Big Sky Country

July 24-28, 2019

Norris Hot Springs, Norris, Montana

Day 24-28

First, I really loved Montana! There’s no traffic and the scenery is breathtaking! There are about 1M people in Montana versus 40M in California. SF alone has almost 900,000.

It took about 3 hours with 2 stops to make it to Norris. Still hot, though it’s a little cooler than yesterday. At 7pm, its 82F. Beautiful country – less forest, more prairie. Rock mountains on one side, soft hills rolling green/brown hills on the other. Lots of cattle. Lots more clouds; a lot of grey clouds.

Driving into Norris Hot Springs itself was a little difficult, due to the steep dirt road. I played it safe by going down the road two miles and turning around and re-entering from the other direction. This place it cute!!! There are about 10 RV spots, a large vegetable garden, a hot spring and a really great pool side restaurant (unfortunately, not dog friendly).

I make a quick bite and we head off to Ennis Lake (Bureau of Land Management) to get some relief. This reservoir is the result of the Madison Dam. Found shore access to get our feet wet at Kobayashi Beach, down a dirt road. The lake is huge and mostly used for trout fishing and sport. They seem to have some sort of bacteria in the water, so it’s recommended you dry off immediately after swimming. How comforting? We only go into our knees, dry off then get back on the loop that goes about 20 miles around the lake.

At one point, the road was one narrow dirt lane, on a cliff. I almost thought of turning around, then thought…how? My navigation says the road goes thru, and I have 4-wheel drive. Plus, I'm on an adventure! Fortunately, that little scary stretch of road was only a few hundred feet then it opened up to a wide dirt road. This next stretch of driving is very pretty. There are ranches, cabins and other nice houses along the way. The road however is no fun, it’s all dirt and at times really bumpy. Madison Power Company maintains the road because of the Madison Dam. Maintains is a stretch.

The road basically ends in Ennis, a cute little historic town. Not touristy, but enough of a stop for tourists. Tried some local moonshine and other spirits at Willies distillery. It was so nice they were dog friendly and ready with treats! Four paw review from my sidekick. We both had a great time, and I walked away with a bottle of whiskey for later.

It’s about 5 pm now and most stores are closing. Will need to come back because there is a fun vintage/antique store to check out across the street. Stopped at boat launch/river access near downtown to cool off again. Still hot. Cell/internet in these parts is spotty, and I don’t have either at camp. I get a few calls in before heading back to camp.

Day 2 – It’s 6 am and it’s below 50F! How refreshing! But, I need to turn on the heat to take off the chill. Today we go to Bozeman. Travel & Leisure magazine has named it “One of the Ten” top cities for singles. I am stopping here because I've heard so many good things about Bozeman and wonder if this is a place I could call home one day. The drive is about 40 miles east, thru fast and windy roads. The last 5 miles are typical urban congestion, but I can't say it's traffic. Downtown is clean and almost every storefront is rented. Drove thru the immediate downtown neighborhood – homes are cute and well cared for. Aside from noticing how clean downtown was and that their historic buildings are maintained, I also couldn’t help noticing people smoking (cigarettes) and three homeless people. I know, funny that I notice three, each seeming to have a different block. Just seemed a little out of place here. Finally, I find a pond for Sparky (Bozeman Pond), but he’s not interested. It’s hot and the options are airconditioned truck or pond.

We stay in the truck and do my “phone interview” with the Airstream Customer Council. They are going to be putting my picture and bio on the website!! Super excited to see how things come out.

Met with an Airstream Solo Sister – Anne – for dinner in McAllister (between Ennis and Norris). She had some great ideas on where I should go (she gave me the info on the funky Norris Hot Springs where I am now). She sweet talks the manager of the McAllister Inn that Sparky is my therapy dog so we can all eat inside. It was really nice to connect with someone that lives here and has traveled all around. Not to mention she has an Airstream and travels with her 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 falcons (yes). She gave me a whole bunch of suggestions for Montana and we make plans to get together at my camp/hot springs for dinner later in the week. She suggested I crash some Airstream rally’s when I can too. I'm moving around so much it's really hard to participate in any rally's, but I hope to eventually.

Eating out on the road, with my diet of no cheese/dairy, no gluten and low carb has its challenges. So, I am not taking pictures unless it’s really good, or unusual. Getting good quality meat is not a problem…it’s the produce. The selection is limited and old; it’s awful. I think (I hope) it is because most homes have vegetable gardens. I am suffering thru commodity produce and probably won’t see an improvement until I get to Minnesota a few weeks from now.

Got back to camp and checked out the hot springs! Temp is around 110 F, but they add some cold water to make it more comfortable. Pool is about 20’ square and though it is still hot outside, there are about 40 people here – eating, drinking and enjoying. This place has a really cool vibe. It's out in the middle of nowhere and worth the trip.

Day 3 – Did office work for most of the morning then went back to Ennis to the cute vintage store. Was hoping to find some small (under 8”) western landscapes but came up dry. Don’t really need anything else and can’t find anything to ship back to my niece Claire to sell either. I leave empty handed.

Made another visit to the river/boat access near town and decided to head off to Virginia City down the road about 15 miles.

