Billings And The Yellowstone River

As detailed in the previous post, we made our destination. And none too soon; the 'Day Without End' in Nebraska had efficiently drained what small surplus had existed in our 'time bank', and it was now the 4th of May. Allison's first day was tomorrow, and we normally appreciate and require at least one day to get our act together after a long move...

Billings, Montana, Taken From The Rimrock:


The campground we had planned to use in Billings (which shall in this account remain nameless because 'if you can't say something good' blah blah) we found to be, for reasons any RVer will find familiar, unacceptable. That was disheartening, because I had spent innumerable cell minutes, and untold aggravation, to get these people to return phone calls from Georgia during previous months, just to get a reservation.

In any event, we found ourselves in front of the Billings KOA Kampground which, if you are unfamiliar with the franchise, was the very first KOA. It was founded in the '60s by a guy who 1) owned some unused land directly on the Yellowstone River, and 2) sensed an exploitable economic and cultural zeitgeist in the making. This phenomenon was personified in the hordes of Americans streaming through Billings heading for Yellowstone, the Beartooth Wilderness, and other pristine and, until advent of the Interstate Highway System, largely inaccessible parks and other recreational venues.

Anyway, the worldwide headquarters of KOA is still in Billings, downtown, and here we were at the campground, without a pre-made reservation (a BAD thing, we have found through unpleasant experience, at the very start of the busy season) sitting on their front doorstep.

Luckily the beginning of May, in this area, is still considered the tail end of winter, and the VERY nice proprietors (who have owned this place for thirty-five years) still had openings for the season.

Among veteran RVers, and among those who tent-camp but are not quite hard-core enough to go 'backcountry', KOA is known and appreciated as kinda a 'gold standard' in family-oriented parks. There are nicer campgrounds around, and more-expensive ones as well, but the KOA franchise is a solid, well-run business and when you stay at a KOA you can be assured of a good experience. In order to maintain his franchise, a KOA owner must agree to allow the corporation to inspect the facility on a 'snap' basis, and it is not unknown for a rogue operator to lose his right to display the KOA insignia if his facility doesn't measure up.

So, we were glad to get a spot here; the ONLY other option in Billings (which after all is a city of only about 90,000) is a (again nameless) place that calls itself a 'Trailer Park and RV Village' which, to the informed, means a run-down block consisting of mobile homes interspersed with 30-year-old Airstreams with no wheels.

Almost done, for now, with my signature endless introspection and mind-numbing crap! The KOA here is among the prettiest and most scenic we have experienced; our spot is about 30 feet from the Yellowstone River, with the Crow reservation bordering the shore opposite ours. That means there are NO buildings in sight, and it's mostly just pine groves and sandstone cliffs for a view. Deer, waterbirds, the occasional coyote, tons of Canada geese, and LOTS of prairie dogs are our neighbors. We are content.

Outside Our Front Door, Looking West:


Same Thing, Except Looking East:


A Neighbor Family:


A Solitary Fisherman:


When Listing Neighbors, I Forgot The Random Peacock:


Quiet Contemplation And A Blurry Dog:


Snowmelt Beginning To Cover Playa:


This Log Was High-N-Dry Two Hours Ago:


Taken At Indian Pictographs Park, Right Across The River:


Also Taken At The Pictographs Park:


That's about it for now, your author requires nourishment; man cannot live on Blog alone...(THAT was really stupid, sometimes I can't believe what falls outta my head)

COMING SOON: The Little Bighorn: A Really Lonely Place To Die. Missoula And The Clark Fork Canyon. We See Evidence Of The Biggest Flood In Earth's History. We Raft The Blackfoot River. We Climb The Bison Range. The Ghost Rails. And Much More.