Rapid City to Missoula

 

I did not take any photos on our trip from Rapid City to Sheridan because the weather was so bad it took all my energy to keep vigilant on the road. We experienced heavy wind, rain, snow and mud almost all the way. Mr. Keith did well with the 5th wheel. The horizon was in a fog so we missed the lovely scenery we know is throughout Wyoming. We could imagine it, though, as we've been this way many times! In due time we arrived in Sheridan Wyoming. By then the sun was out a little, but it was freezing cold and still blowing furiously. We did have a pretty spot to park at the Sheridan KOA. We had never stopped there before.

The next day was gorgeous, all trace of wind gone. We were so happy about that because we've found that in a heavy wind BigTruk gets about 6 miles per gallon, while in good conditions it gets close to 10. Diesel is always the biggest part of our traveling expense. The most we paid was $4.14 a gallon and BigTruk holds 72 gallons. You can imagine the cost of a fill-up! This view is of the Crazy Mts. in Montana, close to Bozeman. Stunning! I wonder why they are called 'Crazy'. They didn't look all that much different from the other mountain ranges surrounding us.

There is a long trek through very high, rocky mountains to the east of Butte. I say 'rocky' because the rock formations through this region are amazing. Here we are coming down out of the mountains into Butte.

 

Here is one last photo before we got to Missoula, We're near the cut-off to Anaconda. It's still a beautiful day. We arrived at the Missoula KOA about 1:00 and were greeted by several of the employees with whom we worked for the last 2 summers. Hugs were exchanged! It was almost like coming home! We set up in 60 degree sunshine and actually sweated a little, in contrast to freezing the previous 2 nights. We will be here for 3 or 4 nights, waiting for our campground in Coeur d'Alene to have water turned on and a site readied for us. The last leg of our journey will be short, about 170 miles, and then we'll be settled in for the next 4 months. It's a fantastic life-style!