The Montana Loop – 2 KOA’s

25 06 2021

Livingston KOA Site Map

We’re parked at site #39 at the Livingston (Montana) KOA.  We’re here for an impromptu family reunion, with other family members in site #38, Cabins K13 & K21.  We also have other family members at two private AirBnB type residences.  Our sites are part of brand new upgraded deluxe patio sites.  #38, 39 & 41 will provide 3 sites, each with a large patio, a firepit and very nice patio furniture.  These 3 sites share a common area between them, thus making them perfect for groups traveling together.  The “outside” sites, #37, 40 & 41 would make great overflow sites for a larger group.  Or, since configured back-to-back, allow plenty of privacy if not part of the group.  The only down side to these new sites is a lack of shade.  All of the large trees were removed to make room for these 6 sites.  Other very nice sites are along the river, #58-#61 and these offer better shade.  Overall the park is in great shape, the staff is friendly and attentive.  We’d come back!

The 5 days in southern Montana are busy and a bit of a blur.  Some of the group spends time touring Yellowstone.  Others hit the golf links, some go horse back riding and some of us tour around Gardiner, the northern entrance to Yellowstone.  Needless to say, at the end of June, the area is very busy with RV and other Yellowstone visitors. We also spend an afternoon at the OTO Dude Ranch near Gardiner.

Sheridan KOA Site Map

After our stay in Livingston, we’re headed to Sheridan, WY and yet another KOA.  We’re parked in site #A25, on the far south side of the park.  Sites A21-A26 are tight, both in terms of nearby trees and actual site width.  Even though this is pull through site, trees at both ends make entry difficult.  We’re advised we should probably plan to back-in.  And, these sites are the closest to I-90, a very busy trucking corridor running from Seattle on the west to Boston on the east.

However, we’re happy to have this site.  Due to a big veterans rally in Sheridan, everything is sold out.  We initially were reserved for a dry-camping, “overflow” site in the tent section.  Fortunately with a cancellation we ended up grabbing this full hookup site.  With temps pushing triple digits, it’s great to have both AC’s running which helps drown out the traffic noise.

After a quick overnight in Livingston, we’re headed to Cheyenne, WY.  More from there…


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The Montana Loop – Across Wyoming

18 06 2021

After departing Yampa River SP, we head almost directly north to our first stop for 1 night at Western Hills RV in Rawlins, WY.  The park is well laid out, mostly gravel, with nice facilities and a pleasant and accommodating staff.  They moved my reservation when I apparently selected the wrong day on their reservation system with no “change” fees.  However, we ended up in an “electric only” site.  Water is $3 and dump is $3 for these sites. WiFi (from site #60) runs along at nearly 30Mb down and 6Mb up.

While in Rawlins we selected the #1 Mexican Food restaurant according to Yelp, Rose’s Lariat.  A true diner, Rose’s offers great food at reasonable prices.

Western Hills RV, Rawlins, WY

From Rawlins we’re headed to Thermopolis and the Eagle RV Park.  It’s a beautiful drive through the Wind River Canyon before arriving here.  We’re parked in site #13, a very shady and large end site.  We last visited Eagle RV back in 2013 and had a wonderful stay.  We’re happy to report the staff and services are still great.  We’d come back!

Eagle RV, Cody, WY Site #13

After 2 nights in Thermopolis, we’re off to Absaroka Bay RV in Cody, WY.  We tried to get into Buffalo Bill State Park – but evidently sites here are very busy due to it’s location next to Yellowstone.  Absaroka Bay is well maintained, but wow – the sites are tight!  Not just side to side, but also front to back.  With nearly all pull-throughs, the narrow roadways mean parking tow vehicles across the front of the sites which can present an arrival or departure challenge.  During our 2 night stay in Cody, we explored Buffalo Bill SP and enjoyed fine beers and food at Pat O’Hara Brewing Company.

