Spring in Montana, burrr

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...