West Yellowstone, MT

The decorations of West Yellowstone, MT

We've arrived at West Yellowstone, MT (got here yesterday) and unlike last time, all the hydraulics on our trailer worked.  When we were here in 2009 we were visiting with friends and acquaintances of the NUWA Owners forum.  This time we're stalling for time awaiting for the masses to travel on to Sturgis, SD for bike week.  Once they arrive at Sturgis, we'll move on east past Sturgis.

We took the scenic route (as if there's a non-scenic route to Yellowstone) from I-90 via Hwy 2 to Hwy 287 to Hwy 191 to West Yellowstone.  This route followed the Madison River and is well worth your consideration if you're coming from the west.  

Whether you're broken down or not, West Yellowstone is a great place to visit.  Today was "truck service" day.  Bozeman Ford always treats us well, so we take it there.  We got back late afternoon from Bozeman, and later in the evening we took a walk about town 

and did some shopping.  Painted buffaloes were the popular item the last time we were here.  This time it's painted (or pictures?) trash and recycle cans.

This trip we're staying at the Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park so that we can walk to most things in town.  It reminds us a little bit of Fort Wilderness at Disney World.  It's big rig friendly and priced as a prime location.  And while Montana doesn't have a sales tax, I found it interesting that 10% of our bill was due to various West Yellowstone Resort Taxes.  And it appears it's added to everything sold in West Yellowstone (though not always 10%.)  Diesel is $0.26/gal cheaper in Bozeman.  If you come this way, plan accordingly.

Tomorrow we plan to test the crowds and venture into Yellowstone NP.  Donna's pick her trails to hike, and I've yet to visit the Park Ranger Museum.  So if we're lucky, maybe we can check a couple of those off our 

"to-do" list tomorrow.  And there's still things in town we'd like to visit (Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center for example).

So that's it from us.  Until next week, David