Missoula, Montana to Chelan Falls, Washington

 After a delicious blueberry and beer waffle breakfast cooked by Rick, we left the mountains of Missoula and headed across the prairie stopping in Davenport for a picnic lunch. We have run right into the heatwave in the Pacific Northwest with a high of 111 when we stopped at Beebee Bridge Park on the Columbia River and plugged in the air conditioner after parking in the shade. We headed up the mountain to Chelan and wandered around Lake Chelan to Lake Chelan Winery. We each had a complimentary wine tasting of five reds in their cool tasting room and then purchased two bottles and headed to the barbeque patio alongside the vineyard for the best ribs, cornbread, and mac and cheese. The misters kept us relatively cool in the shade to enjoy our bottle of wine and tall glasses of ice water. We jumped in the shower to cool off and headed into the cool camper. Tomorrow we are headed to the Northern Cascades National Park in the mountains hoping to beat the heat. We are in the middle of wine country and cherry and apple orchards. 

Shady picnic lunch stop

B

shady campsite at Beebee Bridge Park

Lake Chelan Winery tasting room

Says it all and so true!

Heading back to winery barbeque

Gorgeous vineyard

Plentiful grapes

Picturesque location

Anaconda, Montana to Missoula, Montana

 We packed up and headed back past Georgetown Lake and the Ski Area to the same breakfast place before heading towards Missoula. We drove through the historic mining town of Phillipsburg and delighted in the old storefronts. Along the way, cowboys herded cattle down the road in front of us. A real scene from the old West. We parked for the night at the home of our cruising friends from S/V Euphoria, Carla and Rick. After enjoying the view from the back deck we headed to lunch on the outdoor patio at Iron Horse Bar and Grill and then for a drive to Stevensville to check out the Wildside Brewery which had been our plan for our harvest host stay which we canceled. We topped off the afternoon with a stop at Bitterroot Brewery for a pleasant cold brew along the river watching the rafts drift by. We finished off the day with grilling out on the back patio. A great day reconnecting with friends.

Georgetown Lake

Roundup on the road

home on Grant Creek Road

Gorgeous backyard deck and patio

closed Wildside Brewery in Stevensville

Bitterroot Brewery on the river

Stunning view from the brewery

A great looking ride down the river

Missoula surrounded by mountains

Billings, Montana to Anaconda, Montana

 We had a quiet night at Yellowstone River Cellars and Winery and headed to Pelican Cafe, an old railside diner for breakfast. We took the interstate across the plains with miles of cattle ranches until the mountains popped up in the distance. We stopped in Anaconda at the Smelter City Brewery and enjoyed the best guacamole and chips from the Anaconda Taco Food Truck on their patio. We then walked over to the Washoe Park and toured the Visitor Center at the Trout Hatchery. We had a short drive to Springhill Campground in Beaverhead-Deelodge National Forest. The campsite under the tall lodgepole pines was spacious with our own resident chipmunks and gophers.

The view from our booth at the railside diner

Landmark Washoe Theatre in Anaconda

City park

Smelter City Brewery

Inside brewery

Great outdoor patio

Brewery gift shop in the old bank building vault

Wondering through Washoe Park

Viewing tank at the fish hatchery

Interesting trout story

Great architecture being restored by park service

The public library in a historical building

Veteran's Park

Our campsite at Springhill Park in National Forest

We had a restful sleep and slept in so that the diner down the road that the camp host told us about last evening would be open.  We enjoyed another great country breakfast across from Georgetown Lake and down from the ski resort. We drove four miles on a narrow dirt road to get to the trailhead to Twin Lakes. We had to pull over to pass and ended up stopping sooner than the trailhead when we found a place to park. We hiked ten miles only passing four other hiking groups and then headed back into town for another Smelter City Brew.

We located the cafe by the rooster out front

We hiked the road to the trailhead

Finally found the trailhead

Big sky Montana and snow-capped mountains

Purple blooms

Precarious rocks

Downhill view

The first Twin Lake

Crossing the creek

Tall lodge pole pines

Abundant blooms

Gorgeous scenery on the entire trail

Medora, North Dakota to Billings, Montana

 We ended up hiking twelve miles yesterday including walking into Medora after doing laundry for the best pizza ever. We waited to pack up this morning with breakfast planned at the Palace Hotel and Restaurant in Wibaux, the gateway to Montana, fixed back in the time of saloons and cowboys. We drove into Billings and did our shopping and then headed to our Harvest Host of Yellowstone River Cellars and Winery. The wine tastings were free and we worked our way through all the blended reds all from Washington state grapes then made into wine here. We enjoyed the chicken and artichoke flatbread over a bottle of Petite Shirah. We enjoyed talking to another couple from Texas with a new trailer like ours but the little guy version.

