Saturday August 2

We rolled in into Montana finally!

We stopped at a rest stop and definitely observed this sign…however, no one bothers to trim the overgrown bushes next to the sidewalk.



However, this sign we defaced. Spreading the love all around the country!







We arrived at Red Lodge, MT, around 1pm. Red Lodge is an awesome little town, has a really cute little downtown, much like downtown Holland but even cooler and surrounded by mountains.




And the place of our dream home.




We enjoyed some fish tacos for lunch, bought some dehydrated meals at an outdoors store, and got some treats at the world’s finest candy store, Montana’s Candy Emporium. When I walked in, I (Amy) even said, “this is the candy store of my dreams.”



Following our candy binge which necessitated a short break on a park bench, we proceeded on to the Red Lodge Animal Refuge. We met several animals who had either been injured and abandoned by their mothers, or were taken illegally from the wild and raised as pets until they were rescued by the Refuge.

B: It was a sad sort of place until you realized the animals would have died without the refuge.


This is Tony. For many years Tony picked pockets on the New York subways. After a run in with some tainted goods and a pretty bad trip, they picked Tony up two thirds of the way through a riveting performance of Rogers and Hammerstein’s State Fair in Grand Central Station.



Julius was picked up hitchhiking I-90 in late fall a few years back. Everyone wondered why he would not have moved south to escape the punishing Montana winter. He is a relatively quiet resident at the refuge as long as he has one cup of Earl Gray, 83 degrees, one lump sugar and a Carbon County Newspaper every day at three.



Sandra has a past no one knows much about. Some say she was an active and important tier 2 member of a certain south American drug cartel that shall go unnamed. Others say she killed a family member. One less likely story includes a box of M-80’s, 53 mail boxes and 7 different sub-divisions. The bottom line is no one knows and she ain’t saying.



Can you spot the two asses?

Right now there is a large forest fire in the Beartooth Mountains, just six miles from Red Lodge. Many people have already had to evacuate their homes, and there is a strong scent of fire in the air and even ash blowing around in town. It was neat to see all the businesses with signs supporting the firefighters, some businesses even closed to help fight the fire.







We stopped for the night at a campground right on Rock Creek. It was a lovely spot by the LOUD river. We slept about 15 feet from the river and you would have thought we were sleeping next to Niagra Falls, it was so loud.




We grabbed a Pony Express pizza from Red Lodge Pizza Co. and some local Red Lodge brewed beer and enjoyed a great dinner on the river.



Earlier in the day, we heard about a recent bear attack at a campground. A grizzly went after a biker in a tent – he was able to fight the bear off by pushing the tent between them but still got a chunk taken out of his hand. As a result, we slept in our tent with the bear spray and a screwdriver next to Bryan, and Amy slept with a flashlight around her neck. We told you we would be safe, Moms. ☺

And finally, a forest fire sunset.