Travel from Buffalo to Wheatland, Wyoming

We drove our coach 205 miles, about 3 hour of driving, from Buffalo, Wyoming to Wheatland, Wyoming.

The map route, heading south:

Map route

Leaving the KOA:

Leaving the KOA

We stopped by the office to pick up some mail:

Stopped by the office to get mail

By office

Wild pronghorn antelope roam the fields, apparently a nuisance:

Wild pronghorn antelope

I-25:

I-25

Wild pronghorn antelope:

Wild pronghorn antelope

We stopped at a truck parking area for lunch:

Parking area

Paladin enjoying my seat:

Paladin

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

I-25

Casper:

Casper

Bridge construction:

Bridge construction

I-25

Refinery:

Refinery

Jackalope sculpture:

Jackalope sculpture

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rather concerning: a fiver passed us with a broken awning arm swinging; fortunately it didn’t hit us:

Fiver with awning arm swinging

Narrow bridge:

Narrow bridge

North Platte River:

North Platte River

The aforementioned fiver on the side of the road; I guess they noticed the awning arm:

Fiver

An older Tiffin Allegro Bus:

Tiffin Allegro Bus

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Part of Glendo Reservoir, looking rather low:

Glendo Reservoir

More roadworks:

Roadworks

Nice hills:

Nice hills

Our destination, El Rancho Village:

El Rancho Village

Drive through Bighorn National Forest

We took a day trip drive though Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming.

We started by going to Sheridan to get our second COVID boosters, then went west along US-14 though the forest (zoom in on the map; some fun twisties there). Then looped anticlockwise around to US-20, -31, and -16, passing through the forest again. Here’s an interactive route map:

Bighorn National Forest sign:

Bighorn National Forest sign

Viewpoint:

View

There were geologic signs for the rock formations:

Geologic sign

Nice views:

Views

We stopped at the Cabin Creek Picnic Area to use the vault toilet there; there is a nice rest area a little further on, but I suspected (based on research) that it would be closed, and it was, so good thing we stopped here:

Cabin Creek Picnic Area

Vault toilet

More views:

Views

Creek

Views

Greybull:

Greybull

Oil

Views

We got a real Utah vibe from this area west of the forest:

Views

Ten Sleep, population 246:

Ten Sleep, population 246

Ten Sleep

Views

Brake check

Views

Brake check turnout:

Brake check turnout

Sharp curves ahead:

Sharp curves ahead

7% downgrade:

7% downgrade

Did we mention sharp curives?

We wanted to travel this route in part because we may be driving our coach this way next year, heading from Yellowstone to Devils Tower. It’s rather steep, with about 5,000 feet of elevation gain then loss, but I think we can handle it; we’ve driven much worse.

An interesting runaway truck ramp:

Runaway truck ramp

Back in Buffalo, some sculptures:

Sculptures

We went to Southside Grill for dinner:

Southside Grill

Buffalo mural:

Buffalo mural

Buffalo museum:

Buffalo museum

Buffalo KOA Journey

We stayed at Buffalo KOA Journey in Buffalo, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice RV park.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-09-17
Check out: 2022-09-20
3 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 68-84°F, lows around 45-57°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

Distant road noise; no train noise
Large group in neighboring site for first couple of nights

Site:

#75, 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, conveniently located
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, not very inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Picnic table on cement; fire pit on gravel, grass and rock landscaping, small trees

Internet (in usage priority order):

AT&T: 10 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 95 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 12-23 Mbps down, 2-5 Mbps up, 8-28 ms ping
T-Mobile: 6 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 130 ms ping
Verizon: 50 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Dumpsters
Closed pool
Creekside path
Mail delivery at office

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

A River Runs Through It

We were in the newer section, which is absolutely awesome with the river running around the edge. The sites were very tidy and well cared for, and the staff were all extremely helpful. We will definitely stay again when we next pass through the area. We camped at Buffalo KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

The Clear Creek section of the park, where we were, is very new, and quite nice. Our site:

Our site

A long sewer hose was needed:

Long sewer hose needed

A path to the creek:

Path

Looking back at our site and others from the path:

Other sites

Group fire pit:

Group fire pit

Clear Creek; it is indeed very clear:

Creek

Bridge:

Bridge

Dog park:

