Big Timber, MT
Saturday, September 7, 2024
This morning, we started our day in Buffalo, North Dakota at the Red Trail Vineyard RV Park. We enjoyed a perfectly lovely stay at this Harvest Host location, except for a neighboring camper who loudly blared his TV until 2:00pm. Yes, we could actually hear his TV playing from inside his camper next door. Most people probably aren’t bothered by noises like that, but we’re used to living in the woods of Wisconsin and spoiled by its peaceful serenity.
Mental note: add earplugs to our next Walmart shopping list.
We left Buffalo, ND around 8:30am this morning with a long drive day ahead of us. We planned to reach central Montana today — about 9 hours away. Andi and I took turns driving every time we stopped to fill up the fuel tank which works out to be every two or three hours.
While I drove, I listened to College Football games which helped pass the time.
While Andi drove, he listened to his phone or shared windshield time with Tory. The freedom to move around, use the bathroom, make a snack, or share the front seat with one of the kids are some of the many perks of driving a Class C recreational vehicle. Andi and I really enjoy our front seat talks while we’re driving in the RV, and now that Tory and Aden are older and can take turns sitting in the front seat, too, it’s a great opportunity to spend quality time with them talking in an uninterrupted way.
Driving across the state of North Dakota and the eastern part of Montana is long and boring; there’s no other way to describe it. Fortunately, God blessed us with sunny skies and no wind for our drive today which made our drive as enjoyable as it could be. I like watching the landscape change from flat, rolling plains to towering buttes throughout the prairie as we reach the area surrounding Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota.
In Dickinson, North Dakota, Andi stopped at a Cash Wise grocery store to stretch our legs and get a few groceries. There was a small farmers market taking place in the parking lot, but there weren’t many offerings other than jams, honey, and farm-raised meats. Andi did buy a few pre-made soups to stick in our RV freezer.
Surprisingly, Cash Wise grocery store was really nice inside, with a full deli counter. Tory, Andi, and I made ourselves salads from the salad bar for lunch and picked up chicken tenders and an egg roll for Aden.
What Andi and I noticed most about our quick stop in Dickinson, ND was how friendly the people were! Three different people stopped me inside the grocery store to talk college football since I was wearing a Nebraska shirt, and Andi appreciated with a truck stopped to let us pull out of the parking lot into traffic. “Add this to our list of ways to decide the character of a place — go to a farmer’s market, visit the local grocery store, and see whether people wave or say hello to you as you pass by.” We thought Dickinson, ND had great people.
At 5:30pm, the Nebraska Cornhuskers game started so Aden and I watched the football game on my phone while Andi drove and Tory sat with him in the front seat. Huskers dominated Colorado! It was a fun game to watch.
We arrived to our destination in Big Timber, Montana around 7pm, about 30 minutes before sunset. In Montana, anyone can park or camp at fishing access points along the riverfronts. Andi picked Big Rock Fishing Access point on the Boulder River. We found a perfect spot right on the river and there was even a picnic table there to use.
When Aden looked out the RV window and saw a river outside, he exclaimed “Yessss!” and ran down to the water. Tory and Andi quickly followed while I stayed back to tidy up the RV a bit after a long day of driving.
Andi threw together a quick dinner on the Blackstone grill of thinly sliced steak, steamed broccoli, rice, and breadsticks. As the four of us sat at the picnic table eating, I asked Andi, “Is this meat kind of crunchy or are my teeth breaking?” Every bite of food was gritty.
“There might be a little bit of dirt in our food,” Andi said with a laugh. “I didn’t wipe off the griddle before I cooked the meat, and we just drove in on that dusty gravel road.”
We all laughed, and laughed, about that. Nobody was particularly hungry after hearing there was crunchy gravel in our food. Andi and the kids capped off their dinners with scoops of Talenti gelato we’d picked up this afternoon at the grocery store in Dickinson.
After dinner, Andi and Aden said they were going to go swimming in the river. The water was ice cold, so Andi decided to only dipped his feet in and splashed water on his face. Aden was determined to swim, despite the temperature. He waved in the water a few times and then discovered a man-made pool that someone had previously built with rocks.
After laying in the “pool” of icy water for a few minutes, Aden said, “I’m going in.” And, he did! Crazy kid. That water was not warm. Aden dipped his whole body into the water and played in the strong, shallow current.
He was frozen afterwards, so he hopped into the RV shower for a quick rinse. The four of us spent the rest of the evening watching episodes of Heartland on Netflix. I was so tired after a busy few weeks at home that I didn’t last longer than an episode. Our night of sleep at the Big Rock Fishing Access point was fairly quiet, except for a big duly truck that idled nearby for 30 minutes or so around 10:45pm. The air temperature dropped into the 40s tonight, so it was great sleeping weather.
Tomorrow, we’ll continue our drive to the western side of Montana.
