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Day 10 – Helena to West Glacier

Today I pulled out of Helena Montana en route to West glacier.  

I opted to change My travel route because you can’t have dogs in some of the monuments that I wanted to see in East Wyoming.  I really wanted to see Devils Tower and do some hiking. Not to be. I love my dog! This site visit will be for another road trip.  😎

One thing that is pretty intimidating is the driving on the roads here in Montana. The roads are severely damaged by the harsh weather. There are giant potholes and the lanes are damaged by all weather tires leaving deep ruts.

The speed limit for vehicles is 70-75 miles an hour and trucks 65 to 70 miles an hour in most places.  

Pulling a camp trailer camp trailer is definitely not safe at 75 mph!  

Needless to say I spent a lot of time in the right lane Allowing cars and trucks to blow past me. Aside from that, Montana is wonderful!

I headed south from Helena to my next location, West Yellowstone. 

Beautiful rolling hills, and large family are ranches were the views on my drive. You can’t help thinking about the movie dances with wolves, legends of the fall, etc.. I wonder what it is like to live here? It was really beautiful. Definitely hard working family values. 

I crossed over the Missouri River. That was really mine blowing for me since I have actually run along the Missouri river in Kansas.  

I’m sure you’re asking what I was doing in Kansas and Missouri. Well my beautiful daughter played club softball and we traveled all over the country for her to play in large tournaments. One of the things I used to do while she and the team we’re warming up was to find interesting places to get my exercise in.

Looking at the map, the Missouri River actually runs from Montana east and south.   I attached a map for reference.

Missouri River Map

The highway I was on actually followed the the Lewis and Clark Route.  I saw a sign for The Lewis and Clark Caverns as I was driving.  I thought this would be a great place to stop for lunch.  I ventured off route about 6 miles.

I took the time and walked through the visitor center and took a short hike. Zeus Is not a desert dog, as he does not know not to step on cacti. Don’t worry, he’s all right.  He didn’t get any prickly’s in his paws.  We didn’t make it Far, only a couple miles, as it was 90° out.  

Zeus and I continued south passing several quaint little towns. Ennis Montana looked really cute. It reminded me a lot of sisters, Oregon.  I would’ve stopped but it was really packed with lots of people. 

 I managed to get checked into the KOA in West Glacier.  The accommodations here are great. The camping sites are comfortable, plus there’s a store, a small restaurant, and a coffee hut.  Even a pool , playground, and cabins. Lots of things to do here actually in the campground.

After we got settled in, we took off for the entrance to the national park around 4 o’clock. It was perfect there was no lines to get into the national park. 

I was able to pull over and stop whenever I wanted.  There were no traffic jams or vehicles preventing me from getting in and out.

 The sunset was beautiful and I saw a few animals. Several elk were out and feeding.  

I decided to stay another night here to explore the national park more.  Plus it saves me from having to pack drive and unpack again somewhere else. 

Overall I’m pretty comfortable now with getting the trailer all hooked up driving and unhooking it.  

2 responses to “Day 10 – Helena to West Glacier”

  1. Emilia Avatar
    Emilia

    Looks amazing!!!!!

    1. olivia_smith1 Avatar
      olivia_smith1

      It was!!I found a perfect place for you to camp with the kids and visit the park!!!