep for the first time, we wanted to stop at Exxon gas station in Whitehall to check to be sure it is ok.  So far so good!

The sun finally came out, but there were still lots of rain clouds all around.

We went on Highway 55 South and the road was narrow, but manageable.  The scenery was very beautiful.  There were thousands of sheep and lambs.

Highway 41 was used to go to Twin Bridges, ID.  Edith took a picture of the most famous round red barn in that area. It was built in 1882 by Noah Armstrong. It has 3 floors: first floor has a saddle room, a veterinarian's room with medicine and supplies, grain bins, an office, and living quarters for the stablemen. The second floor  is for the storage of hay and grain for feeding and had chutes going into each horse stall for easier feeding. The third floor has a large water tank to provide water.

Historic Round Barn near Twin Bridges, MT

Along that same route there were lots of Canadian geese and the babies in the pond.

We pulled into the Chamber of Commerce parking lot in Dillon, MT. We decided to leave LH there and used the Jeep to get around the town. Before we set out we went inside the Chamber of Commerce to get information. There were lots of Western displays inside.  

Our twins!!!

"Ghost"
The asking price is $9,000!!!

In front of the Chamber of Commerce building
 Note where we parked our LH in the rear parking lot

Lots of life sized bronze statues in the town

There was an interesting attraction that had lots of knick knacks outside, but the place was closed and off limits. 

We spent time browsing inside Galloping Horse Interiors store that sells Western themed furniture pieces. There were so many nice stuff we would love to have, but we wanted to be minimalist. Besides that, there is no room for more stuff inside our LH.

Antler Door Handle

For lunch we had crispy Malibu chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries at the Klondike Casino/Restaurant.

Edith wanted to check out Western boots at Atomic 79, tried on several, liked one, but she wanted to have red color in it and they did not have it in stock. It was surprisingly very comfortable when walking.

They have Spiderman boots for kids!

As soon as we walked back to the Jeep from Action 79 store the rain started to came down very hard.  One drop of it was like a gallon!

Leaving Dillon, MT we were on Business 15 to get on I-15 to Idaho Falls, ID.  Some nice looking barns here and there and Edith found a perfect one with the snowcapped mountains as the backdrop.

We made a first rest area stop in Dubois, ID. Black rain clouds started to appear in the distance.  There is a dump station for RVs with no fee, but we decided to wait until we check into campground later in the evening.

It started to rain when we left Dubois.  We could not believe at how much litter were lying along I-15 W.  Thousands of wind turbines south of I-15. In spite of the litter it was a beautiful drive with snowcapped mountains, low lying clouds, valleys and more!

Wind Turbines

We got off from I-15 at Exit 128 in Osgood, ID to see what giant cans of Sprite, Coke and Diet Coke were like. They are actually above-ground storage tanks for gasoline and diesel fuel.  Clever idea!

It was 5:30 pm when we arrived Idaho Falls, ID.  We decided that we were going to camp out in Shelley, ID, which is few miles south of Idaho Falls.  We overlooked the sign to North Bingham County Park campground and had to make an U-turn.  The campground office was closed, but there was an envelope to leave $ in and to mark which site we reserved. We got the site #2.

Sunset

We did not want to take a chance of venturing away from the campground park after supper because the gates close at sunset.  Instead, we stayed behind, took a walk inside the park.

Erwin really enjoyed driving our LH and Edith was impressed with his ability to maneuver it in towns/cities.  

Miles driven:
LH - 240
Jeep -5

Today's route:
A - Missouri Headwaters State Park Campground, Three Forks, MT
B - Whitehall, MT
C - Dillon, MT
D - Dubios, ID
E - Shelley, ID

May 23, 2015 - Our Day Off - Trip to Yellowstone National Park

It was partly sunny and in 55˚ when we were up at 7 am.  It was really a restful night at Missouri Headwaters State Park campground. The hot water ran out while Erwin was taking a bath and had to finish rinsing with cold water.  The hot water button was reset and Edith had to wait about 15 minutes before she could take a bath.

It was our day off from helping Keri Traver and her family, so we decided to venture down south to visit the west part of Yellowstone National Park. We knew it was going to be a long drive for the day, but we wanted to do it.

Erwin fixed breakfast consisting of bacon and hash browns and eggs.  After cleaning up a bit we set out for Ennis, MT at 8:40 am.  Clouds started to roll in, but it was not that cold.  The temperature started to rise to 59˚.

Instead of getting on I-90 to get on Rt 287 we went through the town of Three Forks to drive on Yellowstone Trail Road to Willow Creek., MT  Somewhere along the route there is a sandhill crane nest with 2 eggs in the ditch and we wanted to see if the eggs were  hatched, they were not! The landscape was vast and the view of the mountains was so breathtaking.

Checked out sandhill crane nest, but the crane was still sitting on eggs.  Saw Swainson hawk on the branch near the nest, spotted one baby chick 

Lots of yellow-headed blackbirds at the marshland

Got on Rt 287 at 9:25 am

We pulled into a ranch where there were Belted cows and calves in McAllister, MT

It started to rain lightly. Temperature started to drop below 50˚ and the fog started to develop here and there.

First tourist attraction we visited was Virginia City, MT.  Many stores and attractions were open because of the holiday, so we took our time strolling around the town.  After Virginia City we drove past Nevada City without stopping.

                                      

We went back to Ennis, MT and after checking out few dining places we decided to have lunch at Nacho Mamas, got steak quesadilla with guacamole on the side for $10 (enough for 2 hungry adults)

                                         

                                  

After lunch we continued driving on Route 287 going south toward West Yellowstone. 

Abandoned building with mountain backdrop in Cameron, MT

The sun was trying to come out, but the cloud cover was heavy all around.  Rain clouds were stubbornly hanging over the mountain peaks.

We made a right turn to Route 191 for West Yellowstone, MT.  The traffic was very light, much to our relief because of the holiday weekend.

Gas was $2.72 and diesel was $2.89 in West Yellowstone.

Before entering Yellowstone National Park (YNP) we wanted to check out Grizzly Bear RV Park in West Yellowstone to get information and to survey the area for future stay there.  

Instead of getting on Route 191 to Bozeman Erwin wanted to visit the west and north part of YNP.  At the West Entrance booths the traffic was slow and long.  

Erwin mentioned that he felt spiritually connected with bisons. Few minutes later we spotted one bison and Erwin was very happy to see it.

Few miles down the road the traffic was backed up for a couple miles. Before the next pullout there were 4 bison walking along the road.  We turned into a parking area to get pictures and videos

Checked out Madison campground to get information. The rate for seniors is $12.75 a night.  Campground was full, but has vacancy after the holiday. When we were ready to exit the campground there was a lone elk cow grazing the grass not far from the office.

                                       

There was a road sign notifying drivers that the road between Old Faithful and West Thumb was closed, but we wanted to go to Mammoth Springs and exit at the North end of YNP Mammoth Springs. 

There were lots of bisons and babies at Gibbons Falls' auto route loop.

A couple miles after exiting Gibbons Falls the traffic was backed-up 27 miles from Mammoth Spring, and it was slow moving. It started to rain, so we gave up and made an U-turn to go back to West Yellowstone.

It started to rain heavily and steadily, so photo shooting opportunity was not good!

From West Yellowstone we chose to go on Route 191 toward Bozeman.  At Big Sky we toured briefly.

Gallatin National Forest in Big Sky, MT

It was around 7:45 pm when we got back to Missouri Headwaters State Park campground. We were too tired to go over to the Travers' residence to play games. Instead, we stayed put and played Mexican train domino games. Erwin won 3 games in a row.

Miles driven: 350