This revived ghost town was saved in the late 40’s by a local philanthropist and became a national historical landmark in 1961. Some of the original buildings still exists and the rest is filled in with historically correct architecture. There are some regular businesses with an old time feel but mostly it’s like an outdoor museum. You walk along the wood plank sidewalk and look into an open shop, the way it used to be, over 150 years ago when gold was discovered in nearby Adler. From the general store, to the dentist to the bank – you get to peek into each of these business as it would have been.

There was a local art show (about 25 tables) that was nice, and I actually picked up a small huckleberry print (also the state fruit of Montana). I just missed the big chili tasting for the cook off the next day. Had I been an hour earlier, I would have been able to sample all the entries! Too bad, I was hungry and had to settle with two horrible tacos down the street (canned salsa, shredded iceberg, cold tortillas).

Honestly, I only decided to come here about an hour before, and glad I did. Basically, if you are a western movie/tv fan, this could be a fun stop for you. I was really surprised how much I liked it! This had the perfect amount of local history so it was a good detour for the afternoon.

Down the road 1 mile is Nevada City. There’s a small train that takes you there and back. Only a few storefronts there, not much to see.

Stopped into the local grocery store to buy water. They are charging $1.89 per gallon! Even Safeway only charges $0.89. Lady at the store felt bad and said locals don’t buy bottled water and that I should try the Dollar Tree next door. I go, and I find Crystal Geyser for $1/gallon and stock up.

Day 4 – Off to the Bozeman farmer’s market. It is cool and rainy today, what a relief. Again, Montana is so beautiful, especially in the rain. Everywhere I turn I am in awe; the scenery doesn't get old. Surprisingly they have several microclimates because of the mountain ranges and valleys. This is big sky country, and I feel like I can see forever! It’s awesome.

The farmer’s market is pretty good and local meats, lots of baked goods like pie and a good selection of better carrots, zucchini, lettuces, cherries and sunchokes! I buy some sunchokes and some other local canned items.

Next stop Livingston, about 45 minutes, east. Cute town with a nice train depot. They do a lot of festivals here and it's a local tourist getaway. We just drive around and stop for some exercise at the local park.

Off to Harlow, which Anne suggested. This town was small and really depressing. Only a few stores open, none of which I would consider going in. We stop into the old hotel which looks like it might be closed, or possibly being renovated, and have lunch at the counter. They let me sneak Sparky in which was really nice. Had a plain salad and iced tea, barely enough to get me thru the afternoon. On the way out, I passed a scruffy guy on a motor bike with medium size cattle dog on the gas tank with paws on the handlebars. Reminds me of Barry from Dexter…the loner who is a little “off”. I stay clear of him.

Back on the road, I went thru some crazy construction. Highway 12 is a 2-lane road cutting thru a lot of cattle and grain pastures. It’s softly hilly, windy and, for miles, was all GRAVEL! No pavement. That was a tough ride. Very bumpy. My mirrors felt like they were going to fall off, and like most Montana roads, I don’t see anyone for 10-15 minutes at a time. If you get stuck, you get stuck. There are no shoulders either. I count my blessings that the truck has been so good to me. Thankfully, I am not towing my trailer.

Next stop along the road, White Sulphur Springs, which I tried to stay in. There is a large musical festival this weekend – Red Pants – in the middle of a field, outside of town. You can see it from town. No dogs allowed though, so we just get gas and walk around. Not much going on here except a lot of bars. The gas station was great. They pumped and washed my windows too! Every day, I have to wash my windshield because of bird and insect crap. Since the truck is so big, I can only wash about 80% of my windshield. I celebrate this small but wonderful event.

From there, I drove thru Townsend. A small working-class town with not much to offer except very affordable housing. It’s located in a valley between two mountain ranges. The weather is very dynamic on either side – lightening storms versus sunshine. On the plus size, because of this, locals say they don’t get snow here.

Today, I probably drove over 200 miles. The weather and scenery changed so much. It was rainy and cool, hot and sunny, cool and cloudy, and finally partly sunny, cool and windy. The mountains varied from soft and rolling covered with sage or pine trees. To just one tree. Mountain ranges that looked like they were just made of rock with jagged white peaks. Green prairies. Straw plains. And, every type of cloud. Spectacular.

Now it’s late afternoon and I am at the Lewis & Clark Caves. Ranger says winters here are more bearable here because of the dry air. Though I didn’t go on the whole tour, I was able to drive up to the visitor’s center three miles up and see the 20-minute video. They even let me take Sparky in, which was great, because it was still hot at 5pm. Interestingly, this state park has dog kennels that you can leave your pet in for a few hours. Basically, they're large chain link cages outside along the parking lot. Not in the sun, but I wouldn't say they were shaded either. Great idea, but I didn’t really feel comfortable leaving him in there if I took the two hour tour. Turns out the video was satisfying enough BUT if I am ever back in this area, I would go for the full tour and stay here at their full hook-up campsite.

Finally, back at camp. Anne can’t meet up with me tonight unfortunately. Exhausted, I go to my camp café and do takeout of some grilled local trout w/evoo and dill; grilled asparagus and a wonderful kale slaw. All vegetables are from their garden. Dinner was sublime, and I go back to the kitchen to tell them that. They also had a band playing tonight so the place is jumping with about 100 people here. If they had internet, I would have stayed longer. This is really a great place.