Billings and Great Falls, Montana

We left Medora, North Dakota Sunday morning for a leisurely drive to Billings, Montana for the night.  We planned to stay in Wal Mart parking lot there, so we took our time.  I took TONS of pictures along the way, so I’ve had a time trying to narrow them down to just a few for the blog without much luck, but I’ll try to contain myself. 

The sky was a brilliant blue and the air was crisp and cool.  I love it!

I keep thinking of the folks back home having to suffer through the stifling heat and feel a little guilty that we are enjoying cooler weather, but I get over it pretty quick.  :)

The scenery was of rocky hills and lush farm land.




We crossed into Montana and I got a fuzzy picture of the sign as we passed.




Lots of wheat…..lots of hay!

Hills, rocks and rivers.  I never knew what we would see around the next bend.






We were travelling parallel to the Yellowstone River for most of the drive to Billings.





I love this country!  We ate our lunch as we travelled and then DeWayne found a rest area to stop for a while, so he could get his afternoon walk done.  I grabbed the camera and walked to the edge of the bluff, very conscious of the sign in the rest area that said, RATTLESNAKES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED!  STAY ON THE SIDEWALKS!  Okay, but I’m from west Texas, for pete’s sake.  I know how to watch for rattlesnakes, so I ventured out into the grassy areas to get better pictures.  No, I didn’t see any snakes and yes, it was worth it!  See for yourself.



DeWayne taking his walk.

Back on the road, I drove for a while so DeWayne could get a power nap and it didn’t take long at all to arrive in Billings.  Since it was around 4 in the afternoon, we did our shopping in Wally world, had some supper and relaxed til bedtime.  The breeze coming in the windows was cool and we stayed comfortable til we went to bed, then utilized the cover all night as the temperature dropped to 53 degrees.

I had my usual “Wal Mart Parking Lot Insomnia”, so although I was comfortable, it took FOREVER to get to sleep, then I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep.  So just hauled my butt out of bed and put the percolator on the stove for coffee.  I love good ole fashioned percolated coffee and the heat from the stove helped to take a little of the chill out of the RV. 

After breakfast, we loaded up and got ready to hit the road again.  It was still chilly when we climbed in the truck, so I knew the flip flops weren’t gonna cut it at least for a while.  DeWayne laughed at my choice of footwear, but doggone it, my toes were frozen!

Quite a fashion statement, wouldn’t you say?  hehe

I was feeling my lack of sleep, so I spent most the trip to Great Falls “trying” to get a nap, but I have as much trouble sleeping in a moving vehicle as I do in Wal Mart parking lot.  But I was reclined and comfortable, so I didn’t take many pictures.  DeWayne got a shot of the field of windmills that were huge as he tried to drive at the same time.


I’ll share the few pictures that I shot between nap attempts.




We made really good time and arrived in Great Falls just after noon on Monday.  We planned to stay at Malmstrom Air Force Base in one of their Fam Camps and preferred to stay in the one just outside the main gate, but it was full.  So we are in the Fam Camp that is inside the base, but it’s only costing us $12.75 a day and we like it. 

*Note to Snookie:  I actually bought carrots in Billings so that I could feed the horses by the other Fam Camp, but since we’ll have to go there do do the laundry, I’ll be sure those carrots don’t go to waste.

I like to take pictures from the bedroom window to give everybody an idea of our “view”, so here is our view looks like this morning.


My butt was dragging about half a mile behind me all day yesterday and I think I had a case of “truck lag”, but we ventured out yesterday afternoon in search of the local Wal Mart for supplies and decided to check out the Goodwill store and a pawn shop to buy used DVDs.  We found six movies for three dollars apiece, so we did good! 

And DeWayne found a nifty gizmo that holds 50 CDs or DVDs for $1.99 Goodwill, so he has now taken all our movies out of the cases and organized them in his new gizmo that takes up way less space.  The thing looked brand new, so I looked it up on the net and they sell for $39.99, so that was a great find.  My husband the power shopper!

I got a phone call from cousin Rick this morning and as usual, had a blast talking with him.  I hope we get an opportunity to visit with him and Pam soon.  Love em!

We don’t have any plans for today except just chill out and enjoy the great weather.  Laundry day is tomorrow and we still have national parks and such all around to see.

Well, that’s all the news and I’m anxious to get on with the “chillin”, so I’ll sign off for a coupla days.  In the meantime……

HAPPY TRAILS!!!!