Birdie and I drove out of Reed Point and headed up to the city park in Harlowton. You can see a bunch of the pictures from Chief Joseph City park on Birdie's blog. What I was was the Crazy Woman Mountain rising up to great us as we headed up the road. After the previous day of gray skies, cloud cover and chilly winds the sight of the mountain against the clear blue was perfect.
Past those particular mountains there was more land and more mountains...
And at the end of the day Liz and Mitch both had their rigs taken care of and had caught up with us at the Chief Joseph City Park. Liz prepared dinner with contributions from others added and the events of the day were discussed....or were those the plans for the next day's adventures? And no, Mitch, I did not add the picture you took of Nan spilling her food on her shirt...not everyone needs to know about that..... (
Vickie said you were mean.)
Today were got an early start for the short run up to Great Falls. More farms and ranches...
Between the bit of wind and the construction traffic and torn up roads, we were glad that the mileage was less than 150.
All kinds of farming going on here, beef and wind......
"Honey, we tried to make a go of it but I am heading back to the city." ....either that or a case of "pay me for my land and it is yours,....agri-business....."
The balance of the day was spent picking up supplies at Walmart were we are parked and then, well, we all ventured over to the Wells Fargo bank and got some Canadian money for the provincial parks and honor boxes, etc. Birdie drove me to a pet store so that I could pick up more food for the puppers. They don't get to eat Walmart's Old Roy...
Tomorrow we are holing to get to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center just down the road. Then either tomorrow or Friday some of us may head up to St Mary's in Glacier. Birdie has friends coming to meet her here for some birding adventures and Nan is heading to a real campground on Friday so that she can pick up the mail that both she and Birdie had forwarded to her there.
The dogs in this rig may appreciate the cost savings of staying parked at Walmart but that little patch of grass next to the highway isn't a real dog walk and they know it. Especially when Herschel and Remi were enjoying running around the deserted city park off leash yesterday. Well, Herschel was off leash for a little bit until he kept finding what her thought was perfectly good "dog" kibble in the grass as a result of either rabbits, deer or both. He keeps telling me the prednisone made him do it....(It increases his appetite.)
Going in search of the setting that was used in the movie The Horse Whisperer,
that
was today's journey. Well, there were a bunch of other attractions
like a beautiful waterfall and mountains and rocks and cows and a
gorgeous valley but the big debate was "which house is it?" Pictures
were taken by many photographers present of various attractive real estate settings
that were thought movie worthy but in the end Mitch and Liz had to go
one line to identify which of the houses was the right one. All in a
days adventure.
Now
I also want to explain that I really didn't take many pictures of the
scenery on today's ride. My excuse was that I am pacing myself for the
mountains and valleys yet to come. The truth is I found my role today
as creating a brief documentary of the crazy traveling ladies who are
documenting their journey.... We are all highly excited at the sight of
"wildlife" and "birds." Herbie would stop on a dime at a request from
the back seat. The windows (the controls of the back windows are all up
front with Birdie/ child proofed you know!) could also be rolled down at a
verbal prompts as, "Mitch's window down." But
then of course because of the chill and wind, there was soon a request
for "window up!" Mitch was trying to be nice and let Liz sit on one
side and take the middle of the back seat but I pointed out that Liz was using the middle
seat to shoot pictures from both sides of the car. Somehow Birdie and
Herbie managed to stay on the road and not throw all of us out into the
fields.
For
the sake of time I will let you think up your own captions for some of
the pictures. Just know that we didn't just stop and get out of the car
just once. Herbie was counting but he is a gentleman and will not tell.
There were times when we were not sure just how far Mitch and Liz were
walking. Watch those cameras and their focus in their craft and you will
have an appreciation for all the beautiful pictures that show up on
everyone blog. They were very busy shutter bugs.
And because you will probably meet him again and again during this trip, meet the ever patient Herbie and his pilot, Birdie. Notice we didn't shut doors even.