Absaroka Bay RV in Cody, WY

Buffalo Bill State Park Site #4

 

From here, we’re headed to Livingston, MT for 5 nights – more from Montana!


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The Montana Loop – Yampa River SP

13 06 2021

From Carbondale we’re headed to Yampa River State Park near Hayden, CO.  Similar to the Carbondale KOA, this campground occupies a green cottonwood grove along the Yampa River and highway 40.  This main campground is one of 13 public access locations managed by the State Park system stretching between Hayden and the Dinosaur National Monument​ near the Utah border.

We’re parked at site #29, a long back-in site that offers no shade except for a covered picnic table.  With temperatures pushing up toward 100, we’re thankful for the 50A service on this site.  Water is available at the dump station and scattered throughout the campsite.

Few of the sites offer much in the way of shade, but all are well spaced, and large enough for even the largest rigs.  We’d return to Yampa River again.


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The Montana Loop – Carbondale/Crystal River KOA

11 06 2021

We’re parked in the KOA campground near Carbondale, CO along the beautiful Crystal River.  This park occupies a green oasis between Carbondale and historic Redstone along highway 133.  Along with friends, we’re in sites #12 & 13, in an awning to awning configuration.  These premium sites offer 50A electric service, water, and cement pads along with metal tables and chairs.

This location is a bit too far out of Carbondale for much on the cellular network, and unfortunately the campground WiFi is finicky at best.  But, it’s a fun area to explore – we’d probably come back.

Carbondale KOA Patio River Front Deluxe Site

Carbondale KOA Site Map


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The Montana Loop – Salida, CO

10 06 2021

We’ve combined two trips, one with friends in Carbondale, CO and a second for a family reunion in Livingston, MT.  This “loop” will take us north through western Colorado and Wyoming, followed by a return along the front range on I-25.

Our first night is in Salida, CO at Wilderness Expedition/Riverside RV Park.  We could concur that this is an “interesting” place as other reviewers have noted.  Our first encounter is:

“You’re going into site #4?…oh wow, that’s going to be tight!”

To which I respond with – “your website says that site can handle a 45 foot trailer, I’m 35 foot. “

“OK, well, you can try it – but I also have pull-throughs if you want one”

After circling the campground, the “backing assistant” takes over with his directions, the first of which puts a tree limb up against the side of the trailer.  He insists that we continue forward, pushing the limb tighter.  When I take over, and reverse course to get further away from the tree, he exclaims “OK guys…it’s all yours, Good Luck” and walks away.  Probably for the best.  We get repositioned, and make the back-in to site #4 in one attempt. Of course, all the time with an audience of 4 or 5 people standing around the check-in picnic table.

Riverside RV, Salida, CO site #4

As far as facilities – site #4 is 30Amp, without a circuit breaker.  The water pressure is adequate.  None of the sites offer sewer, longer stays allow the use of a “honey wagon”.  The park WiFi, provided by Spectrum Internet, runs along about 3Mb, but appears to have ports blocked that prohibit the most popular streaming apps.  Hulu and Netflix failed while 9News and Amazon Prime worked OK.  The site itself is adequate for a 35’ trailer, but parking the tow vehicle was a challenge.  And, we had to trim a few tree limbs before we could extend the dining room slide.  All in all, this park is OK, it provides a convenient location for services in Salida, and given a better site selection, we might stay here again.


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The Next RV – Montana or Solitude?

10 01 2020

After lots of website browsing and several trips to local RV dealers, we’ve narrowed “next-RV” choices down to the Solitude 310GK and the Montana 3120RL.  Both fifth wheels are about 35 feet long and feature a nearly identical floor plan.  There’s a Solitude in stock at Cousin’s RV in Colorado Springs, the dealership we’d most like to work with.  And, there’s a Montana in stock at Windish in Fountain, CO (but without the newest decor option)

Grand Design is known for excellent build quality and their great customer service.  On the other hand, Keystone’s Montana is the #1 RV sold in America.  In 2020, Montana introduced their Modern Maple Edition, which adds two street side windows, dual window shades, back-lit crown molding and other unique lighting options. While both companies have introduced lighter interior decors, we believe Montana has done a more complete job with changes to wall coverings, oak plank-like flooring,  wood trim, back splash tile and hand stained cabinetry. There are also a few technical options we like such as slide selectors, suspension upgrades and a higher cargo capacity.

