Travel With The Thayers: #3 Butte to Garryowen, MT

#3 Butte to Garryowen, MT

The cattle were chowing down, below the snow-capped mountains.

The Yellowstone River now flows by the freeway.

I-90 passed by Bozeman and Billings before turning south. We don’t think of Billings has an oil center, but several refineries reside there. The road continues to wind across the country side.

Hardin, MT boasts a population of 3837. It resides on the edge of the Crow Agency and resembles a small, little town next to the freeway that provides services for travelers. We filled up with reasonable diesel prices and expensive propane at the Pilot Truck Stop. The young man who volunteered to get our propane didn’t know how to do it. Thankfully, Derrille does.

From here to Wyoming services don’t really exist. SO we decided to stop for bread at the local IGA. I waited in the RV and Derrille went after bread, eggs and lunch meat. It took a really long time for him to come out. Frustration showed on his face! He said all of the clerks in the store looked like they were supplementing their Social Security. His clerk charged him $9.08. He gave her a twenty dollar bill. Then she said he owed her $24. He asked to see the receipt which included a cake and ice cream. It took time for her to understand that he only bought the 3 items. She said she didn’t know what to do! The store manager became involved and wanted to know where was the ice cream and cake! Derrille assured her he didn’t have it. The clerk spoke up and said he only got 3 items. Then she tried to give Derrille $7 in change. Those of you who know Derrille know he is a walking calculator. Then he had to explain that $20 minus the $9.08 is not $7. More laughs and adventures!

I found the Little Horn State Bank interesting while I waited for Derrille to come out from the store.

This train of oil cars seemed to go on forever. The streaks on the photo came from an inadequate window cleaning tool at the fuel stop.

The 7^th Ranch RV Park in Garryowen, MT maintains a lovely park. We have stayed there before. To access the park requires taking a frontage road off I-90.

However on this day, we exited the freeway, crossed the cattle guard (which are on many Montana exit ramps) and came to a stop. Today they are repaving the frontage road. A pilot car leads you down this narrow one-way lane around paving equipment. Finally you get to your turnoff.