May this one was not in the movie but we agreed that we could stay awhile and be comfortable. Mitch looked up information regarding the area we where traveling through and the surrounds and found conformation of what we had picked up in the Watering Hole on the first night. Lots of Hollywood folks and other well known sorts have their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th home up in this area and farther west.....
Between stops and window shots......
"Herbie stop!"......and off we would go....
Look for these pictures coming on a blog near you.....
Me taking a picture of Mitch taking a picture of Birdie taking a picture of Liz and Mitch....and you thought I was kidding about the crazy traveling ladies.....
A nice family trying to lose their offspring near the pool at the bottom of the falls. Going down was a brown mud slide path and going up looked like picking your way through oil slicks.....I was very glad to have avoided that sight seeing opportunity. I would have been on my butt.
We are all moving tomorrow but some are going back to Billings to have some scheduled work done on their rigs and others are moving farther north and are ready to explore Great Falls while we wait for repairs to get completed and the rigs back on the road.
Sunday here and we saw a bit of sunshine in the morning and took advantage of it to walk around town some. Town not being all that large it was a manageable feat for all of us. Later we all fit into Mitch's rig to watch a documentary she had recorded titled the Secrets of Denali. It told about the National Park and about the mountain and the wildlife. There was fresh popcorn served and a bring your own beverage policy. The included "short" for today's viewing public included a brief informative presentation about Nan's new device. If was pretty neat and answered all of Mitch's questions and definitely looks like a wonderful invention with an appreciative customer base of many of us with aging bladders with muscles that do not cooperate as they should. Now I know Whoopie Goldberg is out there as a spokes person for Depends...but really...this appears to be a much more attractive alternative just ask Nan.
Back to the dog walking portion of the day as you can tell the roads are not too busy around here. As long as we don't allow some truck to sneak up on Liz when she can't hear we are pretty safe. Herschel wouldn't let us pick on Liz. By now he has figured this going for a walk with friends beats just me and three dogs and he looks for Birdie or Liz.
For those that were asking what the small RV park looks like here is at least one shot that represents half their sites. My rig is just to my right out of view of the camera. One spot away from Nan's rig. The Class A that was parked between us pulled out yesterday...to head up to Alaska!
"I think I have this Auntie thing figured out." says Herschel. "These ladies also give good back rubs."
Some spring Iris that didn't mind the snow and blowing wind are thriving in someone's front yard.
Busy, busy road down in front of the school. The dogs each had their own agenda. Notice Liz with her camera up. This is why she has all those neat pictures on her blog.
Truth is she was probably taking a picture of this neat cabin that was sitting over in the middle of the field. Doesn't it look just like something from a Montana movie set?
As I shared on the WomenRV forum Carol's cold did not get better and she has ended up in the hospital in Sheridan with pneumonia. When she talked to us yesterday she had said that she thought she was feeling better but when we didn't hear anything from her today and we didn't see her drive in we called the Sheridan police to ask them to do a check on her. It was then that we found that she had been taken to the hospital just this afternoon. Her son was called from the hospital as he is her emergency contact and he okayed arrangements for Maggie to get picked up and taken to a boarding kennel. It did sound as if her lungs are pretty full of junk and they are planning to keep her for awhile. Apparently she does have the Good Sam Insurance that will help her son get her rig back to Colorado if he needs help with that. I don't think even he knows much more at this time but he said he would let Liz know more with updates. Keep her in your thoughts.
We made the drive north out of Sheridan through rain and grey skies. We knew we were headed into snow and found a Passport America RV park about 50 miles west of Billings. The price was right and we plan on just parking the rigs until Liz and Mitch can drive back to Billings to the RV shop and have their rigs work on Tuesday.
After meeting a local couple last night in the Watering Hole, the only saloon/restaurant in town, we now have a list of interesting places to check out locally. For that haven't already read Liz's post some of the following pictures and news will actually be news. :=) I could have posted first but some of us needed to do laundry this morning.
