Day 143 – July 31 – West Yellowstone, MT

We filled up with gas and headed south out of Helena on the interstate highway.  While on interstate 15 we crossed the continental divide at a little over 6,300 feet.  At Butte we turned east on another interstate – I-90 and again crossed the continental divide.  We left the interstate road system and turned on highway 191.  This is a scenic route and all I can say is Montana just keeps working its charm.

The road ran through a valley along side the Gallatin River.  Most of the time we had river on one side and mountain on the other.  The river was spotted with fly fishermen from time to time.  At one point we pulled over to take a break and eat lunch.  The pullout was next to the river and as we stopped we saw rafters coming down the river.  Dorrie ran out and got some good shots of them going through the rocks and rapids.

The near Big Sky, Montana the river was getting very narrow and soon it seemed to just disappear.  I guess we are simple people because these simple sights entertained us for several miles – the rafters, the fishermen, and the every changing landscape.  Montana is a beautiful state.

We stopped at the visitor’s center in West Yellowstone to see if they had suggestions on campgrounds, since we are still travelling by the seat of our pants and did not make reservations.  Seems we picked a bad weekend to hit Yellowstone.  There is a big car show going on for the next four days, plus July and August are the busiest times of the year for this area.  I called several campgrounds and could not find a place.  Finally I called Yellowstone Cabins and RV and got a voice message that they had cabins and RV sites available, to come on over.  So we drove over – it is a small place that rents cabins and has 8 RV sites.  I asked if they had a place for us and was told to look out back and see which one I liked, sites 1, 4 and 8 were open.  To get to site 4 or 8 I would have to back between trees that I am not sure the camper would fit between.  So I took site 1, which is just long enough to fit the camper and get off the sidewalk.  At least we have a place with hookups for the night.

After eating we walked the 5 blocks to the main street area and walked through the shops.  It is an interesting little village and we enjoyed the exercise and the shopping.

All the trash cans have some type of image on them similar to this.  It is a fun town.