Travels with Jan & Ron

Monday, July 6, 2026

7/5/2026

We drove again to Dickinson for church at St. Wenceslaus, laundry, dog park, and a musical about Teddy and Alice at Dickinson State University. The lead actor did a great job as Teddy Roosevelt.

7/4/2026

7/4/2026 America's 250th Birthday

We drove to Dickinson, ND (50 miles) today for their 4th of July Parade. We arrived 2 hours before the start of the parade at 10am, found an empty lot and parked.  Ended up that we were near the beginning of the parade route, so we set up our chairs and waited. Michelle, a Dickinson resident, sat next to me.  She has 3 kids, 22, 19 and 15 and the youngest was in the parade. We really hit it off and enjoyed one another's company. She recommended Phat Fish for lunch and when we arrived, we were seated at the table next to her, her husband and aunt.

The parade had 80 entries.

A great spot to watch the parade

Colors

Pack horses

Class of 76 had a lot more participants than any other class

Actors from the musical Teddy and Alice. We will see this play tomorrow.

Huge flag

our lunch spot

Saturday, July 4, 2026

7/3/2026

We were up early, thanks Sammy, and decided to drive to the National Park despite high traffic congestion warnings. It was not at all busy. We drove clockwise around the park loop and were rewarded with Bison everywhere. The huge herd was relocating by using the road in front of us. They stayed on the road for over 30 minutes as we crawled at a snail's pace behind them. The blue car in front of us  got bumped a few times. After this miraculous ride, we chanced heading into Medora and found a parking place right away. After a walk around town and an ice cream lunch, we returned to our campsite.

Thursday, July 2, 2026

7/2/2026

7/2/2024

We traveled from Billings, MT today to Buffalo Gap Campground, ND (off I-94). Fourteen miles from here is Medora, where many of the Fourth of July-250 celebrations will take place. This small town is so congested that they have designated specific exits off I-94 for remote parking with free shuttle access. We don't have any plans yet to go into town. Sunday and Monday we have reservations in the National Park, so we will have to go to Medora. (Photo is of hills along I-94)

This is our first hot weather in a long time.  86 today.  Sunday will be 96.  Glad our alternator is fixed!

6/30/2026

Life at Cracker Barrel:

Last night when we pulled in, there were a few RVs.  By 9pm, the lot was full.  We've never seen more than a few at any Cracker Barrel.  Next to us on one side was a wreck of a small trailer pulled by an old truck filled with personal belongings in the truck bed.  Pretty sure they were homeless. Until late, the guy worked on his vehicle which seemed to have major problems. At 10 pm, a U-Haul pulling a car slipped in next to us on the other side. He ran his engine all night for a noisy sleeping experience.  At 3pm, the first neighbor started work on his truck again.  That continued until about 7am. They are still here. 

After breakfast (of course at Cracker Barrel),  we relocated to an end spot with a power outlet and we plugged in.  Woo hoo! 

Our alternator is scheduled to arrive between 11 and 3 tomorrow.  We are hoping for 11.  

We are grateful that Cracker Barrel allows us to park in their lot, even if there are minor issues.

Monday, June 29, 2026

6/29/2026

We left our campground this morning and headed to the town of West Yellowstone to do laundry. Then into the park and headed north to I-90. We arrived in Billings late this afternoon and talked with the Mercedes dealer who will install our alternator when it arrives. Yay! Our campsite tonight is Cracker Barrel with 7 other RVs. Nice grassy area for Sammy.  The winds are howling, but no precipitation.

Pot-holed road in our campground entrance

Recent snow in the park

Sammy likes to ride with front legs on my lap.

We thought this was real, but it's a wrap.

6/28/2026

628/2026

Last night, after a long day on the road, we pulled into a Forest Service Campground with no services and NO OTHER CAMPERS.  It was not a good campground. Because it was late, we decided to stay. Since we are preserving our house battery power because of a non-functioning alternator,  we kept Star-link and the inverter off. Once I turned it on, I read a message from Jane Riggs that we were in the path of a winter storm! Thank you Jane!! It was too late to move on, so today we awoke to snow and a winter storm warning. After 2 hours of driving in poor visibility, snow and slush, it turned to rain. So we are headed to a campground before west Yellowstone. 

We arrived early this afternoon at Lonesomehurst Campground just west of Yellowstone. We are plugged in and cozy inside a nice warm RV.

Our campsite this morning.  Snow is just beginning.

Winter storm warning.  Visibility was poor

6/27/2026 We are at a campsite with no plug ins tonight so battery power will be conserved by turning off Star-link and the inverter. (May Creek Campground off Route 43 in Montana.) Very rainy today and tonight we may have snow flurries.

Fuel prices are much better here

Storm clouds up ahead

Traveled along the Clearwater River most of the day

6/26/2026

We went out to dinner last night and when we settled in at Cabela's parking lot, Ron realized our battery power was very low. After a day of driving, it's typically 100%. Today Ron consulted with Advanced RV, shared some diagnostics and determined we have a faulty alternator. They will ship one on Monday. Tonight we are in McCay Bend Recreation Area (BLM) in Julietta, Idaho on the Clearwater River.