Travel from Livingston, Montana to Buffalo, Wyoming

We drove our coach 282 miles, about 5 hour of driving, from Livingston, Montana to Buffalo, Wyoming.

The map route, heading east then south:

Map route

We seem to have a slow leak in the rear outer driver-side tire on our coach (it loses about 3 PSI on a drive). So I topped it up before departure (spoiler: we got it fixed on a later trip):

Topping up RV tire

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

Getting onto I-90:

Getting onto I-90

Snow fences:

Snow fences

Newmar Ventana motorhome:

Newmar Ventana motorhome

Classic car:

Old car

We had originally planned to sprint through this area, on our way south, and were going to stop at this Harvest Host for a night:

Possible Harvest Host

Yellowstone River:

Yellowstone River

A Vanleigh Vilano fiver:

Vanleigh Vilano fiver

Downhill:

Downhill

Oil refinery:

Oil refinery

Oil refinery

A fuel stop; we had hoped to get the tire fixed, but of course being a weekend their service department was closed (and they may not have been willing to work on a motorhome anyway):

Fuel stop

We did weigh our coach and truck on a CAT Scale; a good thing to do occasionally:

CAT Scale

A Super-C fueling up next to us:

Super-C

After fueling, we parked with the big rigs (there were several empty spaces, so we weren’t taking a space from a hard-working trucker):

Parked

And went into the diner for lunch:

Diner

Diner food

Wind turbine blades:

Wind turbine blades

Yellowstone River:

Yellowstone River

I-90:

I-90

I-90

I-90

Leaving Montana:

Leaving Montana

Entering Wyoming:

Wyoming

We quite like the look of this area:

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Sheridan bridge:

Sheridan bridge

Sheridan bridge

Sheridan College Golden Dome sports complex:

Sheridan Collage Golden Dome sports complex

More Wyoming views:

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Wyoming views

Buffalo exit:

Buffalo exit

Our destination, the Buffalo KOA Journey:

KOA

KOA

Osens RV Park

We stayed at Osens RV Park in Livingston, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another short stay. A nice basic RV park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-09-14
  • Check out: 2022-09-17
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • A little rainy, some lightning in the area
  • High temps ranging between 69-74°F, lows around 42-48°F
  • A little wind

Noise:

  • Some road noise; nearby train noise
  • Quiet neighbors, except one motorhome that ran their engine way too long

Site:

  • #B5, pull through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
  • Fairly level
  • Medium site: about 65 feet long by about 30 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
    • 65 PSI water, conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, rather inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)
  • Picnic table on grass

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 40-60 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
  • AT&T: 30 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 125 ms ping
  • Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: limited, not used

Amenities:

  • Dumpsters
  • No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Cute park in a cute town

This was a nice spot to stay on our way through Montana. Check-in was quick and efficient, with super-friendly and helpful staff. We were escorted to our site, which is always a nice touch. The site was level and clean. The only downside is the sketchy road from the highway into the park. We camped at Osens RV Park & Campground in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

A rather inconvient sewer location; I had to break out a third 10-foot sewer hose (though to be fair, if we had parked the truck in front of the coach, it wouldn’t have been so bad):

Inconvient sewer location

The entrance:

Entrance

Entrance garden:

Enter

Office:

Office

Decorations:

Decorations

Playground:

Playground

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Rain barrels and recycling:

Rain barrels

A chicken (probably flew over the fence from a neighboring property):

Chicken

Little library:

Library

An interesting truck and Vanleigh fiver next to us (Vanleigh is a related brand to Tiffin, created by Bob Tiffin’s son Van and grandson Leigh):

Truck and Vanleigh fiver

IMG 5805

Truck

Vanleigh fiver

More RVs:

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

Other RVs

This new neighbor was annoying; they left their engine running for ages on arrival, and again when departing the next morning. It isn’t necessary to leave it going:

Other RVs

A new neighbor, with a dog with a ramp:

Other RVs

Flushing the black tank:

Flushing black tank

Slides in, ready to go:

Our site

Travel from Missoula to Livingston, Montana

We drove our coach 237 miles, about 4 hour of driving, from Missoula, Montana to Livingston, Montana.

The map route for this leg, heading south:

Map route

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving the RV park

Fuel up behind another motorhome:

Fuel up

Lots of roadworks on this journey, as they were rebuilding pretty much all of the bridges, one side at a time:

Roadworks

More roadworks:

More roadworks

Snack delivery:

Snack delivery

Smoky trees:

Smoky trees

Smoky roadworks:

Smoky roadworks

Interesting building and roadworks:

Interesting building and roadworks

Rest stop:

Rest stop

Quite a nice-looking building:

Quite a nice-looking building

Lunch:

Lunch

Paladin in a box:

Paladin in a box

More roadworks:

More roadworks

More roadworks

More roadworks

More roadworks

Paladin on the theater seating:

Paladin on theater seating

Paladin on theater seating

Oversize load:

