September 1, Hermosa, SD to Billings, MT
We got out of Hermosa pretty early, so had time to visit Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. The sight of the rock tower is pretty impressive, but the park is definitely lacking. Being the first National Monument in the country, you would think it would have some nice facilities. Well, no. There was very little parking and I think many of the buildings were original from 1906. There was no park video to tell you about the place, and actually no place to even show a video.
We drove on towards our final destination of Billings, MT, but did find time to stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument long enough to check out the visitor center and watch a video about the battle. It was late, so we didn’t explore the battlefield, but Debbie and I had been there before a number of years ago when I was bowling in a tournament in the area.
We arrived in Billings just after dark and took up our spot for the night in the back parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant. They set aside an area at almost all of their stores just for RV’s to overnight. We returned the favor by eating both dinner there that night and breakfast the next morning before heading out.
September 2, Billings, MT to Saint Mary, MT (east side of Glacier National Park)
There was really supposed to be nothing special about the drive to Saint Mary, MT, BUT, we found out that MT-89 between Browning, MT and Saint Mary was completely torn up. We had about an eleven mile stretch that was just gravel and was very rough. I think we drove at about ten miles an hour that whole stretch. Once we arrived at the KOA in Saint Mary, the guy that led us to our site told us that it was posted on their website not to come that way due to the construction. Well, guess who didn’t see that?
The KOA is a very nice park with the usual KOA amenities. Unfortunately, the guy in the next spot didn’t know how to park and was so crooked that our slide almost touched his. (Wish that I had taken a picture!) He was oblivious that this was a problem. Fortunately for us, the park host came by and told him that he’d have to hook back up and move his trailer. He hasn’t spoken to Debbie or me since.
September 3, Glacier National Park, Day 1
Debbie and I didn’t get the earliest of starts, but since we were going to be here for five full days, we decided that we needed the rest. This is especially true since we had covered about 875 miles over the previous two days, which was well in excess of our self-imposed 300 mile daily limit (prefer 250).
We started our park visit at our typical jumping off point, the Saint Mary Visitor Center. There, we took in the park video, visited the exhibits, and Debbie picked up her collector’s lapel pin for the park and got her National Parks passport book stamped. From there, we decided to just get acquainted with the park in the same way that everyone does; by driving the Going To The Sun Road. It’s a two lane (barely) road that often runs along the edge of a cliff for about 50 miles from Saint Mary to West Glacier, MT. We stopped at most all of the scenic overlooks to admire the many picturesque views, from mountains to valleys, to waterfalls. I think I took over 150 pictures. Admittedly, many of those were different views (or camera settings) of the same thing, but the place is so beautiful that even pictures can’t describe it.
Even though we are officially here after the busy season, with many of the facilities closing within the next few weeks, there were still plenty of people here. This meant that popular places like the Logan Pass Visitor Center parking lot was full by 8:45 a.m. We circled the parking lot a time or two, but quickly realized that there was not chance of finding a spot, so decided to continue our drive to the west end of the park and the Apgar Visitor Center. Again, Debbie got her passport book stamped, leaving only the Logan Pass Visitor Center to complete her Trifecta. Plan for Wednesday, September 4, was to hit a few of the popular hikes inside the park, but things worked against us once again. That saga will be a tale for the next blog.
Please feel free to comment (or criticize) below or make any suggestions that might help me to make this interesting.
LyndDebTravel 