Liz and Mitch had done their laundry yesterday afternoon while i slowed down in Billings and found a Podiatrist to take a look at a sore foot that has been bothering me. Lucky me, they just happen to have a cancellation on Friday and I was able to get in without waiting until Tuesday. My right foot has been sore and not getting better even when I tried the "lets ignore the symptoms a few weeks" method of healing. Before heading off into Canada and what the dogs are expecting to be great hiking opportunities I finally decided to find out if I had fractured anything or have some infection that would cause my foot to fall off in the middle of the wilderness.
No infection or fractures were found but I now know more about the anatomy of my foot than I did. Apparently I have irritated one of the ligaments that I didn't know I had against a bone, etc., etc., (insert the doctor talk here with all the correct terminology) He looked down at my hiking boots and recommended that I wear something with a solid sole and good support. My Ohio sandal wearing days are numbered for a while it seems. Now I can go ahead to Canada and not worry about my foot falling off unless Mitch ties bacon around my ankle and the bears get me...
Traveling from Sheridan. though we were not all traveling together, we all did end up at the Battle of the Little Big Horn National Park about the same time. I got to flash my new pass and get in free! (Mitch, the youngster, had to fork over money.) She said that she didn't mind supporting her parks system but we promised that next time she really could park her rig at the corner and ride in with one of us. Liz is kind she would take her. (Did we mention that e really miss having Vickie here with us to help with Mitch!)
The view from the top...The markers are placed where the soldiers fell. They killed their horses to use their bodies as barriers.
By this time there was no light at the end of their tunnel.
And there were more Indians around on this side also...
It wasn't as if they soldiers needed any help seeing what they were up against. I really liked that quote that was going around Facebook sometime last week. To paraphrase it said that things always happen for a reason...and sometimes that reason is because you made a really bad choice or decision. I am thinking this philosophy might apply to Custer.
It took many more years but the Native American now have their memorial at the site, also.
When I finally caught up with the pack, I found the little town of Reed Point. It fulfills the meaning of rustic. I recommend Liz's blog for the bunch of pictures she took.
Here is a shot of Birdie and Liz this morning as we headed off to explore the four city blocks...The building on the right was the state's bank. Pretty fancy!
As we were walking down the street the sheep just started leaving their field to explore the big green patch on the other side of the fence. Whether or not the gate was suppose to be open is a matter of discussion. The sheep seemed quite please to find it open and were curious about us. The Stuart dog had difficult remembering that he was not a breed from the Herding Group but he managed to stay with me.
I liked the wood used in the railings...This particular establishment was closed.
We headed across the tracks towards the river.
We found the Yellowstone River. Do you see the fur traders with their loader canoes heading down stream to make a good deal on those furs. We all decided it was too cold to kayak. The water was a little fast for those lake kayaks, but my Sea Eagle could have handled the current just fine. Burrrrrrr......
Walking back towards the town you can just see one of the rigs in the small park between the trees.
Stuart wanted everyone to know that he found a good buddy, too...walking with Birdie.
And what do we do best after long walks...stop back at the Watering Hole to try more items off their menu. The stove felt so warm and good after being our in the damp.
Stuart thought this place was pretty neat, also. Last night one of the customers had his Australian Shepherd with him at the bar so Stuart thought they might accept a well mannered Sporting dog.
Nan and I got laundry done today and I still have some things on my to do list for tomorrow. We are all hoping that Carol is feeling better soon and will drive up from Sheridan to join us. She is fighting a cold and didn't want to drive when we left yesterday but had told us all to got on and she would catch up. She knew we would be parking for a few days and would be easy to catch. She didn't send up any emergency flairs for help so I am figuring that she is doing better.
Our little cube heaters are keeping us warm and no one is getting bored yet...We are having trouble staying away from the good food at the Watering Hole though...
