This is Mari dancing to the special guest Bluegrass band at the concert last night. Priceless:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
So Falls Great Falls
Sorry so long to post - been busy and the internet here is not as solid as recent spots.
We're in Great Falls, MT. , It's about a 4-hour drive the way we came - not by I-90 but a series of smaller backroads. Steph has developed a morbid fascination with the missile silo sites and spotted about 7-8 of them on the way. And about a half-hour out of Great Falls was one proudly proclaiming itself The First Ace in the Hole - Alpha - 1.
We made it into town for a late late lunch and went to the Pickle Barrel, a local sandwich shop. Think of it as a hole-in-the-wall...without the wall. Mixed reviews from the family on the quality of their meal.
We timed things well to do some local traditions - which is one of the things I love about a 'passing through' trip like this. We stopped by the Great Falls Farmers Market, we let the girls play in Gibson Park and attended a weekly concert by the Great Falls Municipal Band.
It was the girls' first real exposure to that kind of event - as a music teacher I'm ashamed to admit I haven't been able to get them to any kind of kids' concert to get them used to that...so it went...not stellar. Mari was actually okay. She stayed a lot more quiet and even at one point got up and danced around to the music. Now here's my philosophy on that - I don't expect my 5 and 3 year old to sit perfectly still and politely like little old ladies. BUT, I do expect them to be aware of the fact that there is a performance going on and to be respectful of that. So Mari was at least interacting with the music in some form - that's okay. At an outdoor concert especially. Faith on the other hand looked like she wanted to die and tried to ignore the concert by playing with the twins. I had a problem with that. So the upshot is, I need to start exposing them to that kind of situation more often.
ANYway, that was yesterday. Today we went to the Children's Museum of Montana - again, the usual thing on a very small scale, but charming for that reason. Today we are just hanging out in the trailer and letting the girls play on the AMAZING wet playground here at the KOA. PERFECT for girls their age.
Sigh. About this KOA. Very difficult to get a handle on it. The sites are total garbage. Muddy. Small. Cramped. Grass is ragged at best. Lots of plantings but tends to look over-run. All bordered by nasty old railroad ties. And there's an AMAZING view out the back of the campground of the surrounding countryside and the Little Belt Mountains...which no one can see because of all the trees. So it looks and feels awful.
BUT...everything else is amazing. The campstore/office gives away free cookies. They give away free tickets to the local minor league baseball team (which we plan to do tomorrow). They say that anything growing on the trees is ours to pick. The firewood is free. The playground is small, but one-of-a-kind, with tunnels, a tree-fort and swinging bridge. They have free nightly entertainment. The breakfast is cheap and huge and good. The wet playground is fabulous. There's an ice-cream cafe in the office. The bathrooms are immaculate. The staff is friendly and helpful. There's even supposedly a small petting zoo on site, although I haven't found it yet.
So I don't know what to think.
Anyway, that's all for now. More pics will be coming soon. One more day here in Great Falls then on to Glacier.
Matt
We're in Great Falls, MT. , It's about a 4-hour drive the way we came - not by I-90 but a series of smaller backroads. Steph has developed a morbid fascination with the missile silo sites and spotted about 7-8 of them on the way. And about a half-hour out of Great Falls was one proudly proclaiming itself The First Ace in the Hole - Alpha - 1.
We made it into town for a late late lunch and went to the Pickle Barrel, a local sandwich shop. Think of it as a hole-in-the-wall...without the wall. Mixed reviews from the family on the quality of their meal.
We timed things well to do some local traditions - which is one of the things I love about a 'passing through' trip like this. We stopped by the Great Falls Farmers Market, we let the girls play in Gibson Park and attended a weekly concert by the Great Falls Municipal Band.
It was the girls' first real exposure to that kind of event - as a music teacher I'm ashamed to admit I haven't been able to get them to any kind of kids' concert to get them used to that...so it went...not stellar. Mari was actually okay. She stayed a lot more quiet and even at one point got up and danced around to the music. Now here's my philosophy on that - I don't expect my 5 and 3 year old to sit perfectly still and politely like little old ladies. BUT, I do expect them to be aware of the fact that there is a performance going on and to be respectful of that. So Mari was at least interacting with the music in some form - that's okay. At an outdoor concert especially. Faith on the other hand looked like she wanted to die and tried to ignore the concert by playing with the twins. I had a problem with that. So the upshot is, I need to start exposing them to that kind of situation more often.
