Travel with Sue and Ted

Category: Montana

  • Our Long Drive Across Montana Included Miles City

    We drove across 400 miles of Montana on Friday, and arrived at Medora, North Dakota, about 5 pm.  But the big story was Miles City, Montana.

    The City GrindSue has this talent to find great local restaurants, and for this lunch stop in Miles CIty she found wonderful Yelp reviews for “The Main City Grind” – a combination deli, hamburger, and coffee shop. The food was good, and Ted struck up a conversation with an 86 year old woman named Esther.

    Esther told us she moved here from Michigan about 15 years ago to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren.  Prior to that, her family had a second home in this town of 9,000, and would come to Montana to escape the brutal winters of northern Michigan.  (It had never occurred to us that someone might actually go to Montana for the winter!!!)

    Small TownsSmall towns are great.  People are welcoming and love to talk about their town and life.  After lunch, we spotted the “Cowboy Cobbler” store and walked in to buy a leather strap for Ted’s hat – $2 for a yard of it!.  Sue heard a Matt Maher song (a Christian artist) playing on the radio and mentioned it which got a big smile from the owner.  At the gas station, Ted chatted with a guy named Jim.  Jim owned a greenhouse in town, and during the winter drove trucks across country from California to keep his income going.  In the Napa Auto Parts store, while purchasing a small item, Ted talked with Walter who was very helpful.  Small towns are unique and wonderful.

    But small towns also have their challenges.  While driving down main street, Ted suddenly had to slam on the brakes.  The street went under the railroad tracks.  The posted sign stated:  Clearance 11′ 6″.  Whoa!  We need 12′!   A close call averted by quick observation.  We were able to back up a few dozen feet, turn onto a side street, and find our way to the truck route out of town!  Yep, Ted had thoughts about that one all day.

    This weekend we’ll explore the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is in North Dakota near the border with Montana.  “When Theodore Roosevelt came to Dakota Territory in 1883, he was a skinny, young, spectacled dude from New York. He could not have imagined how his adventure in this remote and unfamiliar place would forever alter the course of the nation. The rugged landscape and strenuous life that TR experienced here would help shape a conservation policy that we still benefit from today”.   (www.nps.gov/thro)

    T & S

    PS:  On September 23-25 there is an astronomy festival here!

  • Livingston KOA in Montana

    Thursday, September 15.  We left the sulphur smell of the Yellowstone National Park to spend a night at a KOA camp right on the Yellowstone River, just outside of Livingston.  We also did a supply run to Costco in Bozeman, MT.

    One of Sue’s fav-things to do while driving on vacation is to “Yelp” the towns for out-of-the-way places to eat that have high recommendations from the locals.  In Bozeman, MT, she found “The Garage” – a BBQ and burger joint built from an old gas station/garage building and kept the theme.  From the menu (with real license plates as covers) we selected food that did not disappoint, and in fact were some of the best sandwiches and burgers we’ve had.  All the meat in Montana is very lean, and better quality that we’ve had at California restaurants.

    Back at the Livingstone KOA, we sat in our chairs on the riverbank for two and a half hours, talked, did some email, and watched the sunset.  Glorious.  Enjoy these pics Sue took of us on the river!

    Sue on Yellowstone River in Livingstonlivingston-719