Part 3 of Maiden Voyage…SW Montana

June 25…You live someplace for 20 years and there is so much that you never go to see.  That is how it is with Montana.  We did the Glacier NP, Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman), Kalispell/Whitefish, Capital (Helena), West Yellowstone and areas around and between them but never the off the beaten path places.

I had always wanted to visit the ghost towns.  As I left Great Falls I planned to go to Virginia City but as I drove down the freeway I decided to stay on the west side of the interstate so Bannack State Park would be my ghost town for this trip.  It was too far to go in one day and tour the place so I pulled out my Good Sam’s guide and looked for a place around Dillon.  I had originally picked Sportsman Lodge as a stopping point when playing with Trip Wizard planning this trip so I called them and they had one space available.

Along the way I had a 15-minute construction wait.  Turned off Simon and cruised the emails and texts and noticed there on oncoming vehicles, strange.  Then the light turned green and we moved across the median to become two lanes.  A little way down I saw the construction.  A rock slide taking out most of the hill and covering the south bound side.  Huge cranes were there to lift car size boulders.  It seemed that they stop all work when vehicles are passing by.  Work a half hour, rest a half hour maybe.

When I got to Melrose MT and Sportsman I tried to back into the spot (RV9), which is the last one on the row, and had trouble.  With a fence, another RV and storage shed along with trees in the area I was stumped as to how to make it in.  Tony (of Tony and ??? the owners) came out and guided me in just in time for a wonderful thunderstorm. 

There was no reception at the site so I had to walk around the facility to find a signal but got to see Melrose in the process.  That is when the rain started.  A peaceful nights sleep there with rumbles in the background and I was up and ready to go on Tuesday.

Sunday, I woke up with a scratchy throat that I thought was from all the cottonwood in the air but it was now becoming a full blown cold…great!  On my way out of Great Falls I had stopped and purchased lots of precold medicines that you drink and chew (Airborne and Zycam) so it wouldn’t get worse.  No such luck.

Down I15 to Bannack State Park.  What an interesting place.  It was hot and dry.  Oscar and Tinkerbell did a good job of keeping up as I wandered from OLD building to OLD building on the wood sidewalk watching for “rattlers”.  I purchased a book that told what each of the buildings were.  What a glimpse at life in the first (only?) territorial capital of Montana.  Up on the hill you can see the gallows (not the original…long ago rotted away or torn down) where Henry Plummer, lawman, outlaw and the man who ordered them built, was hanged.

Not growing up in Montana I don’t have much insight into the history of the state but visiting this place and others to come has me wanting to read more about it…wonder where I can pick up an 8^th grade Montana history book?  (At least we had GA history in the 8^th grade or maybe they don’t teach history anymore.)

I didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked because the cats were in Simon and it was getting hotter.  So after a water and potty break we head up the dirt road back to modern day.  I had to back track to I15 to get to my next planned sight to see.  Turning west on I90 for a short drive I get off and head north on ….

What beautiful country I drove through.  Snow on the mountains, blue sky, fluffy clouds and gorgeous scenery.  I had no plans for the night other than I wanted to explore Philipsburg MT the next day but I couldn’t find any campgrounds listed near there.  I figured if I had to pull off on a BLM or Forest service road for the night Ok.  As I turned off the road into town I saw a couple of roadside signs that said RV parking but didn’t get an address or direction so I plowed ahead…I figured it’s a small town how hard can it be to find an RV park?  Well not so easy.  At the main street I turned to the left and started looking…too late I saw a sign “Pintler Peak RV Park, Self Service, $30  50amp”.  I went down the road until I found a parking lot big enough to pull off in and turned to head back.

Keeping a sharp eye out for the sign again I found a flat grassy area with three hookup sites.  The first one had a “reserved” sign but the other two were open.  I expertly (well in my mind) backed into #2.  It was around 4:30 by the time I was all set up.  The self-service was pulling an envelope out of one box completing a form tearing in half, putting half in the envelope with your money and depositing in the other box and placing the other half on your dash.  I went for a walk through the town leaving everyone else in the trailer.  What an interesting place.  One morning wasn’t going to be enough so when I got back to the trailer I self-served myself to a second night.

The occupant of #1 had arrived and I found out they were from Great Falls.  They come down several times a year for the theater and BBQ.  I had noticed posters for a theater group around town and in the visitor literature I had collected.  He was heading out to get BBQ and asked if I had tried it.  I said no but it sure made me hungry when I passed it and would have it the next day since I already had dinner plans (actually I had just eaten two scoops of homemade ice-cream, almond joy and double chocolate orange, soooo good).  I set up the 0 gravity chair and we sat out in the cool evening.  Our dogs played together then it was early to bed.

Early to rise also when you have a puppy.  As I came out and took them for a walk this was what I say next door.  I have to remember to take my camera with me everywhere since I almost missed them going back to get it.

After coffee and breakfast it was time to explore.  Oscar went with me and Tink stayed with the cats in the cool trailer.  First stop…sapphire hunting.  You buy a bag of rocks and look for gems.  After about an hour I walked away with three cuttable sapphires (2 carats each), some smaller ones and a small bright red garnet.  It was fun. 

Back to walking the streets.  I go in a couple of shops that I had checked out the day before then find a quaint little park with a porch swing just as my sisters call.  I sit there swinging while Oscar enjoys the cool grassy shade and talk to them for at least a half hour.  Then up the street to the post office where I purchase a card and mail off a letter (what’s that?), cross the street and go to the BBQ joint.  It was ok but nothing I’d drive 3 hours for.  I buy some gifts for son and DIL in Portland and finally get back to the campsite around 3. 

I meant to go back for more ice-cream but never made it.  Instead the dogs and I walked the opposite direction and head up behind the main street where the churches and houses were.  Oscar in his puppyness got under my feet and I stepped on one of his paws pretty solidly.  That put a stop to our walk and I almost had to carry him back.

Up the next morning, no deer this time, and back on the road to Rimrock for a few days.