Tag Archives: Miles City MT

2013_07_29 (Mon) A Short Drive to Another N. P.

We only had 138 miles to travel from Miles City, MT to Medora, ND, and could not check in to the Red Trails RV Park until noon, so we hung around the Meadows RV Park for the morning.  Besides, we had a pretty good Internet connection which made it possible for me to update my posts for Thursday (Chief Joseph & Beartooth scenic drive) and Friday (Grand Teton N. P.), both of which included lots of photos.

I have already had a minor issue with spam comments on our blog.  I mentioned this to Cherie yesterday and she suggested that I install a WordPress plug-in named Akismet.  I discovered that it was already installed but not activated, so I got the API key and activated it.  I hope it helps with the spam problem without interfering with legitimate comments.

If YOU are reading this and think you have posted a legitimate comment that did not get approved or appear on the blog, please send an e-mail to us@omnibus-mi.us

Around 9:00 AM it started raining.  This was the first sustained rain we have experienced since we were in Gillette, Wyoming over a month ago.  It was over by 10:00 AM.  I finished working on the blog just before 11:00 AM.  We finally pulled out around of the Meadows RV Park around 11:10 AM MDT and were through Miles City and back on I-94 eastbound by 11:15.

The weather was partly cloudy and cool, with high temperatures in the region of 78 degrees F.  The terrain was hilly, but not extreme.  I set the cruise control at 63 MPH, 3 MPH faster than normal,  and the coach ran very strong all day while maintaining normal engine temperatures.  On balance it was a pleasant and stress free drive which we both enjoyed.

Goodbye Montana, Hello North Dakota.

Goodbye Montana, Hello North Dakota.

Linda had never been to Montana until this past week, and I don’t think I had ever been in eastern Montana.  For sure neither of us had ever been to North Dakota before, so we did not know what to expect.  I associate this area with the “northern great plains”, meaning endless, treeless fields of waving grain.  Not so Kemosabe.

 

A taste of things to come.

A taste of things to come.

I-94 going northeast out of Billings tends to follow the Yellowstone River.  This part of Eastern Montana and on into western North Dakota is a minor “badlands” with river valleys and small canyons.  The terrain does roll up and down long hills, and much of it lacks trees.  There are fields and cattle, here and there, but much more of the landscape is rock and sagebrush.  It is a beautiful part of the country; reminiscent of other paces we have been, but uniquely its own.

We arrived in Medora, North Dakota around 1:30 PM (still MDT) and were checked into the Red Trail Campground and parked in our site by 2:00 PM.  This was the first campground we have stayed in with trees and shade since we left our home in S. E. Michigan on June 9th.

Linda with “Teddy Roosevelt” Joe Wiegand.

Linda with “Teddy Roosevelt” Joe Wiegand.

Medora is a charming but modern reconstruction of a western town; small enough to be easily walkable, but with plenty of choices for shopping, lodging, dining, and drinking.  (Hey, it’s still the west.)  Even the campground is part of the town, albeit on the edge and on the other side of the tracks (literally), only a couple of short blocks to the main area.  There are several attractions in town that other RVers had told us about, especially the “cowboy musical.”  Our interest, however, was in Joe Wiegand’s personification of Theodore Roosevelt.  Joe’s performance was outstanding and well worth the $10 adult admission.  He delivered a one hour monologue without missing a beat and took questions, as TR, and answered them without hesitation.  Joe not only resembles TR (at a certain point in his life) he has clearly made a deep and serious study of Roosevelt’s life and internalized it.  The last time we saw something this good was Hal Holbrook’s personification of Mark Twain.

Local coffee with a western feel.

Local coffee with a western feel.

After the performance we stopped at a local coffee shop and sat on their porch enjoying their brew and the view.

 

The real attraction for us, and our main reason for booking two nights in Medora, was a chance to visit the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  I-94 is the southern boundary of the South Unit of the Park, and the entrance is right in downtown Medora.  Roosevelt spent time in this area following the death of his mother and first wife on the same day and eventually owned two cattle ranches near Medora.

 

On the advice of a local bookstore owner we made a last minute decision to drive the 36 mile loop road in the South Unit this evening.  By the time we walked back to the campground and were ready to go it was after 6:00 PM, but our timing was good.  The weather was clear and cool, while there was a possibility of rain for tomorrow, and we had the drama of the early evening sun dropping into the western sky and a better chance of seeing wildlife.  We were not disappointed.  The Park is worth the time to visit, and while we did not see a lot of wildlife, the wildlife we saw was special, and a first for us…wild horses, up close.

A prairie dog town in TRNP.

A prairie dog town in TRNP.

The campground by the river.

The campground by the river.

