Rocky Mountain Country

View of Freemont Lake along the Elkhart Park drive 

The heat wave that was supposed to send temperatures here soaring into the 90's never made it. Mark is washing the coach in sixty degree temperatures. The sun is shining. The breeze is almost constant. We're in Rocky Mountain country. 

Garrison, Montana, is on the prairie among the foothills of the Rockies-- elevation a little over 4,000 feet. It's a beautiful part of the country, and in the summer the days are warm and the nights are cool. We've had to run the heat just about every night we've been here. 

Tomorrow we head north to Spokane, Washington, where live two of my children and their families.

We took two scenic drives during our two weeks in the Rockies-- one in Wyoming and one here in Montana. The best of the two was Wyoming, hands down. But you know what they say-- it's all about location. At Wind River, we were much closer to the snow-capped ranges. Here in Garrison, the peaks were too far away to see from all but a few spots-- and those from a distance that made for unremarkable photos.

From Boulder, Wyoming, we drove up to Pinedale and then took a scenic road to a place called Elkhart Park from which an amazing view of the Wind River Range can be seen. The drive parallels the long and narrow Fremont Lake. 

Lake Fremont

Elkhart Park - the end of the road

On the way back, we stopped in Pinedale at a delightful ice cream shop (my greatest weakness!) called Sweet Creams. All but one of their ice creams were organic and made from natural ingredients. The exception was a combination of taste and bright colors designed to appeal to children. Their "small" cup was about a pint. I asked for the "child's cup" which was about half that. It was delicious! There was one non-dairy offering that Mark enjoyed-- a fruit sorbet.

After a week in Wind River, we headed for our next campground-- Riverfront RV Park in Garrison, Montana. This park is very convenient to get to, right off US-12 and very near I-90. It's a beautiful and well kept park, and reasonably priced at $30 a night for full 50 amp hookups. No fancy amenities like pool or hot tub, but a pleasant and social place. The owners and workers are helpful and attentive. We were especially pleased to learn that the park has a chapel and regular Sunday services, which we attended. It's always a joy to gather with other believers to worship, especially in a smaller setting. 

We're enjoying our slower pace. The only difficulty we seem to be having is finding available campgrounds. Our plan is settled all the way through our stop in Idaho, where we'll be after Spokane, and it was time - maybe past time - to sit down and begin to plan in earnest the next leg of our travel, from Idaho to Minnesota. 

The route plan we had originally made, through South Dakota, was completely demolished when we discovered that Hart Ranch, the RPI park where we usually stay had no availability. We were kicking ourselves for waiting as long as we did. We should have booked it a month ago. It was a great disappointment. As we searched for an affordable alternative, it became apparent that we were not going to find anything along that route. 

So we decided to change the plan entirely and see what we could find through Wyoming and Nebraska. There are a surprising number of city parks with affordable campgrounds in these states, and also in Iowa. The only problem is none of them take reservations. Availability is first-come-first-served. Our hope is that if we show up during the week, we'll have a better chance of finding a spot. In any case, that part of our journey is more than a month away. As our Lord reminded us, "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:34)

And today, praise be to God, we have no troubles. All is well. 

I hope the same applies to you! Safe travels, and God bless!

Picture Gallery...

Fremont Peak, the highest in this group
of the Wind River Range

Elkhart Park viewpoint

On our way to Garrison

On our way to Garrison

On our way to Garrison

One of our rest area stops between Boulder and Garrison

I found this interesting. There was an osprey
nest on a platform at the Wind River RV Park.
At the time we thought it was an eagle nest,
since it was so large, but the birds were too 
small to be eagles. Mystery solved.

Rest area stop

The osprey in flight

On the road

Rain heading into Wind River RV Park. We arrived during
a break in it, however, and Mark was able to set everything
up before it hit.

The closest we got to the mountain range on our drive
in Garrison.