[a/s] Roundup and White Sulphur Springs, Montana - July 8, 2000

[HHamp5246@xxxxxxx]

Hi Gang,

Left Miles City and drove 130 miles to Roundup, Montana. The drive was 
uneventful except for a Pronghorn Antelope who was on a collision course with 
Bruiser for a minute until he thankfully turned and stopped. The worst thing 
was 12 miles of construction coming into town.  Traffic was moving, but it 
was a dusty nasty gravel road. Fortunately the place we camped at let us wash 
the trucks and trailers.  The RV "park" was actually a motel with some 
hookups.  Very nice place to stay though.  There were two couples there who 
had stayed for a week because they were at the Honda Gold Wing...Wing Ding. 
(c:  The Wing Ding was in Billings.

One guy came over for a chat, seems he owned and Airstream in the 70s.... the 
cool thing is, he is 80 years old!!  Rode the Honda motorcycle all the way 
from Pennsylvania with Mama in the sidecar..... meeting people is a real 
benefit of this lifestyle.  I doubt people who stay in motels and hotels meet 
people the way campers do. Tonight, for example, we are going to dinner with 
the couple next to us who hail from Kerrville, Texas. 

Anyway, we left Roundup this morning, I'm still stuffed from the dinner 
buffet last at the Busy Bee Cafe... the ride along highway 12 is beautiful... 
if you ever come to Montana get off the interstate...  we kept climbing 
slowly, but you could tell you were going up by the way the terrain was 
changing.  At first it looked like West Texas, then the grass got lusher and 
greener, and we saw snow capped mountains off in the distance.  Finally we 
were in some small mountains, capped with dark pine forests.  We passed a few 
lakes with the bluest water I have ever seen.  We also passed many deer and 
antelope, one herd had about 50. Oh, and I saw a Marmot. Saw what I imagine 
is a ghost town too. 

When I was 14 years old I read John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley".  In 
it Steinbeck says that Montana is the most beautiful state in the  country... 
I wondered what he meant when I was in the southeast.... as I get further 
west and north I am beginning to agree. I imagine I will be a total believer 
by the time we get to Glacier National Park.

White Silver Springs is wonderfully located,90 miles south of Great Falls.  
The campground is very nice, terrific views, charming owner.  Actually no one 
was here when we arrived so we just hooked up in spaces we liked, when he got 
back I told him I just made myself at home and he was thrilled. (c:  We have 
mules on two sides of us which makes me feel at home too.  Apparently they 
are used for trail rides and pack trips. People here are a bit cavalier about 
their animals. Saw a mare tied on a long rope next to the road, with her foal 
just loose to wander. <gasp>
Actually, I've seen a lot of loose animals.  Sheep on the road, cattle on the 
road... broken fences in both those cases.  

After we settled in I went to town to fill Bruiser and check out an antique 
shop I saw on the way in.  I bought some antique chaps, the kind with the 
studs all over them.  They are a prize for those of us who collect antique 
western memorabilia.
The design includes stars which I like being a Texas resident and all ....

So, will spend two nights here... then on to Great Falls.

Gotta run, the neighbors await.

I'm back.. never sent this so I thought I would continue.  We drove into town 
and looked the restaurants over... hmmm..... decided to try the big 
bar/casino/steaks place.  One old woman was at the bar, sucking on a 
cigarette nursing a drink.  Her face had more canyons than Moab Utah.  She 
looked like she had been "rode hard and put away wet" more than once.  It 
takes a special breed to live in Montana. The summers are hot, hotter than I 
expected but the winters are long and harsh. 
I went into the local horse store yesterday, the owner told me they can't get 
hay this year and they need to hay from September til May... they donlt know 
what to do for this next winter, they will have to import hay from somewhere 
else.

Anyway, we asked if they were serving dinner... the bartender answered, "Not 
tonight" Odd, it is Saturday night after all.  So, we asked what restaurant 
he would suggest in town. "None."  Oh, so we asked where we should go eat.  
He told us to drive 11 miles out of town to the something Creek restuarant, 
said the drive is beautiful. We did, he was right.  The food was great to... 
enjoyed the people from Kerrville, will look them up when I get back to 
Texas. They promised a tour of the area around Kerrville when I am searching 
for a place to buy/build. They moved there 9 years ago from Michigan and 
couldn't speak highly enough about it.

Hunter