Bozeman, MT

OK, we left Fort Lewis Sunday morning (5/15) and headed to Spokane.  And we were kinda glad to leave the cold and wet behind us.  It started raining late Saturday afternoon as we disembarked the ferry in Seattle.  And it rained all night!  Oh, and we broke camp in the rain.  Oh, and it rained all the way to Spokane.  Up & down all those hills in the rain on I-90.  Slow and deliberate.  Big rigs don't do well in rain & wind on interstate highways.  At least not for me.

On the Apache Trail Road near Tonto National Forest

We made it to Walmart in Spokane and it was still raining.  It was late when we arrived, so that's when Wally Worlds are really neat.  Overnight parking for sleeping and get a few supplies without disconnecting the Jeep.  Pretty convenient.

We left Spokane and drove to Missoula, MT and stayed at Jim & Mary's RV Park just off I-90 and about 5 miles west of town.  Missoula is home to the Grizzlies.  U of Montana Grizzlies.  We saw signs everywhere, even though classes had ended for the year, apparantly there some early summer school classes just starting as there were lots of kids around. 

Fort Missoula

While we didn't actually visit the Fort, we drove past it a couple times as we made our way around town Monday evening, as the rain abated and the sun came out.  Fort Missoula had been around for a long time before it was used as an internment camp during WW2.  It's interesting in that the good citizens of Missoula are preserving the fort and are seeking funds and donations and State funding to reconstruct/maintain the fort as a state historical site.  Many of the original buildigs still stand on their original foundations.  We will visit here next time we come through here.  Clark Fork, a river running through Missoula, was above flood stage, as were most all the rivers in the state.  Oh, "A River Runs Through It" was filmed in Montana, which was based on a true story, and not too far from Missoula.  While here, we picked up our Jeep tags from our LLC attorney's office, as well as our 2012 tag-stickers renewal for the motorhome.  Good for another year!

Skyline Drive in western Virginia, 11/2010

We departed Jim & Mary's early Tuesday morning and headed for Bozeman, MT.  We decided to take our time, so we went down I-90 to MT12 and drove through the State Capital, Helena.  Not impressive as far as state capitals go, but we can now say we've been to the Capital of MT.  We then drove down I-15 & I-90 towards Butte (and drove through a snow storm, even though it only lasted for about a minute), and on down into Bozeman.  And here we are, in the Walmart just west of Bozeman.  Just read and article on the "Bloody Bozeman Trail".  Some neat history here of the early settlers and pioneers to this part of the country.  And is it a beautiful country.  Big Sky Country!  We will break camp here shortly and head on down to West Yellowstone, the western entrance into the National Park.  The weather is not supposed to be very accomodating the rest of the week, so we are hoping that today holds out for us.  So, till the next time, from Yellowstone NP, Joe & Nancy.