Billings, Montana

The trip segment from Bozeman to Billings on Hwy 20 was another beautiful stretch of highway, where we passed through part of Yellowstone Park to witness a herd of Bison grazing near the roadway.

Rivers along the highway were filled to near overflow with snow-melt. Pastures were still very green and the Grand Tetons had plenty of snow still showing on the eastern slope.

We had no trouble booking a spot in the Billings KOA Holiday, that boasts being the very first KOA in America, established in 1962. The electric/water sites were a bit close to neighbors, but our stay so far has been quiet and close to my Sister's house.

Botanical Garden

Joyce took us to see our first botanical garden of the trip ... This is a privately-maintained "backyard" of sorts, open to the public. We met the owner in person, who gave us tips on where to walk. There were many beautiful specimens just coming into bloom, arranged with fountains and sculptures and more to see than I can put here ... but, here are a few pix.

This little guy looked ready to jump into our path from the Japanese section of the garden.

Okay, I know ... enough with the flowers. So, tomorrow Louise and I are traveling to a small community of 2,200 folks, about an hour from here, called Red Lodge. We've visited this town on the last visit to Montana, but only scratched the surface of the many antique stores and unique shops. The plan is to getup early and get breakfast in-town, at a small cafe that we thoroughly enjoyed on the last visit.

So, I'll be posting more of our adventures tomorrow ... stay tuned!

Utah to Idaho Falls & Bozeman, MT

The week in Utah with family went way too fast. So hard to leave ... We had such a great time just relaxing and eating (Ha!) and visiting, we opted not to go anywhere we all couldn't simply walk to.

Yes, just walk ... About a block away from the house we found a small antique store where we all spent an hour walking through history ... Wait! I remember, we had one of these ... or one of those ... OMG, if I knew it was worth that much I would have kept it, sold it and bought a small island in the Caribbean! Fun stuff!

On the walk home we stopped by a very large military surplus store, so cram-packed with stuff it became a bit overwhelming. I hid under some camo netting for a while and no one could find me! Yeah, sure! This was a store where you had to ask for what you might be looking for ... Way too much crammed-in here to find it on your own. So, just ask ... like, "Say, do you have any more of those cute little, RPG-7, shoulder-fired rocket launchers left?"

The trip from Utah into Idaho along Highway 15 was a beautiful drive along snow-capped mountains on the right, and large, cattle ranches or smooth pastures of green on our left. The speed limit was an amazing 80mph ... Ya see, Governor? This is what can happen when you spend money on keeping roads in good condition!

Onward, after a gas stop at one of the popular Maverick gas stations ... Plenty of room to pull in/out, and mid-grade, top-tier, gas at $3.95/gallon. They even had a dump station, but for some reason it was on the wrong side for RV's ... Maybe truckers dump on the passenger side, but all RV's are left-side dump. Our next stop was Idaho Falls. 

Our planned overnight stay is at the Elks Lodge #1087, where we found a back-in sight on asphalt, 50-amp electric and water for $20/night.

This is a large lodge but not much activity this week, no dinners being served, but a nice bar. So, rather than sit in the RV, we decided to check-out the sights in Idaho Falls and came across a huge street fair of food vendors in the park along the river walk.

Everyone was just setting up, but we made a quick walk-through to see what was being offered. Yes, there were some exotic things, like salmon hot dogs (what?) ... advertised as a "sustainable meal". OMG, the woke generation has invaded Idaho Falls!!! I almost went for the Philly Cheese Steak, but wasn't sure it really WAS steak ... arrrrrgh!

The falls are a marvel in engineering, especially now with the amount of water coming down the Snake River. The sound of the water was loud, but actually smelled a little odd, possibly due to the river-side bathrooms flushing into the river up stream?? Oh no, don't lick your lips in the spray!

This is a panorama I took with my iphone. The second pix is of a very violent and turbulent part of the falls ... very noisy!

We walked some distance on both sides of the river, getting some good pictures of sculptured benches and other art offerings.

Lastly, there was a very tasteful tribute to Veterans of all wars. With Memorial Day a few days away, a couple pix are in order:

And, on a happier note, Louise was just about to take off on this rental, but we decided it was probably not a good idea this early in our trip?

Bozeman, MT

A quick trip up beautiful Highway 20, passing through part of Yellowstone Park. Large, flashing signs were setup warning to watch for "large animals" crossing the road. Bigfoot maybe?

