Travel Day to Bozeman Montana

Traveling from Garryowen Montana to Bozeman Montana, we enjoyed views of the Bear Tooth Mountains from Billings for many many miles.  Lots more snow than it looks like here.  Absolutely beautiful.

We enjoyed views like this most all the way across Southern Montana!

It is hard to tell, but this is our campground halfway up this hill - you can barely see the office amongst the trees.  We are now a little sceptical of our choice.

We got off the freeway and approached the entrance to our campground.  It can be a little scary not knowing how steep the driveway is or if we have room to turn around at the top - we press on and head up into the unknown.

We actually was given a nice site.  Fairly easy to get into, even though the roads were a little tight for a big rig.  No scratching of the sides and we got the satellite from the roof!   Getting out would be a challenge, but turned out to be not such a problem after all.  Actually a nice campground and we would like to return for a longer stay sometime.

After getting parked, we headed out for some quality shopping at Costco and Walmart.  Montana has no sales tax and we need to stock up on some great stuff.  Everywhere we look we see view like this.  Bozeman is very beautiful this year and for sure a place we want to return to in the future.

Garryowen, Montana

You may be asking - why Garryowen?  This is actually a nice campground and it is a good stopping point along our route to the West.  This is our campsite - 50amp full hookup with a clear view for the satellite dish - perfect!  A good place to catch up on laundry and relax.

By 7pm this little campground was pretty full - glad we had reservations.  Later we realized that the only reason they were so full was because they had a Fantasy Caravan's group here - 25 coaches.  The second night the campground had lots of empty sites.  This is a great place to stop over and recharge!

We have visited this place before, but since we are here we decided to visit again.  It is an awesome place in our history and very moving to learn the story. 

Montana is as beautiful as South Dakota!  Hard to see here, there are grave markers all over this field.

Here is a closer view.  The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their ancestral way of life.  The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors fought the U.S. Army and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at this point.  Even though the Indians won the battle, they subsequently lot the war.  This is a very powerful place - for the Indians and also for us.

We visited the National Cemetery that is here at the battlefield.  It is a very moving place in itself.  This is just a sample of the markers we saw.  This was Custer's 2nd in command.

After leaving the Battlefield, we stopped at the Trading Post and Cafe.  We were told that the Indian Taco was awesome, so since it is time for lunch we thought we would check it out.  There are lots of  things for sale in here, most are so outrageously priced that they will likely not be sold anytime soon!  Unbelievable what they thing these trinkets are worth.  They are beautiful...but only for the true collector.

Lunch!  This is what they call an Indian Taco.  The puffy bottom layer is Indian Fry Bread and the topping is a fairly normal taco filling.  The Fry Bread is wonderful - like a donut.  Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle - drizzled with honey it is wonderful.  Paired with the taco filling, it was delicious!

Our short stay here is coming to an end.  Tomorrow we will continue our trek to the West landing in Bozeman Montana for one night and then to Rexburg Idaho for a week.  So far we have not really been effected by the huge heat wave currently encompassing the West.  It has been warmer than usual here in the North, but nothing like our "home" in Yuma at 119 - yikes, that is hot!!!!

Hart Ranch and our visit to Rapid City, South Dakota

Hart Ranch is as beautiful as ever!

The flowers are beautiful.

Just look at how green the grass is!

This is the entrance to the "Meadows" where we are parked.  If they just had sewer down here it would be perfect.  We are hiding along the back row.

Our "backyard"!

More mowing!!!!  Seems like they never get done.

On our way to Ellsworth AFB - everything is so green and beautiful - if you like green then this is your place!

After a hard day shopping, it was time to get some dinner.  We went to our favorite place here in the Black Hills - Shipwreck Lee's Bar & Grill.  It was great catching up with friends and owners "Shipwreck" Lee and his wife Shari Rose.  Lee was a Captain of either the Merchant Marines or MSTS - I am not sure which - out of San Diego.  It is great to reminisce with fellow Southern Californians.

