Friday, August 6, 2010

August 6 - Days 53 and 54 - Sturgis to Glacier

Thursday arrived and we departed from Rush-no-More campground at 8:00. I was sorry to leave, I was really getting into the riding and understanding the techniques that Jim Ford of "The Rider's Workshop" taught me a couple of years ago.

We started out on I90, but soon veered off onto US 212, a two lane highway that cuts off a lot of the distance from Sturgis to Billings, Montana. The road is very good and you can make good time. As we headed into Wyoming and then Montana, the landscape changed, and we noticed a great deal more hay farming and cattle ranching. We arrived in Billings, at the Travelers Village RV park at around 3:00 and got set up. The park is very nice, if a bit tight, and the people are friendly. I would recommend it to fellow travelers.

We then headed for the nearest Walmart Super Center for necessary provisions. Later we went to the local Outback Steak House for dinner. Returning to the coach, I had to do the standard "bug removal" from the front end. I am getting pretty good at it now and don't use anything but water and a microfiber mitt and towel. It usually takes about 30 minutes.

Friday morning we were off at 8:00 again. We headed out of Billings on Montana highway 3 North on our way to St. Mary's and Glacier National Park. We then merged onto Montana 200. The landscape changed again with ranching, grain growing and LOTS of hay! The terrain also took on a rougher character as we climbed higher into the foothills of the Rockies.

We stopped for a break after 200 miles at a pleasant rest stop. Passing through Great Falls, we continued on MT200 and then onto US89 for a 100 mile stretch. We took a diversion onto Montana 464 for the last leg of the trip to avoid some issues with US89.

All the roads were very good, with a minor exception in one section of MT200, and a detour route through Great Falls. We arrived in St. Mary's at 3:30 after 389 miles and finally got set up. the first site the KOA assigned us was only 30 amps when we had reserved a 50 amp site. Luckily they had another site nearby with 50 amps. All the sites are on the side of a gently sloping hill making leveling the coach a bit of a challenge, but we got it done. As you can see, the scenery is quite spectacular.

The next challenge was getting the satellite dish and DirecTV to work. Finally, after recalibrating the dish and having a lengthy conversation with DirecTV, we got the TV working as it is supposed to. Then it was back to the "bug removal" detail - this time the mess was extensive! All settled in, we reviewed our next few legs of the journey, made some adjustments, had a couple of "Bubba Burgers" and called it a night. Tomorrow we will tour Glacier National Park. We also decided to stay here for an extra night on Sunday. One day without driving is not enough after nearly 400 miles! Until the next posting, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

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