Our first time ever  to see wild horses.

Our first time ever to see wild horses.

They watched us as much as we watched them.

They watched us as much as we watched them.

Wild horses in a wild setting.

Wild horses in a wild setting.

TRNP In the fading light of evening.

TRNP In the fading light of evening.

Tomorrow we plan to get an early start and visit the North Unit of TRNP.

 

2013_07_28 (Sun) Heading East

What could have been an easier travel day for us started a bit earlier and got stretched out by our choice to put diesel fuel in the bus (twice) and our desire to stop in Billings, MT for a while to visit with Cherie and Chris of Technomadia.  We pulled out of Green Creek Inn and RV Park just after 8 AM and immediately pulled into the adjacent gas station to the east and added 25 gallons of diesel fuel to the tank as insurance for the first leg of our trip.

We took US-14/16/20 from Wapiti back to Cody where we picked up US-14 Alternate going east.  Yup, that’s the same US-14A we drove across the Bighorn Mountains (in our car) from Burgess Junction to Lovell with a stop at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel.  The stretch from Cody to Garland, however, was in the valley and relatively flat.  In Garland we picked up WY-114 to Deaver and then took US-310 into Montana and finally connected with I-90 eastbound.

We got on I-90 at exit 434 and got off at exit 452.  Those numbers, of course, are miles from where I-90 enters the western edge of the state.  Montana is a big place.  Exit 452 is US-87 / Main St., the truck route through the east end of Billings (known as “the heights”), and the location of Interstate PowerSystems where Chris and Cherie have been since early June getting their 8V71 rebuilt after it developed a problem while traveling in the area east of there.  But they are close to being back on the road, and we just caught them on the first leg of our return trip home.  Although we had a six hour drive to get from Wapiti, WY to Miles City, MT the visit in Billings broke it nicely into two pieces.

Chris and Cherie of Technomadia, “camped” at Interstate PowerSystems.

Chris and Cherie of Technomadia, “camped” at Interstate PowerSystems.

We had a nice visit with Chris and Cherie.  I have been following their blog and purchasing their iPad apps and e-books for some time.  We had met them once before at the mid-August GLCC/CCO Back-To-The-Bricks Rally in Clio, Michigan.  We use Verizon/Android cell phones, and they recently released their “State Lines” app for that market.  Besides both having bus conversions, we have in common that we are both “re-doing” previously converted buses bit-by-bit and contributing articles about it to the recently rejuvenated Bus Conversions Magazine.  Beyond that, they are full-timers (we are not), they are still actively working (we are not), and they are much younger than us (smile).  We chatted for a couple of hours, but did not want to overstay our welcome as they are deep into several projects that need their time and attention and we still had to stop for fuel and make another 148 miles to get to Meadows RV Park in Miles City, MT.

We returned to I-90 eastbound and exited three miles later for the Pilot / Flying J truck stop.  Our PFJ card saves us a few cents per gallon, but mostly we like the truck pumps; wide lanes, no overhead obstructions, fill from either side with large nozzles, and they sell a lot of diesel, so it doesn’t sit in their underground tanks for very long.

We had been cautioned back in June (in South Dakota) that RV sites might be hard come by in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, but that did not turn out to be the case.  Meadows RV Park gave us a place to rest our heads and recharge our batteries (literally, the house batteries are not currently set up to charge from the Zena engine-mounted alternator while we are in transit, as described in a previous blog post).

Linda made a wonderful salad for dinner and incorporated some of the Kholrabi she bought at the Cody Farmers Market yesterday.  I believe this is the first time either of has (knowingly) had this vegetable, described as a “German cabbage.”  I didn’t find it particularly cabbage like, but it was very tasty.

Practicing the bagpipes are Meadows RV Park in Miles City, MT.

Practicing the bagpipes are Meadows RV Park in Miles City, MT.

We were getting ready to go for an after dinner walk when we both noticed the faint sound of bagpipes.  I went outside to investigate and sure enough, one row over from us was a gentleman practicing the bagpipes.  That was a first.

 

2013_07_27 (Sat) Where We Go From Here

We have had an intense but wonderful week in northwest Wyoming and the Green Creek Inn and RV Park has been just the right spot for us to base camp.  The RV park is away from the hustle and bustle of Cody, yet close enough to be convenient for shopping and entertainment, and is close enough to Yellowstone N. P. and Grand Teton N. P. to make them accessible as day trips.  And although it’s a small RV park with only nine sites, we had excellent full hookups, laundry facilities, a WiFi connection to the Internet, and free popcorn.  Our 50 Amp site allowed us to run all three house air-conditioners all day while we were away to keep our cats safe and comfortable.  We needed to do this because of daytime highs in the mid-80’s with bright sunshine and constant wind that prevented us from using our awnings to shade the passenger side of the coach.