This is the famous "Shipwreck" burger - 1/2 lb of wonderful Mid-West Beef, cooked to perfection, with Sweet Potato Waffle Fries.  I think this is better than the Boll Weevil burger that used to rule in San Diego!  This is even better with grilled Jalapenos along with the grilled Onions!  Heaven!!!

Another day - more mowing!!!!!

Time for a break!

Yet one more wonderful "Shipwreck" burger and fond farewells for Lee and Shari Rose.  With sadness, it is time to head West in the morning - we will return for sure!

After three trips to the DMV, we both were able to get our new driver's license with our real legal address on them.  What a hassle - and we will have to do it again in two years, but next time I will know EXACTLY what we will need and so we should only have to make one trip!

Our final escape from Gillette....

A beautiful morning and we are ready to make our escape.  It turned out that the extra day and the efforts of the Cam-Plex personnel made it very easy for us to get out.  Another adventure under our belts - not really wanting to experience most of it again.

Welcome to South Dakota!!!!

Settled in at Hart Ranch.  We are down in the Meadows this time - this would be a wonderful place if we just had sewer!  Not a problem for 4 nights.... Tomorrow we will get started in accomplishing our goals for this visit.  We want to get new driver's license's with our real address, visit Ellsworth AFB for some quality shopping and of course visit Shipwreck Lee's Bar and Grill to catch up with friends Lee and Sheri Rose Havorka.  So far the weather has been good - time will tell!!!!

Gillette Wyoming - the day we were supposed to leave....

Finally a sunny day!  As you can see, our mud puddle is not quite the lake it was yesterday - still pretty muddy.  This idiot figured he was going to take a short cut and decided to break the rules - well, it took well over two hours for a tow truck to show up to help him actually get out!  He was trying to pull straight out and as soon as his rear wheels got to our muddy road the front tires sunk about a foot into the soft soil - there was a good reason that we were told not to do this and he found out the hard way.  When the tow truck came he first pulled him back into his parking spot and then had to hook up and tow him forward down the road.  That was when we decided to wait an extra day and just enjoy all the action.

This is a different way to escape.  It is easier for them to tow these monsters backwards than forwards - less chance to damage anything.  This rig blocked the busy road for several minutes, but at least he was free!

Another customer!

Yet another customer!  This little tow truck was getting $100 a pop to pull the rigs out.  Not sure how much he hauled in this morning, but it was significant.  This is all just in our little area - there were many more tow trucks and tractors all over the Cam-Plex pulling people out.

This is the guy that tried to pull straight out earlier today.  He chose to call his roadside service instead of shelling out the $100.  They pulled him back into his spot and he took off down our road to get out.  This was a narrow spot and also a mud puddle of sorts.  He once again got stuck!  It was really tight and with the mud he started to slide.  The tow truck came around and hooked up at the front and pulled him thru.  He got to the end of the road and got stuck yet again!  The same tow truck was waiting and hooked back up and got him out onto the paved road.  This is when we made the final decision to NOT try to leave this day!

The Cam-Plex people are trying their best to make a bad thing better for us.  Our mud puddle is being spread and packed in hopes it will dry out a little sooner.

It is unbelievable to us how some people think that nothing matters but them and their needs.  This coach is coming down the sidewalk to get to the street so they don't have to go thru any mud!  We have watched golf carts and cars do this all week long, but a coach is something else.  I am sure the sidewalk was not engineered to hold the weight of a coach!

In the field across the way from us they were trying everything to not have to pay the charge to get a tow.  Here (and several other times) three Jeeps are hooked up in line to pull a coach out!

Finally a wonderful Sunset!  After growing tired of watching all the fun and games this day, I made some of my Mac-N-Cheese and we headed across the street to enjoy a wonderful Happy Hour and Potluck with friends Darlene & Gene, Diane & Ray, and Paula & Jack.  Good friends and Good times - and hopefully some Good weather!!!!

FMCA 50th Anniversary - part three...

Oh Oh, here comes the next storm - we have had just about enough. 

The "mayhem" begins.... All of the sudden it went from just cloudy to all out storm.  The rain was hard and the wind was rocking us.  We thought this might be the big one!

