Crossing Montana

I’d never realized how wide of a state Montana is. After leaving Spokane and crossing the 70 miles of northern Idaho (which is surprisingly beautiful!), we entered Montana and only got about a third of the way across before pulling in for the night at the Walmart in Butte. 

Who knew Butte sat at such a high elevation? The night was so chilly Coco came up and snuggled under the blankets with us, and when we woke, we realized it was sub-zero! Everything was covered in a thick layer of frost. Thankfully no precip! 

Before leaving Butte, we stopped at a T-mobile shop to get a SIM card for the iPad. Now, everyone assured me that there would be no issues with getting a Canada-bought iPad hooked up with a US cell carrier, but they were WRONG! Almost 90 minutes later we finally were set but lost the morning and are still having problems accessing certain services. But at least we are connected (somewhat...learning that Montana has some of the poorest coverage in the nation). 

Just east of Butte we crossed the Continental Divide at 6400 feet and started down into rolling hill country. The temperature went from -1 to 22 C within 30 minutes! Towns and services are few and far between here so we had to take advantage wherever we could. Lunch and exercise in Bozeman, and another Walmart night in Billings - hitting all three “B”’s in Montana. 

Bozeman is a nice little town with a beautiful nature park and trail connected right to Main Street and the gorgeous public library. Billings is a bit more industrial but we still enjoyed a nice walk on their linear trail next to the Yellowstone River. 

Overlooking downtown Bozeman

Sunrise over Billings and the Yellowstone River

After three longer driving days, we decided to make today a shorter one. Sadly, it seems Coco is not as comfortable with long drives as we thought. When we drove home from Baja last spring when she was 5 months old, she handled it without problems. But now she is panting and shivering within an hour of hitting the highway. Frequent breaks and some gravol may be needed. Fortunately our itinerary will not include so many long driving days in a row after we reach Chicago. 

2 hours east of Billings, we have hunkered down at a proper campground - Red Shale inside Custer National Forest. Yes, THAT Custer - a few miles back we passed Little Bighorn Battlefield, scene of Lt. Custer’s infamous last stand. A beautiful treed site with lots of space between other campers - and free! The sun is shining, Coco is merrily meandering in the tall grass, and we are having Coors! Bliss!