Motel 6 Dillon

... 1860's to the 1930's, Bannack continued as a mining town with a fluctuating population. By the 1950's gold workings had dwindled and most folks had moved on. At that point the State of Montana declared Bannack a State Park. Today, over sixty structures remain standing, most of which can be explored." We had dinner and lodging in Dillon - so friendly! - before continuing out Gold Rush focus tomorrow in Nevada and Virginia Cities.

Wow, my first impression of Montana has been to stay on a hundred year old ranch in an old farmhouse. The owners still use horse drawn wagons to feed the cows and such. (It is cheaper then gas these days). The ranchhouse itself was an old log cabin that had been upgraded to include electricity and running water, yet was still ...

... streets and visited buildings like the school house, church, jail, motel and more. Lewsi and Clark had originally passed through this area. Then in July 1862, gold was found in the creeks and the first recorded mining claims were made in Montana Territory. By the spring of 1862 Bannack had a population of 3,000. In the evening I drove and slept in Dillon, Montana.

... U.S. Army units. We had grandpa and grandma wake us up at 5:30am because of the 20+ hour drive ahead of us. Luckily, we narrowly escaped another winter storm that promised to bury the highways and trap unsuspecting drivers in the barren Montana countryside. On the drive through Montana there were signs advertising the Little Big Horn/ Custer's Last Stand National Monument ...

... of the campers, I may be wrong but you rarely see people in shorts and nothing else doing some sort of spinning and singing out in the rain and then moments later staring blankly into the fire for more guidance. I slept and awoke early, but the principal was gone. I stopped and had a healthy diner breakfast, hashbrowns are at the heart of my furnace. The ride from Lowell was beautiful, one of the most so far. It followed the Clearwater river and then the Lochsa, the latter being ...

We visited the only military memorial in the world that marks the place of a great defeat. This is Little Bighorn or Custer's last stand. We were treated to an hour long lecture on the battle. The lecture, instead of focusing on Custer, presented the battle from the side of the victors. We will always remember this place as the battle of the Greasy ...

... Bighorn Research Association (YBRA). The camp was closed, but the Dutchers', who live at the base of Mount Maurice, loaned us a key so we did get the opportunity to sample the expansive view of the Palisades from the Fanshawe Lodge Porch. We will always remember the generous hospitality the Ducthers' showed us. We stayed in Red Lodge and enjoyed a dinner at a local pizza place.

... and hope I never have to live far away from them again. It is good to be home, which to me is anywhere in the west...but preferably the northwest. I will check in one more time, but that will be when we're home, to let you all know we arrived safely, (our sanity may be in doubt)! Bre...sorry we won't be there to see you graduate. Have a GREAT day, and enjoy! We Love You and are proud of what you've accomplished. I'll get your gift to you as soon as we get home. Love You.

... we're there. Only two weeks left in Bozeman, then we head to Spokane, Prineville (Jody's hometown) and the Portland, OR where we meet up with our team and fly to Zagreb, Croatia. So many stinking details to take care of before you leave home for 2 months. Maybe that means I have to many strings attached to my life. I finally figured out how to get my bills payed while I'm gone though, so that's good. I'm also incredibly excited that Jody and I get to have a ...

Hi, we made it out of Las Vegas without losing our shirts and we don't have to hitch hike home,we stayed last nite in Utah a small place called Burley with no internet cafe, that day was long 10 hours so the beer in the room tasted really great! Today was better only 8.5 hrs. drove through snow rain but the roads were good. We are only 3.5 hrs. from Lethbridge and Junes so far the trip has been good bye for now Ron,Erin and Annette.