ANYway, that was yesterday. Today we went to the Children's Museum of Montana - again, the usual thing on a very small scale, but charming for that reason. Today we are just hanging out in the trailer and letting the girls play on the AMAZING wet playground here at the KOA. PERFECT for girls their age.
Sigh. About this KOA. Very difficult to get a handle on it. The sites are total garbage. Muddy. Small. Cramped. Grass is ragged at best. Lots of plantings but tends to look over-run. All bordered by nasty old railroad ties. And there's an AMAZING view out the back of the campground of the surrounding countryside and the Little Belt Mountains...which no one can see because of all the trees. So it looks and feels awful.
BUT...everything else is amazing. The campstore/office gives away free cookies. They give away free tickets to the local minor league baseball team (which we plan to do tomorrow). They say that anything growing on the trees is ours to pick. The firewood is free. The playground is small, but one-of-a-kind, with tunnels, a tree-fort and swinging bridge. They have free nightly entertainment. The breakfast is cheap and huge and good. The wet playground is fabulous. There's an ice-cream cafe in the office. The bathrooms are immaculate. The staff is friendly and helpful. There's even supposedly a small petting zoo on site, although I haven't found it yet.
So I don't know what to think.
Anyway, that's all for now. More pics will be coming soon. One more day here in Great Falls then on to Glacier.
Matt
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Billings Begone
Our last day in Billings was uneventful. It was a lovely (but extremely windy) day.
Visited ZooMontana - a pretty small operation, but enjoyable for that reason.
I managed to get all 4 kids with all their swim stuff down to the pool here at the KOA - no small feat. Had to prove to myself that I could handle it. Bad news is - no record of it. I can manage 4 kids in the pool but I can't get pics while I'm doing it. Maybe next time.
Dinner was at a really good local place called Rocket Gourmet Wraps - one of those places that you want to go back to about 20 times to try everything on the menu. The variety of Roly Poly with the size of Chipotle. Yum.
Went back to Paciugo again for dessert. How could we not?
But the highlight of the day was breakfast at Stella's Kitchen and Bakery. Known for their giant cinnamon rolls. Observe and be astounded:
Tomorrow on to Great Falls - going to be taking the backroads to get there. The gas tank is full. We're ready to go.
See you tomorrow!
Visited ZooMontana - a pretty small operation, but enjoyable for that reason.
I managed to get all 4 kids with all their swim stuff down to the pool here at the KOA - no small feat. Had to prove to myself that I could handle it. Bad news is - no record of it. I can manage 4 kids in the pool but I can't get pics while I'm doing it. Maybe next time.
Dinner was at a really good local place called Rocket Gourmet Wraps - one of those places that you want to go back to about 20 times to try everything on the menu. The variety of Roly Poly with the size of Chipotle. Yum.
Went back to Paciugo again for dessert. How could we not?
But the highlight of the day was breakfast at Stella's Kitchen and Bakery. Known for their giant cinnamon rolls. Observe and be astounded:
Tomorrow on to Great Falls - going to be taking the backroads to get there. The gas tank is full. We're ready to go.
See you tomorrow!
Pics - just hangin' out
Typical worried expressions:
This will scare you: Who took the picture? Who's driving?
This will scare you: Who took the picture? Who's driving?
Pics - the bent jack
Here's what the jack is supposed to look like.
Here's what one of them looks like now.
Basically the support pole slipped off our wood blocks and left this one jack supporting the weight of the trailer, which it's not supposed to do.
Here's what one of them looks like now.
Basically the support pole slipped off our wood blocks and left this one jack supporting the weight of the trailer, which it's not supposed to do.
HuHot!!! Paciugo!!!
Today was our 'do-nothing' day. Which means we did a lot.
Steph hauled the kids out to Target to get some supplies while I jogged around the KOA. Yeah...the exercise thing hasn't gone well. I haven't jogged since Sioux City - the morning of Day 3 if you're counting. It's not a question of motivation - there really is no time - it really would not be a good idea for me to get up any earlier to run. Oh, and as far as the diet...well, I plan to get back on after vacation. It's okay. I have NO doubt in my motivation and my ability to stay on track. The good news is that I am usually very good at breakfast and also don't snack much. But I'm pretty much letting go at dinner. More on that later.
When Steph got back, I took the kids out to a local park to get some energy out while Steph cleaned the trailer. Ran into some local punk kids at the park who were not nice to the girls...and this was probably their first experience with 'bad kids'. Faith was pretty upset, but I think she learned a lot from it...and she needs to understand that not all kids are nice, and how to handle it if they're not. Kindergarten is coming...and she needs to be able to be strong and stick up for herself. So...I'm glad it happened and nothing bad came of it. It's something to build on.
