Heading toward Alaska - Montana Owners Club

jrgwdenner · 06-30-2005, 04:30 PM

Tomorrow we start our trip to Alaska. So far we've been visiting family in Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska and having a great time. But we'll start our great adventure in the morning and try to get past Rapid City, SD in the midst of all the holiday traffic. So if you see a Monty sitting at a Flying J or Walmart, it might just be us.

bob n pam · 06-30-2005, 04:50 PM

Boy, howdy! Wish we were tagging along! That's on our agenda for either next summer or summer next. Have a WONDERFUL time and let us hear from you along the way!

jrgwdenner · 06-30-2005, 05:19 PM

Thanks for your good wishes, Bob and Pam. We wish we could take everyone who has expressed interest in the trip but I don't think they make an RV that big! I do plan to make regular posts, whenever I can get a connection. Planning the trip is half the fun. Be sure to get a Milepost magazine.

Fordzilla · 06-30-2005, 07:21 PM

I will be following your posts as well. We have thought about a 4 week vacation to Alaska (as we are not quite to fulltime status just yet). We will have to try and meet with you when you travel thru Iowa upon return and talk about how it went.

Montana_4069 · 07-01-2005, 01:39 AM

Where in alaska are you planning on stopping? The Mrs. and I are in Anchorage.

jsmitfl · 07-01-2005, 03:20 AM

Enjoy your trip, Was there for 2 weeks earlier this month. Can't wait to go back.

OntMont · 07-01-2005, 05:14 AM

Congratulations on your Alaska adventure. This is our dream trip. We had hoped to do it this summer too, but family obligations are holding us back for this year. Please do post when you can. We would like to hear about the good, the bad, and even the ugly. (We already have the Milepost, and started to do some campground research, until it became evident that it was not going to happen for us this year).

All the best, drive safely, and do keep in touch.

jrgwdenner · 07-01-2005, 05:20 PM

Thanks, everyone, for your kind notes. We had one long day today, driving from south of Yankton, SD to Gilette, WY. We are exhausted. The drive was beautiful with very diversified terrain. We took the Scenic Loop through the Badlands and rejoined the interstate at Wall, SD. It gave us a good taste of the Badlands for our extended stay planned for the future. The traffic wasn't bad at all even though it was/is a holiday weekend. SpoolonTurbo, we will enter Alaska around the first of August. We want to get a good visit to British Columbia first.

Fordzilla, there's a Pizza Ranch in Yankton, too. Any connection? It looks brand new.

Highlight of the day...a meal at Fuddruckers! Right now Greta is in the closet which is a sure sign of bad weather coming. More later. We may make it to Butte, MT tomorrow night.

Wordsmith · 07-01-2005, 06:34 PM

Sounds like you are on one of the ultimate RVing adventures! Please keep us updated and be safe on the highways!

jrgwdenner · 07-02-2005, 02:18 AM

Thanks for the good wishes, J.D. and Marsha. We've been dreaming of this trip for over a year and now that it's a reality, it's hard to believe that we're living our dream.

OntMont · 07-02-2005, 04:47 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by jrgwdenner

We took the Scenic Loop through the Badlands and rejoined the interstate at Wall, SD.

Thanks for the information. That does look like a long day's jouney! We are following along in our atlas. Can you provide any more details about the loop through the Badlands?

We really appreciate the information, but don't let posting get in the way of enjoying your trip.

jrgwdenner · 07-02-2005, 12:33 PM

OntMont, I love to share about our adventure. The loop doesn't take long to drive and is well worth it. It's about forty miles long but puts you out on the interstate several miles closer to your destination. There were a lot of people who were walking around the rock formations and even climbing on them. I'm sure "rocks" isn't the technical term. There are several places to pull over and park. Be sure to use your Golden Age Pass at the entrance. It costs $10.00 otherwise. I compared it to a mini Grand Canyon.

Whew, we did drive yesterday, 541 miles. I told Glen he'd have to send me home if we had many more days like that. But it paid off.....we are now at the entrance of Yellowstone National Park, south of Livingston, MT. We are looking out the window at snow capped mountains! As we were driving in there was a sudden rain storm and the temp dropped 16 degrees in minutes. We came very close to having hail drop on us. Now the sun is shining and it's about 75 degrees. We will be here for three days since we drove so hard yesterday.