Large load

Continental Divide, elevation 6393:

Continental Divide, elevation 6393

Another rest stop:

Rest stop

We had the hazard blinkers on going up a hill; the cameras change to show 4-up in this mode:

Cameras

Smoky:

Smoky

Yet more roadworks:

More roadworks

A rather narrow and bumpy road leading to the destination:

Narrow road

The RV park entrance:

Entrance

Enter:

Enter

Office:

Office

Guided to our site:

Guided to site

Jim & Mary’s RV Park

We stayed at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

For long-time readers, if that name sounds a little familiar, it’s because we stayed here on our way home from Yellowstone last year. We liked it so much, we took the opportunity to go back here this year.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-09-11
  • Check out: 2022-09-14
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, but mostly smoky from nearby wildfires; a little drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 79-89°F, lows around 49-53°F
  • A little wind

Noise:

  • Some road noise; nearby train noise
  • No significant neighbor noise

Site:

  • #E12, pull through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since we didn’t need to go anywhere
  • Fairly level
  • Fairly large site: about 75 feet long by about 40 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
    • 50 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located (boosted from our tank)
    • Good sewer connection, not very conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
  • Picnic table on grass
  • Some trees; clear sky for Starlink
  • Delightful landscaping with flowerbeds and decorations

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 2-6 Mbps down, 7-9 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 22 Mbps down, 14-32 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 16-20 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 115 ms ping
  • Verizon: 8-12 Mbps down, 4-7 Mbps up, 110 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: limited, not used

Amenities:

  • Dumpsters
  • No pool
  • Package delivery to outside of office

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Still the prettiest park

This was our second stay here, and it’s still just so lovely. The roads are easily navigable even for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle, the trees are nicely trimmed back, so there were no scraping branches or anything. There is a bit of road and train noise, but the beautiful surroundings make up for it. We camped at Jim & Mary’s RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

The power and water was kinda far away from the coach:

Power and water

The sewer wasn’t super close either, requiring two hoses:

Sewer

Dumpsters near our site, with a train going by beyond:

Dumpsters and train

Train

The office:

Office

Rather unusual to have recycling at an RV park:

Recycling

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Tourist info:

Tourist info

Greenhouses:

Greenhouses

Greenhouses

Lots of very nice landscaping:

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping

This was the site we had last year:

Site we had last year

Other sites and more landscaping:

Landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Our site again:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Travel from West Glacier to Missoula, Montana

We drove our coach 124 miles, about 3 hour of driving, from West Glacier, Montana to Missoula, Montana. Beginning our trek from the top of the country to the bottom — we’ll be spending the winter in Texas this year.

The map route for this leg, heading south:

Map route

Smoky US-2:

Smoky US-2

US-2 next to the Flathead River:

US-2 next to the Flathead River

Roadworks on MT-206:

Roadworks on US-206

We stopped at Woody’s Country Store for lunch again:

Woody's Country Store

Woody's Country Store

Our coach

Woody's Country Store

Woody's Country Store

Woody's Country Store

Woody's Country Store

Woody's Country Store

Very tasty fries and burger:

Food

Paladin sitting on the dash as we returned to our coach:

Paladin

Some sights along MT-35 next to Flathead Lake:

MT-35

MT-35

MT-35

MT-35

MT-35

MT-35

Flathead Lake:

Flathead Lake

Oops, a dining chair fell over; we might want to think about securing it with a bungee or something:

Dining chair fell over

US-93

Several places in Ronan had decorated hay bales:

Decorated hay bales

Decorated hay

US-93

US-93

In the Flathead Reservation, the signs were bilingual:

Flathead signs

Flathead signs

Flathead signs

A wildlife bridge:

Flathead signs

US-93

Our destination, Jim and Mary’s RV Park:

Jim and Mary's RV Park

Jim and Mary's RV Park

Our site before occupation:

Our site

Our coach:

Our coach

Jenn and Paladin looking out the driver window:

Jenn and Paladin

Golfing to the Sun and waterfalls in Glacier National Park

Once the family arrived at the campground, we did another couple of trips into Glacier National Park. I didn’t go on one, but for the last trip, we all went to West Glacier Village for lunch, swag shopping, and mini golf. Then went a bit into the park to look at some waterfalls.

The Café:

Café

Burger:

Burger

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Golfing to the Sun mini golf:

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

Golfing to the Sun

I got a hole in one on the 18th hole; yay!

Golfing to the Sun

A bear makes rude comments on the putting skill:

Golfing to the Sun

Mercantile:

Mercantile

We headed into the park:

West Entrance

Lake McDonald:

Lake McDonald

McDonald Creek:

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

A viewing deck:

Viewing deck

Viewing deck

Selfie

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek bridge:

McDonald Creek bridge

McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek

A horse tour crossing the bridge:

Horses

Horses

Horses

Horses

Lake McDonald Lodge:

Lake McDonald Lodge

Lake McDonald one last time:

Lake McDonald