Lunch at the RV, naps, then shopping. Back to Target...don't even ask...then the girls and Bud wend to the Rimrock Mall while Dad and I went to find the local RV place - long story but there are some minor problems with the trailer. Two small leaks and a bent-up stabilizing jack. So we wanted to see if they could take a look at it. Long story there, too...short version: the same family owns the local RV place and the local Flooring and Design Co. Needless to say, dad and I were very confused for a while. At any rate, probably not going to get the stuff fixed on the road.
Picked up the rest of the family and went to HuHot Mongolian BBQ. We used to do Mongolian all the time but fell out of love with the local place back in Cincinnati. Then recently went to BD's up in Mason and decided that this might be a fun place for the girls...especially Mari with her love of veggies. HuHot is a lot like BD's - it's the sort of PF Chang's of Mongolian BBQ - not the local strip-mall fare, it's yuppified. But good.
Girls did pretty well. Faith was pretty whiney about the sauce but dealt with it and started to like it. Mari ate really well but was in one of her weird spacey moods so was a bit of a challenge.
After dinner we drove to Paciugo, which believe it or not is a rather upscale Gelato chain. Really amazingly good stuff.
So, one more day in Billings tomorrow. Probably going to ZooMontana with the girls, and then hanging out at the RV park getting ready for our next day's drive. This town is interesting. It's almost surrounded by the Rimrocks which give the whole town a sort of 'sunken' feel. And the weather is just bizarre. Today was a constant series of waves - blue sky, frighteningly dark clouds, blue sky, frighteningly dark clouds, on and on. And always you could see the next wave coming in the distance. Meanwhile while dad and I were driving around trying to find the RV dealer, the temperature would fluctuate 8 degrees within a mile or two. I wonder if that's normal for here. Anyone know?
We are putting together some cool plans for Great Falls. Stick around to find out!
Pics coming!
Steph hauled the kids out to Target to get some supplies while I jogged around the KOA. Yeah...the exercise thing hasn't gone well. I haven't jogged since Sioux City - the morning of Day 3 if you're counting. It's not a question of motivation - there really is no time - it really would not be a good idea for me to get up any earlier to run. Oh, and as far as the diet...well, I plan to get back on after vacation. It's okay. I have NO doubt in my motivation and my ability to stay on track. The good news is that I am usually very good at breakfast and also don't snack much. But I'm pretty much letting go at dinner. More on that later.
When Steph got back, I took the kids out to a local park to get some energy out while Steph cleaned the trailer. Ran into some local punk kids at the park who were not nice to the girls...and this was probably their first experience with 'bad kids'. Faith was pretty upset, but I think she learned a lot from it...and she needs to understand that not all kids are nice, and how to handle it if they're not. Kindergarten is coming...and she needs to be able to be strong and stick up for herself. So...I'm glad it happened and nothing bad came of it. It's something to build on.
Lunch at the RV, naps, then shopping. Back to Target...don't even ask...then the girls and Bud wend to the Rimrock Mall while Dad and I went to find the local RV place - long story but there are some minor problems with the trailer. Two small leaks and a bent-up stabilizing jack. So we wanted to see if they could take a look at it. Long story there, too...short version: the same family owns the local RV place and the local Flooring and Design Co. Needless to say, dad and I were very confused for a while. At any rate, probably not going to get the stuff fixed on the road.
Picked up the rest of the family and went to HuHot Mongolian BBQ. We used to do Mongolian all the time but fell out of love with the local place back in Cincinnati. Then recently went to BD's up in Mason and decided that this might be a fun place for the girls...especially Mari with her love of veggies. HuHot is a lot like BD's - it's the sort of PF Chang's of Mongolian BBQ - not the local strip-mall fare, it's yuppified. But good.
Girls did pretty well. Faith was pretty whiney about the sauce but dealt with it and started to like it. Mari ate really well but was in one of her weird spacey moods so was a bit of a challenge.
After dinner we drove to Paciugo, which believe it or not is a rather upscale Gelato chain. Really amazingly good stuff.
So, one more day in Billings tomorrow. Probably going to ZooMontana with the girls, and then hanging out at the RV park getting ready for our next day's drive. This town is interesting. It's almost surrounded by the Rimrocks which give the whole town a sort of 'sunken' feel. And the weather is just bizarre. Today was a constant series of waves - blue sky, frighteningly dark clouds, blue sky, frighteningly dark clouds, on and on. And always you could see the next wave coming in the distance. Meanwhile while dad and I were driving around trying to find the RV dealer, the temperature would fluctuate 8 degrees within a mile or two. I wonder if that's normal for here. Anyone know?