With RV shows beginning in January, we’re worried that production issues might preclude an early February departure on the Spring Road trip.  Fortunately, Windish found an “un-allocated” unit available prior to the holiday factory shut-down.  Rolling off the line in mid-December, our new fifth wheel was delivered to the dealership the day after Christmas.  On January 2nd we took delivery and then spent 5 nights at Cheyenne Mountain State Park on a “shake-down” trip.

Currently we’re planning to depart for New Mexico and Arizona around the 8th of February – more after we hit the road…

 


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Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park

12 09 2015
Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park

Arriving without reservations, we find only a single electric site available for 2 nights at the Lewis and Clark Caverns campground – a state park campground in south central Montana.  Set in a meadow with a few trees, only 9 of the 40 sites offer power connections.  We snag electric site P4, a pull-through site along the outside edge, and D4, a nearby site without power.  Each site also provide a picnic table and fire pit.  There is a threaded fresh water fill and dump station.  Electric sites are $34/night including the state parks nightly fee.

Of course, the attraction here are the Lewis and Clark Caverns, never actually visited by Lewis or Clark.  But, for a $12 fee, you can hike up the ¾ mile trek to the cave entrance and enjoy the history, facts and a few jokes about this beautiful underworld.  In addition to the tour, the cool 50 degrees inside the cave is a welcome relief to the hot temperatures hovering in the low 90’s outside.   The Canada Road Trip is about to come to an end as we spend one of our last nights under the dark, starry skies of “Big Sky” country.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Sheridan, Wyoming, with a quick overnight at the Sheridan KOA before arriving back home in Colorado.  On Thursday we’re off to Taos, NM – more from there…

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park
Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park
Lewis & Clark Caverns
Lewis & Clark Caverns
Lewis & Clark Caverns
Lewis & Clark Caverns
Lewis & Clark Caverns

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Lolo Square Dance Center and Campground

10 09 2015
Lolo Square Dance Center Campground

Lolo Square Dance Center Campground

We’re back to Montana!  After enjoying the beautiful drive over Lolo Pass, we’re parked at the Square Dance Center just outside of Lolo, MT and about 10 miles south of Missoula, MT.  With about 60 sites scattered through a tall pine forest, most sites offer electric and water, those designed for long term use also provide sewer hookup.  Unique about this center is the large dance hall accommodating up to 30 “rounds” of dancers with custom maple flooring and a powerful sound system.  The free WiFi worked adequately, and T-Mobile service was available.  There’s also an 18 hole wiffleball golf course and waking trail encircling the campground.  Our sites also provided a cable connection with about 24 channels of TV.

Tomorrow we continue across Montana, with a planned stop at Lewis and Clark Caverns about half way in between Butte and Bozeman.  More from there…


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Categories : Canada 2015

Crossing the Canadian Border

30 08 2015
Gull Lake, SK City Campground

Gull Lake, SK City Campground

We’ve arrived in Canada! After leaving Malta, MT yesterday,  we continued north along Highway 191 to Morgan, MT.  Most of this highway is a rough gravel 2 lane road due to expansion work.  At the border, we’re greeted by a friendly border agent and asked for our passports.  A few brief questions, “where are you coming from?”, “where are you going to?”, “how long in Canada?”, “any liquor in the RV?”, “any firearms?” – etc. and we were on our way.  There was no inquiry of vehicle registration or insurance paperwork that we’d prepared for.  There is apparently no longer a concern for eggs or poultry products (although we had none) that might carry the avian influenza. And no mention of entering the RV.  A typical border crossing with professional and courteous agents.  “Welcome to Canada”

Warned of the bad condition of Canadan Highway 4 from both online resources and the border agent, we opt for a route over to Highway 37 which will take us directly into Gull Lake.  The short portion of highway 18 is in bad shape – truck bouncing and cupboard rearranging rough.  But once we turn north on Highway 37, the roadway is smooth and we make good time into Gull Lake.

