Montana and South Dakota

 

We continue on our journey back to Southern California, but first we had to make a stop in South Dakota to renew our driver licenses.  Before arriving in South Dakota we made a couple of stops in Montana, one of which was near the Little Bighorn Battlefield (Custer’s Last Stand).  It is always fascinating to actually see what you read in your history books.  The town where it all started is called Garryowen, Montana, which is where our RV park was.  Here is where Custer set up his camp on the Little Bighorn River.  He then moved through the hills to try and circle the Indians that were not living on the reservation.  What he did not know was that he was out numbered 10 to 1 by the Indians.  The Indians had over 2,000 warriors.

The battlefield has a nice 5 mile drive through it to show you how the troops and Indians moved and to give you perspective of the where everyone was.  The actual battle spot that claimed Custer’s life is on a small hill and is marked by a monument to remember all the Army personnel that are buried there.  Custer is buried at West Point.  What is interesting is that throughout the battlefield are makers indicating where army soldiers and died.  Their bodies were all removed and buried on the hill where the monument is.  It was a fascinating visit.

Monument where many of the soldiers are buried.

Markers on the battlefield where soldiers were found.

Gravestone for an Indian warrior.

From Montana we proceeded to Spearfish, South Dakota.  This was the closest city where they have DMV service so we could get our licenses renewed.  Just as it is in Madison, South Dakota (where we got our first license), the DMV comes into town only one day a week.  We had our needed documents and were warned by the RV park owners that the office is very busy, so we showed up 30 minutes before opening and there was a short line.  It moves fast as the only transactions are for licenses.  All vehicle items are handled at county offices.  We were done within 30 minutes after they opened and went out sightseeing.

First stop was Deadwood, South Dakota.  Great old west town that has retained much of its character.  As we had watched the HBO series “Deadwood”, it was fun to see it in real life and get information on what was really true.  We took a bus tour of the town which also takes you to the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Sheriff Bullock are buried.  Hickok was shot and killed in a saloon in town.

Downtown Deadwood

Saloon where Hickok was killed.

Calamity Jane is buried next to Hickok

Hickok grave.

From Deadwood we drove over to Sturgis, South Dakota.  Most of you have probably heard the name of the town as it is where an annual motorcycle get together is held.  The event is the first week of August so they were in the process of getting the town ready.  As it is the 75th anniversary of the event they are expecting over a million bikes to arrive in town.  It was interesting to drive through it but other than some very large bars and motorcycle shops we did not see anything else worth stopping for.

We are now in Wyoming then a stop in Utah, Nevada and then into Southern California.  This will be my last post for a number of months as we take a hiatus.  Hope you all have a great summer!

It has been awhile!

 

When I last posted we were in Bothell, Washington, just outside Seattle.  That was over 3 weeks ago.  Time to get you caught up on our travels.

We left Bothell and drove to Soap Lake in central Washington.  This was about the halfway point of our next stop, Spirit Lake, Idaho.  We stopped here for a couple of nights.  The town gets its name from the minerals in the lake that foam up making it look like soap.  The water is very oily and is supposed to have great healing powers.  We touched it and decided we did not want to go in to see about the healing powers.  The RV park is right on the lake and attracts many eastern European visitors who like the waters.

It was a nice relaxing stop and I had a enjoyable conversation with the owner of the park who is in the process of totally renovating the park.  He told me about the history of the park and his plans.  Lots of work to be done!

Our next stop was our friends house in Spirit Lake, Idaho.  They have 10 acres of land so we are able to park our rig out on their land in front of their house.  The downside of this visit was the heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest.  It was over 100 degrees everyday for about a week.  As they did not have a powerful enough electrical circuit we could only run one A/C and it struggled, failing to keep the trailer cool during the day.  Fortunately we could hang out in their house and by nightfall it cooled down enough so we could sleep in it.

The highlight of the visit with our friends was attending a lawn tractor race on Father’s Day.  They have taken this up as their new hobby.  The race was held in their little town, Spirit Lake.  It was a fun day except for one of their tractors breaking down.

Our friend Marsha racing her tractor.

Our friend Mike being towed after his breakdown.

They took us out on their boat on two lakes in the area.  We especially liked the stop at a restaurant that served adult milk shakes.  Amazing how good various kinds of alcohol go together well with ice cream!

Next up was our start of our Alaska trip, but we decided to postpone the trip to handle some things.  We did decide to meet up with everyone in Calgary for the Stampede, but to only stay a week then move on.  We drove from Idaho up to a Kimberley, British Columbia.  A quaint little town with forest all around and a very fast moving river.  The RV park was very nice but in desperate need of tree trimming.  I had to saw off many branches to make sure our rig to get into and out of the spot without tearing the roof.  We spent a couple of days there before moving onto Calgary to meet up with our friends and see the Stampede.

Fran and some of the others (not all) did the parade on Friday, opening day of the Stampede.

Mounties marching in the parade.

We went to the Stampede park on two days.  The first day was to see the rodeo and the second was to see the grandstand show.  Both were great with the fireworks at the end of the grandstand show a favorite. 

Been there, done that picture!

  $8.00 beer anyone?

This horse really did not want a rider.

Another outing was to the Olympic Park.  This is where the 1988 winter Olympics were held.  It is neat in that they have been able to maintain this facility as a training facility and a tourist attraction.  They offer bobsleigh rides (wheels on sleds in summer, skids on them in winter), a mountain biking course, a cool luge ride using sleds on wheels that all ages can ride and a zipline from the highest ski jump to the bottom.  Fran and our friend Mike signed up for the bobsleigh.  You go down the actual Olympic track.  It was the two of them with a driver who is training for the Olympics.  The ride last less than a minute and they reach a speed of about 58 miles per hour.

  This is the turn where we watched them on their run.  Due to operator error (two operators) we did not get any good pictures of them in the sled.

We did a drive to the ski jump tower which offers a great view of the entire complex and the city of Calgary in the distance.

Ski jump tower.

This is the view from the top of the ski jump.  Where those two people are sitting is where the zipline starts!!!  Nobody wanted to do the zipline.

Fran and I did the luge ride on our last full day in Calgary.  It was a blast as you take a ski lift to the top of the hill then ride this little sled on wheels down the course.  You can really get it going fast, if you want to.  We did one ride and regretted not buying the multi-ride package. 

We had a great time in Calgary seeing the sights and visiting with our friends.  We left on the 9th and headed towards South Dakota.  First stop was in Great Falls, Montana for one night and now we are in Garryowen, Montana (Little Bighorn Battlefield) for the weekend.

Route:  From Bothell, WA we took Interstate 90 east to Highway 283 and Highway 28 to Soap Lake.  From Soap Lake we took Highway 17 south to Interstate 90 east to US 95 north to Spirit Lake, Idaho.  From Spirit Lake we took US 95 into British Columbia to Canada Highway 95 to 95A into Kimberley.  From Kimberley we took 95A to 3/93 to Highway 22 north to Canada 1 east to Calgary.