We are putting together some cool plans for Great Falls. Stick around to find out!
Pics coming!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
When Billings is a good thing...
Greetings from Billings, MT.
This is actually a decent-sized city in Southeast Montana - and I have to say, as much as I love the National Parks, it also felt good to drive through a little suburban sprawl today. And my sense of discovery and travel means that I can enjoy driving through a new city just as much as driving through the Badlands.
There's not a ton to do in Billings, not for our motley crew anyway...but that's kind of why we're here. Today was day 10, and a day to reset everything is in order. Tomorrow we will clean, do laundry, do some shopping to restock, and that's about it. Tuesday we may do a few touristy, sightseeing things, but for the most part, we're just taking it easy.
Yesterday after walking around Devils Tower, we kicked back at the campground. The girls played for a long time on the playground - a bunch of pics forthcoming. Then, Dad, Steph and I went to the campground's nightly outdoor showing of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" - for those who don't know, Devils Tower figures prominently in the plot. Now, this movie has never been a favorite of mine. It's frankly dull in spots, it's terribly dated now, and quaint. But it was a really cool experience to watch it outside at night with the shadow of Devils Tower right there. As I said, that KOA really has a fantastic sense of place. We really liked it.
The drive to Billings was uneventful, but almost disastrous. I got greedy. With a chance to stop for gas in Sheridan WY, I decided to plow onward. Problem was, I hadn't studied my map well enough...there's a long distance between towns in Big Sky Country - there are plenty of exits, but they all have this little blue sign that says "No Services". Well, long story short, I almost ran out of gas before pulling into Buffalo, WY. Kind of worrisome there for a while.
We had an early dinner at Mackenzie River Pizza Co. here in Billings - again, nice to have a little gentrified pizza after so many meals of buffalo burger and fries. Everyone LOVED their pizza and we're definitely thinking about visiting the Great Falls location in a few days (so much for keeping secrets).
Big storms here in Billings actually knocked out the power at the Billings KOA for a while. Interesting campground. The first ever KOA...along the Yellowstone River...very slick and clean and polished...but I don't know...seems kind of lifeless to me. Steph disagrees, and we may have a discussion about it later.
Well, gotta run, kids need to go to bed. Will post some pics later.
Matt
This is actually a decent-sized city in Southeast Montana - and I have to say, as much as I love the National Parks, it also felt good to drive through a little suburban sprawl today. And my sense of discovery and travel means that I can enjoy driving through a new city just as much as driving through the Badlands.
There's not a ton to do in Billings, not for our motley crew anyway...but that's kind of why we're here. Today was day 10, and a day to reset everything is in order. Tomorrow we will clean, do laundry, do some shopping to restock, and that's about it. Tuesday we may do a few touristy, sightseeing things, but for the most part, we're just taking it easy.
Yesterday after walking around Devils Tower, we kicked back at the campground. The girls played for a long time on the playground - a bunch of pics forthcoming. Then, Dad, Steph and I went to the campground's nightly outdoor showing of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" - for those who don't know, Devils Tower figures prominently in the plot. Now, this movie has never been a favorite of mine. It's frankly dull in spots, it's terribly dated now, and quaint. But it was a really cool experience to watch it outside at night with the shadow of Devils Tower right there. As I said, that KOA really has a fantastic sense of place. We really liked it.
The drive to Billings was uneventful, but almost disastrous. I got greedy. With a chance to stop for gas in Sheridan WY, I decided to plow onward. Problem was, I hadn't studied my map well enough...there's a long distance between towns in Big Sky Country - there are plenty of exits, but they all have this little blue sign that says "No Services". Well, long story short, I almost ran out of gas before pulling into Buffalo, WY. Kind of worrisome there for a while.
We had an early dinner at Mackenzie River Pizza Co. here in Billings - again, nice to have a little gentrified pizza after so many meals of buffalo burger and fries. Everyone LOVED their pizza and we're definitely thinking about visiting the Great Falls location in a few days (so much for keeping secrets).
Big storms here in Billings actually knocked out the power at the Billings KOA for a while. Interesting campground. The first ever KOA...along the Yellowstone River...very slick and clean and polished...but I don't know...seems kind of lifeless to me. Steph disagrees, and we may have a discussion about it later.
Well, gotta run, kids need to go to bed. Will post some pics later.
Matt
Saturday, July 11, 2009
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