This tiny, sleepy town is just south of the Trans-Canadian Highway. We’re parked at the city RV campground with 26 electric/water sites and 26 non-electric tent sites organized around a small loop  The RV sites are back-in sites in the center.  If the park was full, you’d be looking into the rear window of a camper behind.  But, we’re 2 of only 5 trailers plus a couple tent campers that will be spending the night.  Self service check-in requires $25/site.  For Canadian currency there’s an ATM at the Credit Union on Conrad Ave.  This fee provides water and 15/30 Amp electric as well as a clean shower house.  There’s no over-the-air TV available in Gull Lake, but the cellular coverage by TELUS is a full 4G signal.  With our new “10 Gigs 4 All” T-Mobile data plan, we tether our laptops to our phones for amazingly fast internet access.

We’ll join the Trans-Canadian Highway today and travel west toward Calgary and Banff.  Along the way we’ll stop at Kinbrook Island Provincial Park– more from there.

USA/Canada Border
Gull Lake, SK City Campground
Gull Lake, SK City Campground
Gull Lake, Dump $5 (non-campers)
Gull Lake, SK City Campground

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Billings and Malta, MT

29 08 2015

Good Morning from Northeastern Montana!

Riverside Motel & RV Park

Riverside Motel & RV Park

After departing from Billing yesterday, we made our way nearly directly north across eastern Montana. Expecting to be out on the flat plains, we enjoyed traveling through forested rolling hills that eventually gave way to grass and grain covered hills. Some very long distance views were unfortunately blocked by the haze of smoke from forest fires to the west.

Our stay in Billings was at the KOA, the first ever, the campground (or rather kampground) that started it all. Sites at the Billing KOA range from grassy tent sites along the Yellowstone river to concrete patio sites complete with fire pit, swing and unique landscaping. We’re located somewhere in between, in $50/night pull-through sites that feel a bit narrow and provide electric and water. Next time we’d like to check out the 5 or 6 back-in sites on the small pond. The well watered grass throughout the campground is nice, but unfortunately overwatering is leading to muddy puddles around some of the sites.

After the 200 mile trip north, were parked at the Riverside Motel, right along the Milk River in downtown Malta. This is a busy crossroads of Highway 2 stretching from Everett, WA; through Glacier National Park in the west to Williston, North Dakota and on to St. Ignace, MI in the east and Highway 191 which crosses into Canada about 50 miles north. The options for RV parking in Malta are here at the Riverside and across the street at the Edgewater Inn. These 18 sites back-up on lush grass to the city park. Over at the Edgewater, there are some pull-through sites, but not much grass – parking is mostly gravel with a few trees. We prefer the Riverside Motel, providing water, electric and sewer connections for $32.10/night. The motel has WiFi service that worked adequately for us. There’s also good Verizon service, but no T-Mobile service.  And, we were able to resupply a few items from a local Albertson’s.

Originally expanded from “rail siding #54” of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway, Malta still straddles this busy rail line. Running from Chicago to Seattle & Portland, the line has high speed freight trains passing through town and a daily “Empire Builder” Amtrak service. This is the busiest long-distance Amtrak route, carrying more the 500,000 passengers each year. Both RV parks are within sight of the train tracks, providing a gentle shaking and roar as the trains pass through town. If you’re a light sleeper, you’ll need background A/C or a noise muffling fan.

Today we’ll make the short trip north to the Canadian border – more from Saskatchewan.


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