Suzanne & Family

We arrived in Longmont on Wednesday the 22nd. "camping" in the street in front of their house. On Thursday, Carol went shopping with Suzanne & Oliver. There is a birthday party planned for Friday.
On Friday night there was a birthday party for Izzy, Oliver & me. Suzanne got an excellent ice cream care from a store that makes their own ice cream. The Stomp Rocket was the hit of the birthday gifts.
On Saturday we all went to a soccer game and watched Izzy play a great game.
After breakfast on Sunday, we headed to Kansas City to visit with Johnny & family. We stopped at the city campground in Ellis, KS for the night.

The Beartooth Highway

The more & more we thought about driving the Interstate Hwys, the less we liked the idea. Instead, we decided to go south from Columbus and take the Beartooth Highway. Years ago, Charles Kurault wrote i his book Travels With Charlie, that he thought the Beartooth Hwy was the most beautiful drive in America. He'd get no disagreement from us. The road, Hwy 212, is narrow & full of sharp turns but what a view. The elevation at the summit of the road was 10,947'. The temperature at the summit was 44* with a very strong wind. Next time we're out this way we're going to drive it again. This time, stopping at the FS campgrounds in the area.
After the Beartooth, we drove the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway to Cody, WY. Another amazing drive. A lot of the road followed the Clark's Fork River.
It was almost 80* when we finally stopped for the night near Thermopolis,WY. We're camping in a WY Fishing Access Area.
We have about 8 more driving hours to Suzanne's house.

Southern MT on the way home, September,2010

We drove the scenic route, Hwy 89, all the way south to I-90 near Livingston.
We stopped in Choteau for the night. There was a sign announcing the Teton Antique Steam & Gas Threshing Association 27th Annual show. In the morning I walked over. Very interesting. I talked to a local farmer who showed me a tractor like he drove as a kid during WW-2. All the men were off to the war. He drove the tractor even though he could barely see over the steering wheel. The women & kids ran the farms.
In the morning we continued on. Stopped in Fairfield, the Malted Barley capitol of the US. We had lunch in Great Falls at a very good bar-b-que place then continued south on 89. Stayed the night at a very nice National Forest campground; Jumping Creek. Had the place to ourself. Just us, the deer and a small creek. There was a very informative sign about the difficulty of getting timber from this area to the mills in Great Falls.
On Sunday, we drove south to Interstate-90 near Livingston. We're back on the boring Interstates for the majority of the trip home.
In Columbus, Mt we stayed at the Itch Ke Pe City Park. It's free camping right on the Yellowstone River.
Today is the first warm day we've had in quite some time; it's 71*. In the picture of Carol in bed, she has on a long sleeved shirt, sweat pants, a heavy sweat shirt, a sheet and then three blankets doubled over!! That's like sleeping under six blankets. It does get cold inside the camper at night. The outside temp. in the morning has been from 39* to 45*. Inside it's in the mid-50's by morning. When I get up, I turn on the propane heater to warm it up for Carol.