Palace Restaurant with the best breakfast

Our Harvest Host in Billings

Great collection of Washington state red wines and blends

Wonderful relaxed venue with flatbread pizzas

Cheers

Our campsite next door to wine cellar

Custer, South Dakota to Medora, North Dakota

 We got an early start driving to Deadwood for breakfast. We found an old gas station turned into a coffee shop in the historic section of town. Our route took us by Spearfish Canyon and then across the grasslands with cattle grazing and then past the towns of Buffalo and Bison with bison herds grazing along the road. We stopped at Painted Canyon Visitor Center in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park for a picnic lunch.  The Medora Campground is within walking distance of the town of Medora and the entrance to the National Park. We strolled the town visiting a saloon with a bar on a second-story balcony and toured the Harold Schafer Heritage Center and old General Store by De Mores Memorial Park, the old photography studio, and the Chateau Nuts store for dark chocolate-covered cherries and blueberries. We dodged the sudden rain showers off and on all day.

Oldey Goldey decorated coffee shop

Historic Deadwood

Picnic shelter at the visitor center to shelter us from the roaring winds

The Painted Canyon and stormy sky

Beautiful colored rocks

Jacket time at the overlook at Painted Canyon

dusty Medora Campground at foot of the bluff

Camping right next to the National Park

Campground next to Chimney Park Picnic area

The teddy bear store

Saloon

Park and old General Store

We stood in line as the breakfast place opened in Medora and we got served first and were on our way into the  south unit of the National Park by 7:30 am.  We stopped at the Medora Overlook, Skyline Vista, and then rode through the Cottonwood picnic area and campground. We hiked the Jones Creek trail to the first fording of the creek and then came back and hiked the Civilian Conservation Trail that led to Peaceful Valley Ranch. We passed the bison herd and prairie dog town and hiked the Wind Canyon Trail.  We hiked out from the Boicourt Overlook and did the Buck Hill Trail and Coal Vein Trail before our final hike to the Old East Entrance Station. The Scenic Loop Trail was closed so that we had to backtrack to the entrance. We s stopped at the Visitor Center on our way out and watched the film and viewed the exhibits and realized we have to take an outside road to get to the petrified forest that we will do tomorrow before heading to the north unit.

Boot birdhouses

Around town

Rabbit hopping down the street to breakfast

Jones Creek Trailhead

Not much water flowing the creek

Civilian Conservation Corp trailhead

Downed trees

Peaceful Valley Ranch

Winds blew my hat off on Wind Canyon Trail

Amazing windswept rocks

Beautiful blooms

Climbing to the top for the best view

The muddy Little Missouri River

Overlook trails to stunning vistas

Unbelievable views

One of several herds of wild horses

Up a gravel road to Buck Hill

The wind continued to blow on the hilltops

Lush views

Rare blooming flowers

A coal vein fire that burned for years

The fire turned the rock into terra cotta

Bright colored flower 

The twisted trunk of the juniper tree

A bright spot in the landscape

The best hike across prairie dog town to the old entrance  

Bison close to the hiking trail

Caught the prairie dog popping out of his hole

Everywhere we looked

Beautiful construction of the first park entrance

Superb stonework

Wild horses

We got up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise and head to the petrified forest trail that was outside the loop before heading to the north unit of the National Park 68 miles away. A bison blocked the trail as he was rubbing his neck against a petrified tree. Finally, he moseyed along and we explored the forest. We then headed back to Medora for another excellent breakfast before driving to the north unit of the national park. We stopped at the Cannonball Concretions pullout and then toured the Juniper campground and picnic area.  We stopped at the Caprock Coulee Nature Trailhead to do the 4.1 trail by the River Bend Overlook. We followed the scenic drive to the Oxbox Overlook before retracing our path back to the Little Mo Nature Trail. It was another great day of spectacular scenery seeing bison up close on the trail.

Bundled up with our coffee for petrified forest  trail

Bison blocking our trail

Petrified trees

Beautiful sandstone

River view overlook

Civilian Conservation Corp overlook

Bison in the road

Warship rock structure

Piping formations

Colorful flowers

Striations in the hillside