Billings, Montana

Good afternoon, my friends! We've been without internet for the past three days. Phew! It's good to be back in civilization. My pulse was getting weak and thready...and I know that's a bad thing because I saw it on TV. We have a lot of catching up to do, time-traveling-wise. We've been to two state parks and two quilt shops since last we talked. So, let's just back up to when we left...where were we? Let's see...oh, yes...Dillon, Montana. We haven't traveled far since then...less than 300 miles, but we've packed a lot into it.

So, this is a cowboy state and a cow state and a horse state and a sheep state, and there are lots of barns and abandoned structures here. I only shot a couple of them as we drove along.

Shortly after leaving Dillon, we passed through the town of Twin Bridges. It's a small town, but notable because Donald Rumsfeld retired here after leaving government. 

It was a lovely drive as we approached Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. We paralleled the Jefferson River. Remember that name because we're going to encounter the Jefferson River several times over the next several posts.

The caverns are technically located in Whitehall, Montana. Notable people from Whitehall include Sam Adams (1963--), former mayor of Portland, Oregon; and Chet Huntley (1911–1974), broadcaster, graduated from Whitehall High School. (Please tell me you're old enough to remember Huntley and Brinkley.)

And since we were approaching the "caverns," we took notice when we passed by this big hole in the hillside. On our cave tour (details in a separate post), it was explained to us that this was a limestone quarry owned by Dan Morrison, who first developed primitive cave tours around 1900. It has an interesting history leading up to its becoming a state park. You can read more about it at its Wikipedia page right here.

In a few more miles, we entered the state park...a very nice park with electric hook-ups, but nothing else. We were happy for the electricity because it was HOT here. We ran our A/C all day, turning it off only at night.

We took note of the bear warnings, and indeed, a bear ran through the campground while we were there. We missed it since we had our backs turned. We only knew when a ranger knocked on our door and asked us to put away our grill.

This was the view from our campsite. The cave is up that hillside.

Sadie has been spending a lot of time on her catio. We left her here and went out for a walk when the outdoor temperatures cooled off some.

I've loved the fields of grass in Montana. We took off across a field, thinking we could get to the river just on the other side of the highway. Of course, we looked carefully for rattlesnakes with every step.

Crossing over the railroad tracks, I was happy to see they were even older than I am. Even older than Mike!

And sure enough, there was the Jefferson River again.

Our shadow selves couldn't resist lying down on the tracks. We threatened to leave them there, but they headed back to the RV with us.

As we walked back, I snapped this image of the campground. Our RV is about where I've placed an arrow in the image below.

We ended up taking a loop around the campground as the sun was setting. The grass was so pretty glowing gold in the waning sunlight.

There was an informational sign at this spot.

Here's a little more information about the area.

I walked out and caught this bloomed-out thistle, hanging its head.

There were lovely mature trees in the campground. They were sporting these seed pods...at least, I think that's what they are.

We talked with our neighbor as the sun was setting. 

And that was the end of our day. I have so much more to tell you and to catch up on. For one thing, I finished my challenge piece. I've only finished the slow stitching. I'm going to want to add some borders when we get home, and I'm shopping for some fabrics as we go along. I haven't decided yet how to finish it off, but the most time-consuming part is finished. Just a peek for you.

We've been keeping an eye on poor Smitty, who seems to have had a relapse of his FHV (Feline Herpes Virus) condition. He's been sneezing and snuffling, but that's really the only indication that he's sick. We're afraid the stress of the trip has re-activated it. He seems fine, otherwise. Bright-eyed, good appetite, drinking water. I keep hoping to see some improvement. So far, it doesn't seem as if there's any need to take him to a vet.

Sadie has been doing fine. She's been less anxious than on previous trips, and she settles right into new surroundings.

We're here in Billings for just one night. We'll move on to Miles City, Montana, for one more night, and then we'll cross into North Dakota day after tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll do some time traveling. I have a lot to tell you about the things we saw over the past three days.