July 20 - Billings to Ennis

On the way!

Float boaters taking a break from fishing

The day started out perfectly - cool and clear. We had a great walk around the campground at Billings. The scenery was magnificient on the way to Ennis. The only glitch was getting behind a line-painting truck for about three miles. That does not seem so bad, except the truck was going five miles an hour. We got to the beautiful Ennis RV Village with the best views we have had(I'll try to remember to take a photo tomorrow.), and one of the electric jacks in front would not go down. No one told us not to do them all the way up (until now). Phil called and talked a service guy we know at Chilhowee who told him a couple of things to try, but they did not work. Tomorrow morning we have an RV mechanic who spends part of his year here coming to fix it, we hope. I will call Keystone, but I doubt this will be covered in the warranty. We live and learn! We just hope it will not be horrendously expensive. Otherwise, it has been a wonderful day. It is still a day that the Lord has made, and we rejoice and are glad!

Buffalo to Billings (LIttle Big Horn) - July 19

The interstate was red (like red brick).
The truck did great up and down these hills/mts.

We got up early! We wanted to get a seat on the tour bus for the Little Big Horn Battlefield site. We just made it! The tour bus is owned and operated by the Crow Reservation people. It was a great hour spent on it. I highly recommend this to everyone. The history lessons are amazing. They have grave markers where the soldiers and civilians fell and died. They are beginning to put red grave markers where the Native Americans fell and died. Some times you will see one or two markers alone in a field, and other times you see clusters of markers. Where Custer fell, there is a cluster. With him were several other Custers, I think brothers. I noticed on the markers that one was a civilian and one was a Capt. The visuals at that site add to its gruesome reality tremendously. The museum with artifacts recovered from the site is very good, too. We spent a couple of hours there. Phil went last year. The day was so hot that I chose not to go. It was hot today, but his photos from last year made me want to go. Today should be our last really hot day (in Billings). We are going to Ennis tomorrow for a week (highs in the 70's-80's and lows in the 40's). I am so excited to be going somewhere for a week! These one nighters tire me, and I am ready to play house in my camper!!!

Cheyenne to Buffalo - July 18

Now we really feel like we are in the West! The scenery was gorgeous on the ride today, and we started seeing some pronghorn antelope. I loved seeing the Laramie Mountains and the snow-capped Big Horn Mountains!

We are in a very nice campground with lots of trees, which is nice because of the heat! It is still hot here, but the humidity is low. Tomorrow we go to Billings for the night. We will stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield on the way. Phil went there last year, and I stayed in the camper. He did not take the tour that is done by one of the Native American tribes, so we are going to do that and get some photos. It will be beastly hot, so we shall see how much walking we will do.... We are not going to walk in the morning so we can get there early and get the first tour. We have been walking every morning before leaving, so we will definitely have to do our usual there in the sun. Phil said his back is feeling better and better every day. We are so thankful! After Billings, we will go to Ennis for a week. I am ready to settle down for a week!

North Platte, NE to Cheyenne, WY - July 17

Not a bad ride, and finally the low humidity has kicked in! It is hot in the sun, still, but not bad in the shade. We missed all this heat last summer and cannot wait to get to the cool days and cold nights! I am ready to get back into jeans and sweatshirts! We could see distant mountains as we got close to Cheyenne. When we pulled into the campground, little prairie dogs (we think) skittered across the road in front of us. Ahhhh, it is feeling "Westie."

MO to IA to NE - July 14- 16

We stayed two nights in Columbia, MO, and really enjoyed relaxing and catching up on a few things that needed to be done. Yesterday, July 15, we went to Council Bluffs, IA, and camped in a casino parking lot with electric and water hookups. We went across the river to Omaha and ate at The Drover. Phil had heard the announcers for the CWS raving about it when the Gamecocks were playing for their championship. It was expensive, but really good! The whiskey filet is their star, and it was with us, too. The server told us the Gamecocks and coaches ate there after every game.

We woke up this morning, walked, drank coffee, and hit the road, headed to Mitchell, SD.  Best laid plans...hahaha! We started up I-29, thinking all the flooding problems were behind us because we had not seen anything on the NE DOT's site about a closure, but sure enough, it is closed. We pulled off an exit and studied the map. The detour would have taken us 100 miles out of our way, just to get the north bound highway. So, we stayed on I-80 and landed in North Platte, NE, for the night. We stayed at this campground on the way back home last year. The cottonwood trees are shedding their seeds, and it truly looks like we are in a snow storm (except for the extreme heat....).

I took a photo of the arch (on I-80) before we got to North Platte. It represents the gateway to the West. It is quite impressive. We stopped there last year, but we kept rolling today.

Clarksville to Columbia, MO

We went to bed early and were able to leave Clarksville shortly after 8:00 a.m. It helped that we gained an hour yesterday! Driving through large cities is a little nerve-racking on Phil, but he made it through St. Louis just fine. The campground here in Columbia is nice (as was yesterday's). We dropped the camper, hooked her up, turned on the air and frig. and went to gas up and to Home Depot. When we got back, I fixed taco salad for supper. Leftovers last night and the hamburger tonight for the taco salad was already cooked, so I've had two easy nights for meals. Gotta love that after a long day of travel. Phil's back continues to do well. We are so thankful and praise the Lord for safety and health. We pray each morning, and then I read the Bible as we travel down the road. Tomorrow, I think we are going to Council Bluff, IA (near Omaha) and stay at an RV park of a casino. We won't go in the casino, but the pickings are few around there. Phil wants to go eat at The Drover restaurant in Omaha. It is supposed to have awesome steaks. We will see.... I took a couple of photos on my Droid while driving through St. Louis and posted them on Facebook, so there are no photos to place on here today.

Townsend to Clarksville, TN

FINALLY!!!! When Phil's chiropractor told him he thought he'd be fine to go on his trip, and that his back was 75% well, we started gathering the things we had brought home six weeks ago from the camper and the things from the freezer and frig, loaded the bikes, and headed to the campground where our camper is stored. We spent the night in the camper. It was so hot yesterday in Townsend. Just taking the bags of stuff to the truck and then loading them in the camper was exhausting, and we were both dripping sweat. In the evening Phil loaded the bikes on the ladder rack. We are taking our truck rack, too, in case we want to ride bikes on a bike trail somewhere other than the campgrounds. We were going to try to get off by 10:00, but we left around 11:00 and headed for Clarksville, TN (very close to Kentucky border). That was around 250 miles and a good test for Phil's back. He did fine, but has some numbness. We saw one wreck and drove through a corker of a thunderstorm (actually two). We also had a corker of a thunderstorm at 5:30 a.m. (thus, we overslept). Anyway, it is good to be in Clarksville. I may even take a swim in the pool after supper. Phil said he wants to try to make Columbia, MO, tomorrow. It is further, so we will see. The photo is one I took from Big Meadow Campground last night. God is good and has blessed us this day!