Now in Bozeman, Montana at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. We had reserved a nice back-in site yesterday by phone, with a choice of dry camp ($20), elec/water ($35) or full hookups for ($50). We opted for the FHU as it was time to dump all the holding tanks. A pix of our site and the view out the window follows:

Tomorrow we are off to Billings, MT to visit my Sister and family. So, stay tuned ... much more to come!

Pianos and Guns

Today we visited the Brigham Larson Pianos store, where Ezzy, one of the family, works at refurbishing pianos of all kinds since 1921. Her specialty is the keys, routing, shaping, resurfacing, and replacing keys that are worn out in a customer's piano.

To say this store/factory is amazing would be a gross understatement. It is world-famous with pianos being shipped in for repair or refurbishment from all over the world. Pianos are complicated instruments with hundreds of parts and pieces. A few pictures follow:

One of the many, many storerooms of parts.

Ezzy on the left, introducing us to one of the 40 employees that work at BLP.

This is a demo unit showing some of the complicated parts. The oval white pieces, that strike the piano strings, are made of lambs wool.

This 1901 Steinway piano is from Africa, one of two in existance and valued at over $300,000 ... It is hand made of Rosewood. Our tour guide, Ezzy, is on the right.

We also visited the biggest gun store I've ever seen called Gunnies Guns and Western Wear ... They stock everything from country clothing to cowboy buckles and boots on one side of the store. The other side appears to contain every firearm made including suppressors, and every gun part or shooting accessory you might want or need.

Later this week, we are off to a small town of 250 residents called Wallsburg established in 1861, and part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The town is made up of 22 buildings of antiques.  I'll be looking for anything related to Morse code, of course. This should be fun. Stay tuned ...

Orem, Utah

The trip from Ely to Orem was an interesting trip on 2-lane Hwy 6 with a quick stop at the border to stretch and get a picture. Then, more interesting backcountry, through a few small towns that went quickly by. Blink your eyes and Hinckley, Delta and Lynndyl are in the rear view mirror. 

Next stop, Orem, UT and a week-long visit with relatives. We were able to get both our rigs backed-in, slides out, and ready for the festivities to begin.

Mark and Tilley planned a big Sunday barbeque that brought a few relatives in from various nearby communities. We got to meet some we hadn't seen in a long time, and a few new ones! And, of course, there were smoked tri-tip, ribs, and all the trimmings.

And this little cutie, Raegan, one of the happiest little girls I've ever met.

More to come ... stay tuned!

Ely Nevada

Leaving Middlegate Station, we again headed East on Highway 50, passing the famous "shoe tree". The trip from Middlegate Station to Ely, about 215 miles, was a combination of picturesque landscapes on perfectly straight 30-mile stretches of smooth highway, to mountain passes over 7,500 feet with snow still on the ground in shady areas.

Passing through Austin, Justin & Sandra found a geocache along the way ... a good excuse to pull off the highway and walk around a bit.

We were fortunate to catch this old steam engine chugging along side the highway, headed back to the historic train station. What beautiful sights and sounds coming from this old steamer, and a couple toots from the whistle in return of our wave.

Arriving at the KOA just south of town, we quickly setup camp then headed to our next adventure ... the historic train museum in Ely. 

The museum was established in 1984 in an effort to protect the integrity of the Nevada Northern Railroad. The offices upstairs are preserved as if personnel had just walked away that day.

Of course, the real "meat" of this incredible museum is the ability to pay a small fee, then walk around on a self-guided tour anywhere you wish to go. Our tour included acres of historic machine shop with huge belt-driven mills, lathes, and drills, where old steam-powered engines are brought back to life. These are just a few of the many pictures I took.

And, the foundry where gears and flywheels are cast in molds, then hammered into tolerances. 

Have you ever wanted to climb aboard a gigantic, diesel-electric locomotive and sit in the Engineers seat, maybe make a few engine noises? Well, you can do it here ... un-interrupted!

There were many different types of locomotives and rolling stock to explore in garages and shops ... like this huge rotary snow plow with on-board engines used only to drive the rotary blades, and requiring two diesel-electric engines to push it along.

A few more pix and I'll wrap this up. Tomorrow we make the last 250-mile leg into Orem, Utah with a week-long visit planned with family. So, stay tuned ...

Inside a caboose and a large passenger car, both being painstakingly restored to historical new condition.