Our Montana Goes to Montana...

Our campsite and views

One of Jack's Bucket List items was visiting the Little Bighorn National Monument and Battlefield so we headed north when we left Denver. Our first stop was an overnight in Douglas Wyoming. The Douglas KOA was very peaceful, the staff very friendly and we had a nice long gravel pull thru and did not have to unhook the truck. Our surroundings were pretty and our only neighbors were horses.

When we drove southwest through Wyoming in 2014 I was unimpressed with the landscape. This time, driving in a north, northwest direction, I enjoyed the scenery.



The next morning we headed to Montana. Our destination was Garryowen, MT - the 7th Ranch RV Park, just minutes from the Battlefield. The landscape through Montana is beautiful and the views from our campsite were gorgeous. It's easy to see why Montana is known as Big Sky Country. Oh, and I added another state to my map!

Our Montana in Montana!

7th Ranch RV Park is on a hill with all gravel pull-thrus and, again, very nice people running it. You even get a free ice cream upon check-in! They gave us a super site at the top of the hill. It was a bit of a challenge to level the RV but I could have sat and looked at those views all day.

During check-in the manager was giving us information and telling us how to get to the Battlefield. When he finished, I asked him how to get to town. He gave me a quizzical look and said, "Town? Well, there's a Post Office." We Googled Garryowen after we were set up and discovered its population is two!!! We were in the middle of nowhere!

The town of Garryowen is on the Crow Nation reservation. There is a Trading Post and Cafe at the entrance to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Park. We ate at the Cafe twice, I tried an Indian Fry Bread Taco and it was good!

Jack spent two days exploring the Park and the Battlefield where Custer fell as well as Reno Hill. Jack is our history buff and he'll write a separate post with photos about visiting Little Big Horn.

One afternoon we drove to Hardin, twenty miles west, and visited the Big Horn County Historical Museum. Lots of Native American history and some great photos of the Crow and Cheyenne people...will post photos in my next post.

After the museum, we had some burgers at the Three Brothers Bistro, rated the number one restaurant in Hardin by Trip Advisor...out of about four restaurants if you don't count the fast food spots!

I wouldn't want to do it all the time but, for four days, I really enjoyed being in the middle of nowhere!

Wyoming and an Old West Prison...

Oil Rig

Bad Roads!

After the all beauty of South Dakota, Wyoming was a bit of a disappointment to me. We used it primarily as a pass through on our way to California and will return to see Yellowstone and Devil's Tower when we visit the states to the north.  Still, I was hoping for beautiful scenery on our drive. There was some very pretty scenery but, overall, the landscape is a bit desolate looking...mostly dedicated to oil and mining.

At an I-80 exit...we stopped for gas

Endless Highway...

Our first stop was just an overnight in Casper, Wyoming. We stayed a Casper East RV Park. It's right in the city, with an awkward entrance, lots of gravel and little to no grass or shade. The pull thru was barely long enough to hold both our fifth wheel and truck without unhitching, but we made it. The roads are quite wide and forgiving if your truck or car sticks out a bit. It served our purposes and we would stop there again if need be.

Some of the Pretty Spots

We hit Rawlins next and decided to stop for a couple of days to rest and do laundry.  RV World Campground is right off the highway, reasonably priced, has a decent laundry and very nice staff, who hand out dog treats and Andre Mints on your arrival. The pull thru sites are gravel and very close together but, again, met our needs. We saw the super moon, got the laundry done and visited a prison.

Super Moon

There isn't much in Rawlins, but their main attraction is the Wyoming Frontier Prison and we decided to visit. The old wild west prison opened in 1901 and was in use until 1981. It started out with no electricity, no running water and little heat and housed both men and women until 1909. Butch Cassidy was one of its inmates.  It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Life in those times was harsh and could be cruel. We saw cells, dungeons, solitary confinement, a gallows and a gas chamber.  We also saw beautiful paintings on the cafeteria walls, done by an inmate who was disabled and not able to participate in the usual prison work.  An oasis of beauty in an otherwise grey and grizzly environment.

More Endless Highway...

The Middle of Nowhere...

We left Rawlins and had a one night stopover in Fort Bridger RV Camp in Fort Bridger, Wyoming. It's a very small campground, hard to find...we drove past it twice.  Sites are grass and reasonably level. Most are back-ins, but they did have a long pull thru for us. It is quiet and peaceful...if you don't count the police banging on someone's door that evening...with mostly long term campers, and they have cable. It would have been okay for a one night stop had it not been for the mosquitoes. There were hundreds, ready to attack the minute you stepped into the grass. We left there itching like crazy!  We'll try somewhere else next time.

Crossing the Continental Divide

We crossed the Continental Divide while driving through Wyoming...elevation 7120 feet above sea level. It felt like we were above the clouds...and we were above some of them! Unfortunately, the high altitude affected me and I have been short of breath the whole time we have been in these high altitudes.

Looking forward to getting back to sea level!

Wyoming Frontier Prison
Click to Enlarge

Notice the smiley faces painted on the wall...

Cafeteria paintings done by a prisoner...

Gallows (left) and Gas Chamber (right)

From there, it was on to Utah.