Big Sky Country

Welcome Big Sky Country….I had no idea what exactly this meant but I sure do now. Our first stop in MT was Reed Point. At first glance it appears to be a ghost town as most building are old and closed. The closer I looked at the demographics of town I realized the population of about 350 people lived in the surroundings of the city. I don’t know the story behind everything being closed but it sure was a quaint town close to the Yellowstone river. When darkness set in, no city lights to speak of, with at least a bazillion stars out, it became very evident of why they call it Big Sky country! The stars appeared so close I felt like I could reach up into the sky and touch them. What this town lacked in amenities it offered so much more in beauty and charm. It amazes me how these little western old towns can offer things that todays suburban cities can’t hold a candle to. Talking about getting back to basics…

                                                                                                                   A                                                 A sample of downtown Reed Point MT                                                                         

                                                  This sign is seen frequently throughout town

                                             Baxter’s 1st introduction to the Yellowstone river

Old mill across from the railroad tracks.

                                                              A very artistic someone

                                               The old city bank converted into a home or apts.

At this point in our journey we re-evaluated our plans for future travels. It was our intention to go to Glacier, then down to Yellowstone and then back up to Coeur d'Alene ID (which in itself was 8 hr drive one way). Rob drives the entire time…he says he enjoys it, and I don’t argue that. So I need to be considerate of the plans I make. Our “black tank” issue is still there and now we have another issue to deal with. The quick release connector to our car air hose  braking system came loose and is now half the size it originally was cause it was dragging on the ground. We expedited one to be sent to our next campground but it was the wrong one. This influenced our decision to not go to Glacier or ID.

On Sunday we checked into our campground in Ennis, MT. The first thing I did was reorder the right connector and have it delivered to us by Sat. This would give us time to work on the black tank (ugh, still!) and explore while here. The campground was very accommodating, had everything we needed, lots of places to walk, large sites and beautiful scenery.

We got a very pleasant surprise while in Ennis. We got a text from  dear friends, Jan and Don McKinney. It turns out they were about 40 miles north of us and were coming to see us for the day. Oh my gosh. That was such awesome news. We hadn’t seem them since last winter. They are on a 90+ day trip visiting many of the NP and Monuments and happened “to be in the neighborhood “!  Besides talking and catching up, we went to town for lunch and camp back to camp. God Bless Don, he got hooked into the “black tank” problem. Just how he wanted to spend the rest of the day. What a guy! They headed back to their campground to continue their adventures and we all hope to get together this winter. Moments like this are priceless.

We like to partake of the local cuisine when we can so we visited downtown Ennis. There aren’t too many places I feel like I could live but this was one of them, except for winter. No big box stores or chain restaurants but it had everything we needed. People were extremely friendly and willing to talk or help out, if needed. There were metal statues all through town that supported the towns interests.  Sure makes good conversation. Another big plus is the Lions Club Park/ Rest area. It has a couple miles of trails, a fishing pond for under 12, ball diamonds, a playground and is on the Madison river. This was a great place to walk Baxter daily.

                                                 These were across from our campground 

                                                     The 12 under fishing lake at Lions Park

                                                               View from our campsite.

                                                             This relics is at the aLions Pak

                                           One of the many fish statues along the Madison river

                                                A downtown as semblance of the city foundations

Update on blank tank! I was more than ready to make a phone call and write a  check. Rob has worked on this problem just about every day (with many good intentions from neighbors). We found a mobile service that was able to come out. Whoohoo. The owners had been in a very serious car accident (3 months in the hospital) and that day was his first day back to work. After about 1 1/2 hours later and $$$ missing in the checking account, things were flowing downhill again. I couldn’t thank the service man enough.

It was a great week, lots of exploring, and our part came but not until Monday morning. Luckily, we were able to extend. UPS came, Rob put the new part on and we were outta there by noon with anticipation of yet more new places to seek out. We feel very blessed to be able to live this live style and see so many new places, become acquainted with new friends and choose our next destination. Whatever choices you make I hope it involves new adventures and gives you a feeling of freedom and happiness. Remember to be kind, love those near and dear to you and don’t forget to look up, it’s amazing out there.