After 5 days on the road, we reached our first “long-term” location – Yellowstone’s Edge RV Park in Montana. We are a about 35 miles north of the Northern entrance to Yellowstone National Park, and our ultimate destination on this trip.
Unlike the last 2 days, today’s drive was relatively short (only about 4 hours). But what it lacked in time it made up for in atmospheric pain. Strong winds, nearly head-on to our course of travel, made maintaining anything close to the 80 MPH speed limit absolutely impossible in Livvy. The buffeting winds blowing sheets of rain against the windshield made things even more challenging. However, by the time we exited Route 90 and started south, the skies began to clear.
The drive continued south down the center of what is known as “Paradise Valley”. It took no time at all for us to understand how this area got its name. The perfectly flat center stretch at the floor is enclosed on either side by tall peaks, many still draped far downslope in the late-season snow which fell last night. The sun peeking in and out of the clearing sky was a spotlight, drawing our attention back and forth. It was truly incredible.
Our home for the next 5 nights is nestled right along the banks of the Yellowstone River. In fact, our site backs right up to the banks. The river is running very high and very fast and adds just the right background noise. I can say that in our RV travels so far, this place tops the list!
We arrived just after noon, set up camp, and ate lunch. Then we began the wait for our friends Wes and Erin to arrive. They were only a couple of hours behind (they left the Cleveland area on Sunday and drove like MAD to get here!!), so we had time to walk around the park and along the river.
It was strange watching Wes and Erin (the Wolfes) pull into the park. We last saw them a couple of weeks ago, for some last-minute planning, at B-Dubs. Now, here they were pulling into the same RV park as us in Montana, about to start an amazing 9-day excursion. We had been planning this trip for over a year and it was wonderful to finally get things started!!
Wes and Erin’s RV, affectionately named Bertha, is a bit bigger than Livvy. And by a bit, I mean a LOT. Bertha is on the left in the picture at the top of this post. She is 40 feet long and over 13 feet tall, and she dwarfs Livvy. Plus, she has a drop-down back that becomes a floating deck. Very nice place for us to share a welcome glass of champagne looking over the river!
After cleaning up, the Wolfes took us to a favorite restaurant of theirs for dinner at a resort called Sage Lodge. The food and drinks, while wonderful, paled in comparison to the view. The entire lobby opens out to a breathtaking vista of Emigrant Peak and the surrounding foothills. We couldn’t believe that this party, which began with an invite from the Wolfes more than a year ago, had begun! We followed dinner with drinks in the Saloon at Chico Hot Springs as well as a tour of their grounds.
And after a nice glass of wine watching the moon rise over the peaks to our east and the Yellowstone River, we are now getting ready to turn in. Tomorrow we will start bright and early for our first day in the first National Park. Not sure what we will do or what we will see on this first foray, but I can bet it will be spectacular.
Oh, and if you caught that the title of this post is a take-off of the first chapter in The Hobbit, you obviously are a nerd like me.
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