Day 4
After a very restful night at the Country Inn & Suites in Billing, Montana (really comfy pillows), we packed up the truck and noticed that the liquor store next to the hotel was already open…the liquor stores in Billings open at 8AM (nothing like getting an early start ). We got on the I-90 at 8:35 AM after a short detour to the grocery store to pick up a veggie salad for lunch (took cheese from the breakfast bar to go with our leftover turkey meat).
Before the trip, we bought a plug-in cooler from Costco because we thought it would be best for storing my medication while travelling ….well, Day 4 into the trip and it has died! Good thing ice is plentiful. Costco will be getting a return when we get home
Just something we noticed – Montana has numerous herds of cows grazing, sleeping, and wandering on the vast grass-covered rolling hills. So, we were surprised with seeing so much livestock that we saw so few steakhouses ..
Just outside of Billings, the mountains came into view at a distance. It was the first indication that the drive was going to be filled with beautiful landscapes and we were not disappointed. We passed Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, but didnt stop….. not on the agenda for this trip… we definitely need to return to this area and explore it more. We drove through the mountain areas up steep grades, then winding down . then doing it all over again. The rock formations were spectacular huge multi-coloured, boulders overlooking the highway that cut through. Todd had a hard time maintaining his lane as we gawked at the scenery .
After seeing numerous cattle on the ranges, we spotted an area with plenty of sheep grazing. We also saw a few deer wandering the countryside (also saw a few on the side of the road).
The I-90 had long stretches where a river meandered beside the interstate with the picturesque mountains in the background, reminded us of the Sacred Valley in Peru (wonderful memories from 2007). The rivers in Montana are so clean and clear. We saw numerous areas with people fishing, tubing, kayaking, rafting, and swimming it looked so peaceful and relaxing ..
At one of the last Rest Stops in Montana, we talked with a guy from Florida (he commented that we knew how to travel right….we stopped for a glass of wine .). He was saying how pissed off he was earlier in the day he drives a yellow Corvette and got rear-ended by a guy driving a motorhome ….turns out the guy who hit him was also from Florida and lives about 60 miles away form his home. He couldnt believe that he is travelling in Montana, only to get hit from someone from his home state of Florida !
When we entered the state of Idaho, the time changed to Mtn. time (now a 3hr. change from home), and the scenery was SO amazing, that Todd cut off the road (rather quickly) to a look-out point to snap away .
We arrived at the Hampton in Spokane just after 4:30 MST. Tomorrow will be a short driving day only about 5.5 hrs.