West Glacier to Custer, SD

Hello again. Monday, july 6, we left West Glacier and started our trek to Custer, SD. We took US2 and a couple other lesser roads, which were all good to very good except for construction and gravel road on one of the lesser roads. The scenery went from the mountains of Glacier NP to rolling hills the further east we traveled and flattened out somewhat for the farmland that seemed to go on for miles and miles. At one point we could see black clouds forming to the South and gradually moved over us. We had a bit of rain and then dime size hail. I slowed to minimize damage if it got worse, but in less than ten minutes, it was over. Our destination was Billings, MT and our favorite 'chain' of campgrounds .......WalMart.

We were surprised as we approached Billings to see that the road was way above the city. We stopped at an overlook to take pics and look down on Billings, which was built along the Missouri River. Again, just another big city with the usual mall-sprawl and businesses. The WalMart was along one of the mall roads. We found a good out-of -the -way spot and paid our 'fee' in the store. Though it was near a main highway, it was very quiet and we actually slept a bit later than we had planned. I highly recommend this WalMart for overnight stops.;)

Tuesday, July 7, We left WalMart and made contact with Rick and Kathy, who were in Colorado at the time. Kathy found a campground for us, Flintstones RV in Custer, and said they'd probably be there later tonight. We only had about a 350 mile drive from Billings on I90, but thought they might be pushing it to get here from Estes Park, CO. We took our time and took many pictures along the way, including a 1 1/2 hour stop at Little Bighorn National Monument, which was VERY interesting. The roads were very good and the scenery never ceases to amaze us, even though we'd seen much of it before. Again, I took lots of pics.

We found Flintstone, and got settled in our site about 5:30. At about 7:30, we got a call from kathy saying they were less than 40 miles away. Forty minutes later they pulled in and we had a joyous reunion. We shared tales a bit and watched video of their off-road adventures in a Jeep at Moab. Talk about excitement! WOW! We chatted till after 11:00 and finally hit the sack.

Wednesday, July 8, after breakfast, we headed off to Custer State Park, my favorite of state parks. The weather was mostly sunny and warm and got a bit warmer as the day wore on. We had fun on the Needles highway with the kids climbing the rocks. Later we got on the Wildlife Loop looking for buffalo and, of course, the donkeys. We found both up close and personal, and the kids had a blast feeding the donkey.

After the loop, Rick and Kathy headed off to Rapid City to do some shopping at WalMart and we went back to camp. We noticed darkening skies as we headed west back toward Custer, and just as we pulled into our campsite, Kathy called to let us know there was a tornado warning for our area. I immediately turned on our weather alert radio in the camper and went outside to watch the black clouds north of us move toward the east. We heard a little thunder, but that was it. Right now it is once again mostly sunny and warm, about 74 degrees. As soon as they get back from Rapid City, we'll have dinner together and talk some more.

That should bring us up to date except for some pictures I'll be working on. So, till then, take care, have fun and be safe.

Ron & Barb

P.S. This is mostly a reminder to me to write about the people we met along the way as well the driving habits of some of the people we almost met by accident. Also a few comments on the 'interpersonal skills', or lack thereof, of many people we observed along the way......very interesting. Probably when I get back home and have had some time to reflect.