Monday = Mostly Montana

It was time to check out of our room at Canyon Village and begin our long eastward journey home.

We got up, packed, and loaded up the CRV, dropped off our key cards, and headed out of the park.  We had one stop to make on the way: the Virginia Cascades.  Although the view wasn't great, Debbie appreciated the opportunity to see one final waterfall in Yellowstone.

We continued our way toward the park's northern entrance in Gardiner. We caught sight of a couple elk and took time for a pull-off to take some photos.

We stopped in Gardiner to snap some pics of the Roosevelt Arch.  We stopped for a final passport stamp at the Yellowstone Forever store and grabbed breakfast at the Cowboy Grille.  Pros: great decor (guns), huge pancake, cons: slow eggs and Debbie was hangry.  (You wouldn’t like her when she’s hangry!).  We bought five gallons of over-priced gas to make it to our next destination.

On we went, heading northeast for most of the day, cutting across Montana and following the Yellowstone River.  Our path took us near beautiful snow-capped mountains, great stretches of 80 mph roadway where we were the only car in sight, and big sky country.  We stopped for lunch in Billings where we tracked down a not-very-conveniently located Chick-Fil-A.  

The next stretch was a bit nerve-wracking as I had planned to stop for gas about an hour after lunch.  The only problem was that there were no services to be found at that time!  Finally, Hysham had a nice gas station, although several miles off the highway.

We stopped at the Montana Welcome Center, which was ironic because we were leaving Montana.  Getting into North Dakota was a first for both Debbie and me.  The badlands were cropping up, and we knew we would have a chance to explore them on Tuesday for our Theodore Roosevelt National Park day.

We stopped in Dickinson for our 2-night stay.  We hit up a KFC for supper, a Walmart for supplies and a gas station to fill up.  Then we checked into our hotel and chilled for the rest of the evening.