Little Bighorn Battlefield

Our trip today was to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We got there in time for the ranger talk on the patio. He was a great story teller and spoke for an hour on the battle and the research for the truth since then. He was very knowledgable and stayed after to answer questions.

The hill where Custer died. The memorial on the top is where many of the dead soldiers are buried.

Some of the terrain where the battle was fought.

Even the horses were memorialized.

The locations where the warriors fell are marked with red stone markers like these.

Looking down the hill from the soldiers' memorial at the visitors center and the national cemetery behind it. The small white markers in the foreground are locations where soldiers fell.

The monument itself was inscribed on all sides with the names of the deceased.

Across the road from the soldier's monument is the Indian warriors' monument.

We took the driving tour through the battlefield and stopped to look at the many areas where the battle took place.

Hardin, MT

Today we drove about 200 miles to Hardin, MT. Along the way we saw a sign advertising a store in Terry, MT that sold Montana made products. We drove into town to check it out. A very nice small town. We were able to park the motorhome right on the main street. We found the store we were looking for, Prairie Unique. What a find! The owners, Kathy and Dale made us feel like family. Telling us about the area and other things in town to see (even a steam heated outhouse!) The store had a bunch of Montana books and other products, but Dale caught my attention with his collection of RC model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. The conversation quickly switched to drones which he sells. They showed us some footage from the Badlands that he had just taken with a drone. What a fun toy! From there we walked to the Kempton Hotel down the street. It has been in continuous operation since 1902. What a unique hotel! They invited us to come in and look around The rooms were decorated with old furniture and decorations.

Then we went around the corner and had lunch at Chaska's Family Restaurant. We had a fun waitress and good food there. From there we went up the street to the Evelyn Cameron Gallery. She was a woman who lived and worked in the area around 1900 and took many detailed pictures of people and life in the area. Next door was the Prairie County Museum. An overwhelming collection of local memorabilia located in a couple of old bank buildings. I wished that I would have gotten a picture of the outhouse that was heated via a steam pipe from the house. What a nice small town to visit and we were lucky enough to stop and enjoy it.

Tonight we set up the grill and had hotdogs and hamburgers and then walked to a grocery store near here for a few things. Tomorrow we are off to the Little Big Horn National Battlefield.

Makoshika State Park

Today's adventure was a trip to Makoshika State Park a few miles from here. We didn't know a lot about the park but decided to go there as one of the stops when we were planning this trip. We were glad we did, as it was a beautiful and interesting way to spend the day.

There are plenty of hiking trails there as well as off trail walking areas. Janice had been looking forward to feeling up to some hiking and the day went well for her.

Out on a natural bridge.

We had packed sandwiches for lunch so we were able to spend the whole day there hiking and sightseeing. We enjoyed the day with our daughter and her family, but came home tired. Tomorrow we pack up and head on to the Hardin, MT area.

On the Road Again, Glendive, MT

When I sat down this afternoon to write this, I found this picture that I had taken last week when we joined our daughter, her husband, and Brendan for a sunset cruse on the Missouri River at Bismarck. I took this shot as we were leaving and the clouds were rolling in.

So now we are on the road again. Our daughter, Angela and her family have loaded up their motorhome and joined us for a week in Montana. Yesterday we drove about 200 miles to Glendive, MT. On the way here, we stopped at a scenic overlook at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. As usual, the pictures don't do it justice. We had driven through the park several years ago, so we didn't take the time to do it again this trip.

As we passed through the town of Wibaux, MT we stopped at an information center and decided to go to the Pierre Wibaux museum. At one time he was one of the largest ranchers in the country and we found the museum to be very interesting and informative. This is the building that he used as an office when he was here in town where the stockyards were located.

 

Part of the museum was located in this train car which was part of a 25 car Montana delegation to the 1939 New York World Fair.

At one time, most of his herd were Texas Longhorns like this one here.

Our travel group in front of the livery stable part of the museum.

Today we visited a couple of stores, had lunch at CC's and toured the Frontier Gateway Museum here. Most of the museum's huge collection was inside the main building, but this area held most of the old machinery, a log cabin and an old school house.

Tomorrow we are going out to the Makoshika State Park to spend the day.

Getting Ready to Leave Bismarck

I think that we have finally finished our list of things to do while we are in Bismarck. As usual the month has flown by in a hurry. We have had a good time enjoying our kids and grandkids here as well as meeting a few interesting people here in the campground. Monday we will head west into Montana for a week or so and then turn south again. Our daughter from here and her family are loading their motorhome to join us on our Montana venture.

My son Brendan had to have his dog, Duke, put to sleep this afternoon. I think that Brendan was about ten years old or so when he got Duke. He has been a great companion for Brendan and Brendan has been a great dog owner. He patiently trained Duke and has always given him everything he needed and more. Duke loved to go on long walks and Brendan was right there with him. Except for a couple of short periods when Duke had to live with other family members while Brendan was living where he couldn't keep a dog they have been inseparable. Unfortunately Duke had reached the point where he was in pain and required more and more pain medication to help control it. He couldn't walk very far and was very restless and discontented. Brendan knew his dog best and was strong and made the hard decision. He held him until the end and we buried him in the corner of his sister's yard. Duke couldn't have had a better owner and Brendan couldn't have had a better dog. He took a little bet of all of our hearts with him.

Bismarck, ND

We got here in the afternoon on Friday. Noticed at a rest stop a little ways from here that the left front axle shaft seal is leaking on the Jeep. Oil on the inside of the tire and splattered on the inside of the fender. Looks like we will have to find a repair shop on Monday. Angela and her family brought their motorhome out to the campground here Friday afternoon and stayed until this morning. We enjoyed fixing meals and eating together and the kids got to use the pool.  Our sewer hose sprang a couple of leaks when we drained the tanks in Fargo, so the first order of business was to go to the RV store for a new hose. Seems like they only last a year or so when exposed to the sun so much of the time. We plan on staying here for a month and then head west for a couple of weeks at least.

Fargo, ND

We left our daughter's family's driveway late this morning and headed to another daughter's family in Bismarck, ND. We stopped for the night at a campground in Fargo. A little over 300 miles today and that is about our limit for one day's drive. 190 or so to Bismarck tomorrow. As usual we hated to leave family behind, but look forward to the family ahead. It always seems like a month will be a long time for a visit, but it flies by quickly.
During the last week or so, our daughter's neighbor next to them at the end of the road moved to Colorado. I had met Don and his wife before but hadn't got to spend much time with them. Last week I helped them load the moving truck. This week, Don came back to sort out his garage and take another load in the car. I really enjoyed working with Don and feel like I had to say goodby to a new friend. Between what I bought from him and what he gave me, I added quite a few items to my garage there in Sioux City. If we ever decide to give up full timing and stay put there, I will have a lot of things to keep me busy. In the mean time it will keep me occupied while we visit there.
We were finally able to get an electrician to come out and upgrade our electric service from 60 amps to 200 amps. Now we can plug in the motorhome and run everything without blowing fuses. As soon as that was done, the fan motor on the outside unit of the house air conditioner went out. The new one lasted a day and it died also. Mark and Rebecca worked patiently straightening out the fins on the unit and it should work much better now. The house was back to a cool temperature when we left.