Montana here we are! First stop, Billings. We had two ulterior motives behind our stop here. First, we planned a visit with an old co-worker friend of mine. Plus, it was Saturday and we all know what that is…Georgia Football Day of course! Main priority on game days is to be sure we can watch the game somewhere, somehow, some way.
The Georgia game was on early afternoon. Georgia beat Tennessee (51-44) BUT what a game! Dick screamed and yelled at the TV the entire time. They almost blew it and he let them know in uncertain terms he was not pleased. Kelly and her beau came to grill out steaks for dinner. We had a GREAT time, talking and laughing all night. Between Dick carrying on all afternoon and us outside all evening, it was amazing we were not thrown out of the campground.
With slight headaches the next morning, we headed down to the Yellowstone River Canyon (Paradise Valley) to a campground right on the river. We LOVED this area when we rode through in 2008 and vowed to return. We even talk about spending a winter here, crazy huh? The scenery is absolutely beautiful. Every night we sat behind our camper, right on the river, and watched the sun set over the mountains. It was so peaceful and great to relax taking in the scenery.
On our first day trip, we rode through one loop of Yellowstone National Park (since we had already been there), took the west entrance out and returned via MT Route 191 through the Gallatin National Forest. The scenery there was gorgeous too however, it was very scary for us to see so many white metal crosses on the road where there were automobile fatalities. We stopped counting at 50. Yikes.
Our second day trip took us driving through the mountains of Paradise Valley, looking at the houses and the great views they have of the valley below. Land and home costs are unbelievable. We stumbled upon the town of Pine Creek, where a massive fire destroyed many acres of forests, but very few homes, less than a month ago.
The day we were to leave, the weather forecast predicted snow/freezing rain so we extended our stay for an additional day. Another chance to have a blue cheese, bacon burger at the Old Saloon! It got real cold, and the snow came, but never stuck to the roads. The mountains sure looked pretty with their snow capped tops.
With the snow behind us, but the cold temps still with us, we left for Idaho.