It is very hard to see here, but there are bubbles all along the window rails on the West side of the Coach.  There are "weep wells" on all of our windows to help mosture to escape from inside the Coach.  The rain was so hard and the wind was so stiff that the rain was being driven up the weep well and into the Coach.    We have had this coach for 14 years and have been in many storms - never ever seen this happen before!  Every window on the side of the coach that the wind was coming from had these bubbles and they were all soaked by the time the storm passed.  We now have some not so pretty water stains to remember this storm by!  Wish I had a better picture - it was scary awesome for sure.

With the storm passing, we notice our neighbor's step - Lots of hail - sounded like it should have been bigger than this, but we are very thankful it was only a large pea size!  We had wind gusts up to 61 MPH during this storm and the temps dropped from 70 to 48 in a matter of minutes.  Not a fun experience!  We were ready to run, but there was no place to run to - no shelter at the Cam-Plex!  They lock the buildings that might have provided shelter.  Sure glad there was no Tornado!!!

This is our "mud puddle" after this latest storm - it is actually more like a lake at this point!

The waters have soaked in a little, but everything is still really muddy.  We are heading off for our evening entertainment - needed trash bags so we didn't sink in the mud!

It was really hard to get a good shot of our evening entertainment - Marty Stewart.  We were move inside one of the buildings, so no stadium seating!  Couldn't see well, but the music was awesome!

FMCA 50th Anniversary ...Part two.....

As we start day two of our rally, the storm clouds are forming already.  With Coffee and Donuts done, we head for the vendors and a few seminars.

Fortunately, our first seminar this day is in an adjoining building to the Coffee and Donuts.  This poor woman was trying to beat the storm, but didn't quite make it.  The heavens opened up and dumped water on our rally site!

Wow ... some sunshine!  This evening the "entertainment" is a dance, so we decided to relax at the coach.  The sunshine in the afternoon gives us hope that the bad weather is over.

If you remember from a day ago, we didn't have a mud puddle by our rig - it was just a road.  The last storm changed all that.  The best part of this day is that we finally got the Jimmy back from the doctor.  After a major surgery to replace the transfer case  (and the push button shifter which we will not speak of), we are good to go again.  Thinking all is well, we settle in to relax.

FMCA 50th Anniversary at Gillette Wyoming 2013

Time for our FMCA Rally to get underway.  We are very lucky this year to be able to NOT have to caravan between our Monaco International Pre-rally and the FMCA Convention.  To make it all that much sweeter, we have had full-hookups for the Monaco Rally and we get to sit in the same spot with full-hookups for the FMCA Convention.  Maybe a once in a lifetime good thing!

After a few rain storms, this beautiful sunset is surely a promise of wonderful weather for the duration?  Stay tuned....

The lot across the street from us is filling up!  Also notice the storm clouds... Yes they never go away for long.

Oh oh - here comes the next storm.  Notice the road in front of us is still just a road.

Our FMCA begins... When our club was started in 1963, this was likely the most popular motorcoach.  This one is an early 1950's Flixable - the state of the art Motor Coach.  It is likely the forerunner of all that we call "motorhomes" now days.  It was very interesting to see how the first motorhomer's traveled.

Each morning we are welcomed to Coffee & Donuts.  It is a way to get started and meet up with old friends and make some new ones.  The Frustrated Maestro's provide music to get our day started.  The last morning we had a pancake breakfast in place of the donuts - very nice!

This is our 50th Anniversary Celebration.  Founded in 1963 with just a few motorhomes, this organization has grown to monumental size.  I think I remember them saying there was close to 80,000 members now!  We hope they keep going strong so we can continue to enjoy gatherings like this.

Our first nights entertainment is the Buckinghams!  We are excited and the show did not disappoint.  Brought back lots of memories for both of us - but mostly me.

This is what we look like on 6/20 at 6:15 pm.  Just keep that in mind.

As you can see we are just a little ways back from the stage - but the sound was great and so the experience.

This was the best shot I could get.  The guy on the right and the guy in the center are origional Buckingham's - that makes them old , like us!