The lady at the desk has been fulltiming for 9 years and has a Montana....and she's not on the forum. I gave her the information to find us so hopefully she'll join up. More later. It's great to be off the road.

Just had to go check the weather.....Greta's not in the closet so things look good!

Fordzilla · 07-03-2005, 02:48 PM

Judy, glad the weather is looking better now. Much to enjoy there, We were out there three years ago for two weeks with the kids. Had a great time exploring the wildlife of the park.
Yes the Yankton PR is another franchise just like the one here in Marcus. Ours was one of the first ones built many years ago. Yankton just opened less than a year ago. The offer still stands when you get back. We would love to hear all about your trip.

jrgwdenner · 07-03-2005, 04:39 PM

Thanks, Marcus, for the offer. We may have to put it on the back burner since we are taking the southern home through Arizona and Texas. We drove around Yellowstone today and it was awesome, hard to even describe. We saw almost every kind of wildlife except bears. The bison were grazing in very populated areas. Hope we got some good pictures.

That thin atmosphere sure does make an old lady tired.

Go Pokes · 07-03-2005, 06:18 PM

On our trip last July,we stopped and purchased Bing Cherries from people selling them along the road in British Columbia. They were delicious. In addition, we saw more grizzly bears in British Columbia than anyother place. Have a save trip and enjoy every mile.

HamRad · 07-03-2005, 09:04 PM

We're enjoying your trip. :-) Keep the postings coming. One of our dream trips is to do the Alaska thing one whole summer and early fall. Have a safe journey.

HamRad

jrgwdenner · 07-04-2005, 01:37 AM

Hmm, bing cherries. Sounds good. We're hoping to be able to reap the harvest in many different areas on this trip. In Alaska we're staying a few days longer than first expected because the Alaska State Fair begins around August 26. It will be fun to see the variety of produce....and maybe sample a few.

One of the neat things about RVing is the unexpected. We attended a little Baptist church in Gardiner, MT yesterday on our way to Yellowstone. Four 40 people were in attendance. The pastor was dressed in blue jeans and cowboy boots and served as the pastor, usher. and greeter. We were all invited to a free lunch after the service. What a wonderful ministry to travelers. We visited with two other RVing couples. One of them was also enroute to Alaska, via in the ferry, to do a ministry project with SOWERS. It was a delightful experience.

lasater · 07-04-2005, 04:55 AM

OntMont,

The Badlands National Park is divided into the North Unit (where most turists go) and the South Unit (which is also known as the Former Badlands Bombing and Gunnery Range).

The "Loop" exits I-90 at exit 131, meanders past the visitor's center, "dry" campground, and some fantabulous scenery before returning to I-90 close to Wall, S.D.

Wall is famous for it's drug store (spell that "turist trap") that takes up almost a full city block.

I have spent the past 2 summers (including this one) working in the South Unit of the Badlands. I oversee contractors who are looking for and removing unexploded ordnance from the former bombing range.

If you get a chance to see the Badlands, don't pass it up. They are fantastic vistas.

sreigle · 07-04-2005, 07:18 AM

Judy and Glen, how exciting you are finally headed north! We will follow your trip closely. Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner, I've been offline a few days and it's taking me awhile to catch up on all the active topics.

Glad you made the loop through the badlands. As I mentioned (email?) we spent several hours there and enjoyed it very much. It is very different from anything I had ever seen. We did a couple of the short hikes into the "rocks."

Lasater, thanks for the info on the south side. I wondered about that, what it was all about, but we were staying in Hill City at the time and didn't get back to see if we could get to any of the south part.

Judy, Livingston, MT. There are a few movie stars with places around there. I know Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan had a ranch there back when they were married. We drove around Livingston a bit. Quaint old downtown area.

virgil47 · 07-04-2005, 10:26 PM

Judy, don't want to add undue pressure but sure hope you can continue your postings about your trip. Miss Jo and I are planning a trip to Alaska from here in North Georgia starting next March. We are reading your posts with great interest. Good luck and keep writing.

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