We are starting this one off with our time in Montana. We stopped at four different places in Montana. Our first stop was at North American RV Park in Coram, MT just a short 6 miles from the entrance to Glacier National Park. We made reservations for the Going-to-the-Sun Road and made the trip on the motorcycle. David has done this ride a couple of times, but this was the first time for Kim. What an absolutely beautiful road with breathtaking views along the way. The sheer cliffs along the road can be a little frightening but still well worth the trip. We also spent a couple days driving around this area of Montana exploring some of the local towns and Flathead Lake. We got in one hike through the woods, armed with our bear spray. It was good to get out for a hike and thankfully we didn’t find any bears. The highlight of this stop was floating down the Flathead River on a 4 hour guided fly-fishing trip. The river was crystal clear, and we had perfect weather. The scenery was amazingly beautiful! We learned a lot about fly-fishing and once again Kim caught more fish than David.

Our next stop was at Bernie and Sharon’s RV Park in Garrison, MT. There was another semi truck, 2 sites over from us and we spent quite a bit of time with the owners, Bob and Lisa. Great people! We went to Deer Lodge where we toured the Montana Prison Museum and then went to the Cell Block Tavern. Kim overheard some handsome young cowboys talking about a rodeo happening later in the week. The rodeo turned out to be lots of fun, especially the mutton busting event. That’s where they put the little kids on the backs of sheep and turn them loose. It was very entertaining. We spent a day visiting Phillipsburg where we explored all the shops in the downtown area, had a nice dinner, and then enjoyed some music at the Phillipsburg Brewery. One of Kim’s old coworkers started the Phillipsburg Brewery and once again we did not see him while we were there. He has now sold the brewery but still lives in town. We hear that he is typically “gone fishing”. We also drove to Helena where we visited the capital, drove through some of the historic sections, and enjoyed a nice lunch at a brewery with a roof top view of the town. We ended the Helena visit with a stop at Costco to restock the RV.

Our last stop in Montana was at the KOA in Big Timber. We discovered they like to spray their weeds with diesel fuel in this park. It took both of us getting headaches to figure that one out. We ran into someone local, who was as appalled by this as we were and said that she would “take care of it”. We went to the Greycliff Mill right down the road which was a really cute place with lots of little shops. We did a little exploring around the town of Big Timber (not much there) and visited a prairie dog park. The highlight of this stop was going to Natural Bridge Falls on the boulder River. The river flows through a hole in the rocks and then goes underground. We hiked down to the bottom of the falls, which was quite a steep hill, but it was worth the views. Then there was the climb back to the top… let’s just say we both need to be in a little better shape. On the way back we stopped at the Boulder River Roadkill Bar and Grill. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice this place was.

We were sad to leave Montana because it was one of our favorite states so far. Next, we stayed at a couple Harvest Hosts, Tilt Wurks Brewery in Mile City, MT and Phat Fish Brewing in Dickinson, ND. We managed to check North Dakota off the list with that stop, YAY! We also stopped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the way to Sturgis where there were amazing views.

Next, it was time for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. We stayed at the KOA in Spearfish, SD which just happens to be where David has his residency set up. Welcome Home David! We had a couple of days to get some shopping and pickleball in before Tangy, Rick, Sandy, Robert, and Matt showed up from Washington to do the rally with us. We went riding somewhere different every day. We explored downtown Sturgis, hiked around Devils Tower National Monument, visited the endless number of motorcycle vendors at Black Hills Harley, rode Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road, and rode through lots of other towns along the way. There is a picture above where you can see 2 people climbing Devils Tower. We did not attempt that! Everywhere we went there were thousands of motorcycles and some of the best people watching around. We spent numerous evenings cooking together at the RV. It is so nice to always have our home with us. Thanks to Tangy for all her help with everything! One of David’s high school friends also stopped by for a visit one afternoon. Thanks for stopping by Jeff Oliver, it was great seeing you and catching up.

Then we were off to Cody, Wyoming where we stayed at Yellowstone Valley Inn and RV Park. It was a nice park, about 30 miles from the East entrance to Yellowstone National Park, with a restaurant and bar, which was convenient. They also had cabins, so the whole Sturgis group of friends stayed there too! Yellowstone is huge! We spent two days on the motorcycles and put over 200 miles in each day and did not even see all of the park. It is an absolutely gorgeous park with so many things to see. Next time we will just camp inside the park so we can see more and have the chance to get some hikes in. Then it was time for the Washington motorcycle friends to head home. We really enjoyed our time with them! It was great having Tangy and Rick stay with us the entire time. They are such great RV guests! Then it was just the two of us… we went to The Cody Cattle Company for their dinner show and then to the Cody Rodeo afterwards. We had a great time and would highly recommend it, if you are ever in the area. The rodeo was one of the better ones we have been seen. We especially enjoyed the calf run where they have all the kids 12 and under get in a line in the arena and then they release a couple of calves with ribbons tied to their tales. The first kid to get the ribbons wins. We spent another day at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. It is a huge building with several different museums inside including Buffalo Bill, Plains Indians, Draper Natural History, Cody firearms, Whitney Western Art and several special exhibits. The firearms museum is the biggest gun display we have ever seen.

We are now headed towards Elkhart, Indiana for the Luxe rally in September and then spending the winter at the house in Florida. We have some more stops along the way, so look for one more post before we take a break from RVing.

And of course….. weird things along our travels. Drove through Paradise; saw the horse hotel; there is a different speed limit in Montana at night; went through Emblem, WY which had a population of 10. Unfortunately, two more prairie dogs are in heaven, thanks to Matt and David.