2 RV's to Medford OR

... spending the night at Billings MT

Breakfast for me was yogurt and a fruit cup. For some reason we were running a little later this AM.

Lots of stops today, nothing lines up for 120 mile/two hour stops.

(the rest is written 2+ days later)

For me, breakfast was just a cup of yogurt and a fruit cup.

Frost on the windows this AM, but it is off with a little heat and some washer fluid. By this AM there are six cars in the lot, last night there was only one besides us. Weather is clear, pretty sunrise.

Sun is right in our mirrors for a while.

1st stop is a rest area near Belvidere. We hadn't planned on todays head wind. We are loosing too much fuel range.

2nd stop was added to buy enough fuel to get to Rapid City where fuel is cheaper. Conoco in Wall. Fuel is $1 more but we need it.

3rd stop was the Loves in Box Elder / Rapid City for fuel. We are only one time zone away and we are here early enough that they are still serving breakfast. No croissant's anymore?

4th stop was the Port of Entry in WY at Sundance. Closed. So I call the Gillette scale, closed. Then the Sheridan scale. Open. They tell us just stop when we get there. That is different than when I was running on I-80 and the first two scales were closed, the guy was telling me he could fine me.

But not being able to stop here, we needed to find a new stop for a rest-room.

5th stop, this one had not been planned either. Moorcraft. Nice place, never been here before. Some signs had said the rest area at Sundance was closed but we didn't try it. It is off the freeway so you need to get to it to see it.

5th stop. Stopping again to put in three gallons of fuel to get to cheap fuel. Buck's Conoco in Sheridan. Plan had <> been to stop in Sheridan for the night, but once we are here we want to get our permits the same day from the same people that told us it was OK to run without.

6th stop is the WY Port of Entry. They are no longer a MT Port of Entry, they used to serve double duty. Just happened a few months ago. We are under scale weight so we may not have to stop at the WY scales once we have our permit, I will have to find out about that.

7th stop is Hardin at the Loves. We see another RV driver and he pulls in behind me. OPPS ... we are talking and I say how we are getting fuel discounts and how to do it. Later BB tells me that this drivers unit was a gas, not diesel. So now he is paying a fee to use the card and NOT getting discounts. Not sure when he if figure it out. I don't have his contact info ... guess I owe him lunch some day.

BB and I were still debating to keep going or stop here for the night. Nice hotel was $150. Super 8 was half that and really bad reviews. So we headed to Billings. We will get to the hotel at last light.

8th and final stop was the Sleep Inn in Billings. Long day, almost 600 miles and lots of stops. And by now, BB has told me that the 4B's restaurant across the street is closed. I think this one only is open for breakfast and lunch.

... but still more fun tonight. The first room we get, I don't even get the light turned on and I can see that there are no sheets. Back to the front desk. They give us a different room.

Closest food is McD's across the parking lot. Big Mac. Haven't had one of those for a while.

By the time we are done eating, we realize that the heat in our room works. But our two choices are on and off. If the heat is on, if the fan is on, if the AC is on ... it is blowing heat on high. We move again.

When I tell the front desk about the issue, I mention that I'm sorry for being their 'problem child' tonight. Nope. There problem child is a pipe that burst in one of the rooms ...

This last room was good except it had coffee and no coffee pot.

Didn't print permits last night so I need to tonight. This place does not have an office center at all. So they send me to the hotel next door. They are very nice about it. Only issue I had there was the printer was out of paper.

It has been a long day ...

Early on today I saw a few deer heading to a bale of hay. Easier to eat than grass? Or they wanted shelter? These are the bigger deer that are also in our area. Most of what we see out here are the prong horns.

We also saw a 100 plus of the prong horns and a few eagles. Not much else.

Tomorrow has come and gone so I don't remember what our plans were ...