Dog park

Decorations:

Decorations

Creek-front tent site:

Tent site

Confluence of creeks:

Confluence of creaks

Other RVs:

Other RVs

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

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

Leaving Montana:

Leaving Montana

Entering Wyoming:

Wyoming

We quite like the look of this area:

Wyoming views

Sheridan bridge:

Sheridan bridge

Sheridan College Golden Dome sports complex:

Sheridan Collage Golden Dome sports complex

More Wyoming views:

Wyoming views

Buffalo exit:

Buffalo exit

Our destination, the Buffalo KOA Journey:

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

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

Truck

Vanleigh fiver

More 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

Paladin on the 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

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

Lots of very nice landscaping:

Landscaping

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Landscaping

This was the site we had last year:

Site we had last year

Other sites and more landscaping:

Landscaping

Other sites and landscaping

Our site again:

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

Our coach

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

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

In the Flathead Reservation, the signs were bilingual:

Flathead signs

A wildlife bridge:

Flathead signs

US-93

Our destination, 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

Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park

We did a day-trip around the south of Glacier National Park, then along the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road through the park.

Here’s an interactive route map with some of our stops marked, going counter-clockwise:

Highway 2 south of Glacier:

Highway 2 south of Glacier

A stop at Silver Staircase Waterfall (probably more impressive at another time of year):

Silver Staircase Waterfall

Glacier from US-2:

Glacier from US 2

East Glacier Park:

East Glacier Park

Whistle Stop Restaurant for lunch:

Whistle Stop Restaurant

Two Medicine Road:

Two Medicine Road

Glacier National Park sign:

Glacier National Park sign

Two Medicine Road:

Two Medicine Road

Two Medicine Lake:

Two Medicine Lake

US-89 heading north towards the St Mary Visitor Center:

US 89

Roadworks:

Roadworks

US-89:

US-89

St Mary Visitor Center:

St Mary Visitor Center

Views from Going-to-the-Sun Road, through the park:

Going-to-the-Sun Road

An interesting van:

Interesting van

Going-to-the-Sun Road

View from Going-to-the-Sun Road

Logan Pass

View from Going-to-the-Sun Road

A closed underground restroom:

Closed underground restroom

View from Going-to-the-Sun Road

A little close:

View from Going-to-the-Sun Road

An iconic red bus:

Iconic red bus

Tunnel

View from Going-to-the-Sun Road

Waterfall:

Waterfall

Lake McDonald:

Lake McDonald

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Heading out the west entrance:

West entrance

Moose Creek RV Resort and B&B

We stayed at Moose Creek RV Resort and B&B in West Glacier, Montana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice place for a family reunion. We met up with some family members to hang out together and visit Glacier National Park.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-09-02
Check out: 2022-09-11
9 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny, one day with a little drizzle
High temps ranging between 66-93°F, lows around 32-50°F
A little wind

Noise:

No road noise; some train noise
No neighbor noise

Site:

#3, back in, gravel, with small concrete pad under back wheels
Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Not level due to concrete pad
Large site: about 90 feet long by about 90 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power, not very conveniently located
45 PSI water, conveniently located (boosted from our tank)
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe)

Picnic table on grass
Tall trees on driver side; clear sky for Starlink

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 25 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
AT&T: 18-37 Mbps down, 5-8 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
Verizon: 18 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
T-Mobile: no service
Campground Wi-Fi: available but not used

Amenities:

Dumpsters
No pool
Onsite cafe
Package delivery to office

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Great place for a family reunion

We met up with several members of the family so we could do Glacier. We have a 40′ motorhome and had a great back-in site on the edge of the property, central to where everyone else stayed in the park with their small trailer, rooftop tent, and glamping pod rental, so there was something for everyone. Being just a couple of miles from Glacier was great for day trips to the park. It was wonderful having the caf on site for breakfast or a latte in the morning. We camped at Moose Creek RV Park and B&B in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Our site before parking:

Our site before parking

Our site:

Our site

The weird little concrete pad:

Concrete pad

Back jacks; no need for jack pads on concrete:

Jacks

Utilities:

Utilities

We used the Starlink dish; I put out cones to mark the cable, since it was on grass (good thing, too, since the grass was mowed while we were out; they mowed around the cable):

Cones for Starlink