Touring Big Sky Country: But I didn’t start out with that in mind

I woke this morning between 6:15-6:30 and got up to get ready to leave Yellowstone. I walked over to the window to check the conditions outside and it was SNOWING! I had heard they were expecting some rain showers, along with a cold front, but not snow. Glad I didn’t have to take down a tent this morning in the blowing snow. (And last night on my way to the hotel there were no tents at the KOA campground.) So, I showered, dressed and went down to have breakfast and contemplate what might await me on my drive today. After breakfast I returned to my room and checked the Montana DOT site for road conditions. So far US 191 from West Yellowstone to Bozeman was open and I-90 from Bozeman to Billings only showed one exit closed. I went out and scraped the snow off the windows. Fortunately last night when I gassed up the car I applied another coat of Rain-X to the front and back windows anticipating rain. It helped keep the snow from sticking and it came off easily. I returned to my room, packed all my things up and checked out saying goodbye to James Jackson the hotel manager thanking him for his hospitality and dealing with the internet issues. I got to the car and started off, a little before 8:30 am, the temp on the car showed 30F and the snow was blowing. I stopped in West Yellowstone where I had cell phone service and called the Honda dealer in Billings to arrange for an oil service that afternoon when I arrived, supposedly according to Samantha would be 12:30 pm or so.

Snow on the car: I already removed snow from the windows

Off I went up US-191 toward Bozeman, MT. The road was clear and along the way there were times of overcast and snow and/or rain and periods of sunshine. The temps stayed in the 30s until I reached Bozeman around 10 am where I made a stop and the temps were in the 40s. I then continued on through town to get to I-90. Bozeman seemed like a nice little town with a downtown area of neat brick buildings none over 4 stories I would guess. Mountains rose in the distance making a nice scene.

 On the road to Bozeman with snow

 Gallatin River along US-191

On the Road to Bozeman without snow 

Bozeman, MT

I reached the entrance to I-90 and had gone just a mile or so when there was a lighted sign above the interstate saying it was closed at mile post 340 due to flooding and to use an alternate route. My AAA maps didn’t show much of anything around MP-340 and only showed about 10 miles north or south of I-90. This was about 20 miles away so I continued on hoping there would be some alternate route information. When I reached MP-340 all traffic had to exit and take US-89 northbound. There were no signs indicating what the detour route should be. I tried calling AAA for route assistance but ran out of cell phone service before getting information. I asked Samantha for a detour route, but she wanted me to take a side road about a mile off I-90 and return to it, which was not going to work. So, I played follow-the-leader along with everyone else, caravanning up US-89. I figured the semis would know how to go. About 10 miles up the road was a sign for US-12 in about 20 miles. Based on my great navigational experience I knew that even numbered US highway and Interstates run east-west, so that if I took US-12 I could work my way east and perhaps pick up US-191 which I saw intersected I-90 about 45 miles up the road from where we had to get off I-90.

Detour Scenery on US-89

I reached the US-12 intersection and all the traffic was heading that way. I asked Samantha to find the intersection for US-12 and US-191 and she seemed to know where it was. Eventually we reached White Sulphur Springs and US-12 continued. At that point I asked Samantha to find Billings and she did, suggesting I continue on US-12 103 miles to MT-3, which I knew from my maps went to Billings from the north side. The next major town on US-12 was Harlowton, almost 50 miles away. I arrived at Harlowton around 12:30 and continued on US-12 even though a lot of traffic was turning on US-191 south toward Big Timber, which is on I-90. I drove on a couple of miles through town and stopped a Conoco station. While inside I overheard the store clerk say that US-12 was closed a few miles further down due to flooding and to get to Billings you needed to go back to US-191 and to Big Timber. I got back in the car and back tracked into town and took US-191 south along with everyone else: cars, trucks, RVs, campers, semis, etc. Traffic moved along at an uneven pace from 40-70 mph. Eventually I made it around some of the slower vehicles and continued on to Big Timber. There I re-entered I-90 east headed toward Billings. A few miles down the road the traffic had to merge to one lane to go through some water on the road for about 200 yards. After that it was clear sailing. So, to go 45 miles on the interstate I had to go almost 150 miles on three different roads. I must admit that the drive was very scenic and the sun shone a lot and there was some rain and freezing rain and the temps got up into the 50s at times when the sun was shining. I didn’t plan on tour of Big Sky Country when I left West Yellowstone this morning, but fate had another plan, so flexibility is the key. There was some nice scenery though. I also discovered that when you see rain falling in the distance it appears as a gray sheet falling from the sky, which I already knew. But freezing rain and probably snow when seen falling in the distance appears as a white sheet. I had never seen that before. Sometimes in the distance you cold see both in the same system of clouds.

Scenery along US-89

 Falling freezing rain on left, rain on right

Scenery along US-12

I arrived in Billings around 3:15 pm and drove to the Honda dealer. They changed the oil and filter along with the wiper blades that were starting to tear. My four hour drive had morphed into a seven hour scenic detour. After my car was done I drove over to a Kinkos to print some maps of an alternate route to Custer, SD if I-90 closes again between Billings and the Wyoming border, though it was open today with only one lane each way. It had been closed due to flooding the past several days. I had seen a billboard coming into Billings for a Cracker Barrel restaurant and Samantha located it and I drove over there for dinner, not having much of anything since breakfast. There I dined on Turkey, dressing, turnip greens, hash-brown casserole, cornbread and ice tea. I was tempted to have the blackberry cobbler with Blue Bell vanilla, but I was already pretty full and didn’t want to become another stuffed turkey. It was reassuring to see that you can bet Blue Bell all the way up to Montana.

On the I-90 toward Billings

After dinner a made my way over to the KOA campground around 5:30 pm and checked in to my one-room cabin for the night. At the office they had free maps of Montana, which would have been nice to have had this morning, but I made it OK anyway.  This will be the last “camping” experience of my trip. The weather the next several days in Custer/Mt. Rushmore and at the Badlands National Park is still unpredictable with rain and sun so I have decided to forego the tent for the rest of the journey. I could get a one-room cabin at the campgrounds, but the hotel rooms are only $10-15 a night more so I have opted for that. That and you don’t have to traipse a couple of hundred feet to the bathroom and shower, plus you get free breakfast. It’s a win-win for one who is starting to get a little road weary from the journey at this point.

Tomorrow I have a 6-7 hour drive to Custer, SD, barring any scenic detours that might arise. So, in the morning I will check the Montana and South Dakota DOTs for road conditions and select my route based on that information.

See you down the road!