Although $45 per night is more than we generally pay to stay in an RV park, it was a fair price given the location and facilities.  The WiFi/Internet bandwidth was limited, but we were glad to have what we had as there was no useable Verizon 4G/LTE signal here, and even 3G EVDO was marginal for making phone calls.  The WiFi connection was generally very strong thanks in part to or WiFi Ranger Mobile Titanium, which has been working very well for us since we bought it at the FMCA rally in Gillette, WY last month.  Interestingly, the only OTA television signal we could pick up was Wyoming PBS from the general direction of Cody.  (Smile)

This was a quieter day for us, but by no means an idle one, as we needed to prepare for our departure tomorrow morning.  We noticed this morning that it was overcast, the first time since we arrived here a week ago.  We did have clouds today, and a few drops of rain, but Jeff informed us that the haze we were seeing was from the various forest fires burning in the west.

Linda drove to Cody in the morning to do our shopping.  The main attraction was the local Farmers Market, located, conveniently enough, in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Trading Company.  She came back with quite a few bags of stuff!

While she was gone I drained the waste tanks, stowed the hose, and added our Pine Sol / water / Calgon solution to the tanks.  I also drained the little bit of fresh water that was still in the tank, flushed it with a bit more, and then refilled it.  I left the fresh water shore line connected so we could use if until we depart, conserving our onboard water for use on down the road.  I also worked on getting our blog postings up-to-date.

When Linda got back she did the laundry.  At our house in Michigan this is usually my chore, but for some reason she seems to take care of it on the road.  Although we are trying to learn not to over-plan, we are not full-timers, and we have a house and family to which we have to return from time-to-time.  We knew the route we wanted to take back to S. E. Michigan, but the timing and overnight waypoints were still undecided.  We want to see the Theodore Roosevelt N. P. in western North Dakota, but the campgrounds there do not have any hookups and do not appear to be big rig friendly.  Medora, ND is the closest town, but it is 410 miles driving distance from Wapiti.  That is more than we care to do in one day, especially given our planned stop at Interstate Power Systems in Billings, MT to visit with Cherie and Chris of Technomadia.  (http://www.technomadia.com).

Using the online Good Sam campground finder we located the Meadows RV Park in Miles City, MT, 280 miles away, and made a reservation for tomorrow night.  That should give us a 5.5 -6.0 hour drive, leaving plenty of time to stop and visit in Billings.

I continued to work on our blog while Linda paid our bills and continued to research overnight stops.  We decided we would try to stay two nights at an RV park in Medora if we could find an opening.  And we did!  We made a reservation at the Red Trail RV Park just off I-94.  It is walking distance to downtown Medora and convenient to the Theodore Roosevelt N. P., which we will now have a day-and-a-half to explore.

Linda took time out to make wheat berry risotto with mushroom /garlic/onion /asparagus.  She used some of the Argentinean Malbec wine we had on board, and served the rest with the meal.  This was a fragrant, earthy dish with great “chew” that somehow fit the wildness of this past week.  When she has the time to cook we eat very well indeed.

While the risotto was cooking we pulled the tray on the passenger side of the bus that houses the chassis battery disconnect switches and the Vanner equalizers (we have two as it turns out).  We located the circuit breakers, and pushed them in to (possibly) reset them.  (This refers back to the BAL light that came on while traveling from Sheridan to Wapiti on the 21st of this month.)

Beyond Medora we hope to stay at a winery in Buffalo, ND about 30 miles west of Fargo.  It was personally recommended to us by Harvest Host founders Don and Kim Greene.  If they can accommodate us on the 31st, it will be our first use of our Harvest Hosts membership.

Along the same lines, we hope to stay the next night at the Forest Edge Winery in Laporte, Minnesota.  Forest Edge is owned/operated by members of the FMCA Freethinkers Associate Chapter.  Being a kind of “virtual” chapter in FMCA’s International Area (INTO) our members are spread out all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Rallies are difficult to organize and most of our interactions are by e-mail.  We even hold our annul business meeting electronically.  Thus any opportunity to meet in person is a treat.  The fact that Forest Edge is also a Harvest Host business makes it easier and that much more special.

From Laporte we plan to head to Hibbing, MN to visit the Greyhound Bus Museum.  Beyond that, we will make our way across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to St. Ignace.  From there we cross the Straits of Mackinaw (Mackinac) on the Mackinaw Bridge and head straight south on I-75 where we vector off on US-23 southbound to M-59, and home.  Depending on when we get there we will have been gone almost exactly two months.