Week 2 we did a lot more staying still. Because one of us still has to work while we do this… it had to happen some time. Brad loves his job and is great at it, so don’t feel too bad for him. But he had to miss out on some of our adventures while he worked.
Day 8
We did some venturing out and about today. The views still leaving me staring! That Montana sky is stunning!
Today was not a travel day so we all slept as late as we wanted (6:00 is late these days).
We had some things to get done, but still had plenty of time for browsing Cabelas. The kids shot BB guns and Bow and arrows.
There is only an hour difference between here and “back home” but we are staying awake longer because it is daylight longer here! The sun doesn’t even set here until 9PM local!
We are loving this lifestyle so far!
Day 9
We might have been a little lost. We might have had a weird adventure. We were off in search of a cave, that we didn’t make it to. We waited for cows to cross, we felt like we could see for 100 miles.
The views were unreal! I wish the photos did it justice.
I am absolutely in love with Montana’s beautiful big sky.
Day 10 – July 22
The kids and I went down the road from our campground in Hardin, Montana to the welcome center. I wanted to get some brochures for the local area too plan our week. We packed a lunch as yesterday was a bit of a mess because of having no food with us.
We found and went to the Big Horn County museum. It was HUGE. You start in the building next to the visitors center and learn about Fort Custer, and about the Crow Tribe.
Outside they have essentially set up an entire city. You can walk through an old home and see the old furniture, beds, and ‘ice box’. We went through an old horse stable, butcher house, and went to the train station. We saw old plows that were pulled by mules and plows that can probably still be used today. We went through an old school, an old church, and even an old funeral home. We walked through an old chow hall, old buildings that were once a part of the now oldest motel in Montana. It was such a blast from the past and we had the best time walking from building to building touring it all.
The kids had their first ever root beer float AND we also went to the campground’s ice cream social.
We did some laundry, played at the playground and had such a fun day.
Day 11
June 25 & 26 there was a great battle in Crow territory, Montana.
Lt. Col. Custer brought his men in (under the orders of Grant). Grant wanted to “Christianize and civilize the Indian and train him in the arts of peace.” Also known as move them to certain territories and ensuring they stayed there.
Sitting Bull, a spiritual leader of the Lakota would led several bands of the Sioux and Cheyenne in a desperate attempt to protect their way of life. To protect their customs, their land, the buffalo.
Custer was well known to take women and children in order to quickly get the opposition to agree to his terms. He didn’t want the bloodshed. But it came.
We saw where Custer’s Last Stand was. We stood there on the same battleground in the same heat those mean fought through. I can’t imagine what it was like that day.
As the warriors would kill the soldiers they would scalp them, cut off their fingers, and cut the major tendons of the legs. It’s horribly brutal, but they had a reason. In their belief if they scalp a man, they have his soul and he will be unable to fight him in the next life. With no fingers he will be unable to fire a weapon. And without working legs he will be unable to ride a horse.
We all learned a lot today. It was a tear jerker at times, Imagining the women and children running for the hills and hearing their warriors being shot. The cavalry soldiers having to shoot their horses to have some way to hide behind something.
My kids kept asking me “was that the bad guys or the good guys”. I can’t answer that one. The question “who won?”… that one was easy… no one. None of the people there that day could have come away feeling victorious.
Day 12
When we go off on trips we usually have a map and a GPS with us.
213 years ago there were no maps of western US. The Corps of Discovery Expedition, also called the Lewis and Clark Expedition was going to remedy the lack of maps for the west.
At this section of the expedition the two had gone their separate ways to meet back up.
During his journey Clark was assisted by Sacajawea and her young son who Clark nicknamed Pomp. He named this “tower” after her son.
Clark engraved his name on the side of the sandstone rock where it still is today. It is under glass casings in order to preserve it from erosion. It is also protected by lasers and 24 hour cameras. The last people that engraved their names on the rock was arrested and guilty of a felony among other things.
The awesome museum there gives kids a chance to try on buckskins, sit in a canoe, and my son had a chance to hold a ceremonial sword and an espontoon much like that Clark would have carried!
We went for a walk along the Yellowstone River and admired the view… stopping of course at the sign warning of snakes and mosquitos. 😂
And the kids became Junior Rangers again! Earning those badges are such a hit with them.
Day 13
Last night was a sunset that I couldn’t get over.
I snuck over to the back of the campground for a better view. And there was a dozen other people out enjoying the same sights.
The wind was blowing, there was an alfalfa field off to the left and a corn field in front and beauty all around. It was incredible!
Today we had a few errands… returning some things we got from Amazon (we can still do Amazon while full-timing) and the kids sent Meemaw some love mail. We drove the car through a car wash… which was a bit of a disaster… it washed away my RV camera antenna which I had forgotten about. It came inches from hitting the window of the car and potentially knocking it out. (I had an extra antenna and got it working perfectly.)
We had to get the propane tanks filled and hooked back up. I have only ever done a propane exchange… but that’s apparently not what you do when you have a tank you need to rely on.
We began some prep work for moving in the next few days.
And of course we had a bike ride to the park… because ice cream social at the park shouldn’t be missed.
Day 14
Today was another day to check out some old graffiti!
A few days ago we saw where William Clark signed his name on a pillar. It was a 213 year old engraving.
Today we took a trip to a beautiful Montana State Park that is home to 3 caves. One is Ghost Cave, when you speak into it the sound will echo back to you… making those in the past think they hear the voices of ghosts.
Then in the middle is rightly named Middle Cave.
Then on the end is Pictograph Cave.
The drawings are thought to be from 200-2100 years ago!
The red paintings you can see in the photo are newer, from the last 200 years. The older pictures are black and are closer to 2000 years ago. The oldest was a turtle and it has since fallen down. (Part of the turtle is on display in the museum.)
The cool thing is that what you see one day may not be the same thing you see another day. The more damp the cave the more you see.
It was really cool! And such beautiful views wherever we looked.
We settled down at a picnic table for lunch and to work on the Jr Ranger workbook and a woman stopped to tell us there was a black bear just across the road. As much as I would love to see it I decided it would be better to go inside and save the bear looking for another day.
Closing up our 2 weeks of full-timing it still feels unreal. We started this with no real end date in mind. Just a promise of doing it while it feels like the right thing to do. We are sure there will be tough days at some point. But as long as we are all still in it, we will keep going!
We are already into week 3 now, so I can give you a peek ahead. We had another challenge to find a solution to, and yet again we have been amazed at the kindness of strangers. One of the most beautiful things about life is when you encounter someone who wants to help because they Want To Help. Not because of any obligations. Not because of any expectations. Not because we would have viewed them as any less. I want you to know that there are plenty of kind people in this world. There is no way we have encountered as much kind-hearted goodness as we have unless these generous people were out there in great number.
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