Yellowstone Trail…..Montana

Well, we woke up in Miles City, MT to another good day on the road…..every day is a good day, it’s just some are better than others!

I don’t know about you guys, but it’s always great to start a day where someone inspires you to feel better about life and that happened this morning. Luke and I were loading the Roadster getting ready to leave our motel and an older couple approached the car on a brisk walk. The gentleman came up and asked “whats that outfit you’re driving”….I replied that it was a 1928 Plymouth. He paused for awhile and a smile crossed his face as he replied “why that’s the year I was born”…in the meantime his wife was looking over the car and said “this is a Dolly, a real Dolly….after another pause she looked at me and said “it’s just a darling….it brings back so many memories for my husband and I”…”thank you so much for keeping her alive”. I asked if I could take a picture of she and her husband with the car and she said “the picture is in my mind and we’re already behind on our morning walk”….with that they took off looking like the were 20 years younger. That made my day…..

 

Today was another real back road adventure…..most of it on gravel/dirt roads. I’d like to thank John Ridge and his wife as well as Mark Mowbray for helping us so much on the YT mapping.

 

Below are a few photo’s of today’s adventure

 

A driving break along the trail....in a week, the leaves should be spectacular!!

A driving break along the trail….in a week, the leaves should be spectacular!!

 

 

Along the Yellowstone River....

Along the Yellowstone River….this was a great drive!

We're not lost, just not sure where where we are..I liked the wooden bridge so we took a quick map break

We’re not lost, just not sure where we are..I liked the wooden bridge so we took a quick map break

Almost, but not quite a ghost town ....I think the bar is for sale if anyone is interested

Almost, but not quite a ghost town ….I think the bar is for sale if anyone is interested

Abandoned elevator next to the railroad tracks...I like the signage

Abandoned elevator next to the railroad tracks…I like the signage

Looks like rain tonight....hope it does as it will rinse the dust off the Roadster

Looks like rain tonight….hope it does as it will rinse the dust off the Roadster

Westward Ho….Should be in Spokane tomorrow….over nighting tonight in Butte, MT

Yellowstone Trail…Minnesota, S. Dakota, N. Dakota

We had a great drive today, but longer than planned. Since Western S. Dakota and all of N. Dakota basically follows Hwy #12, we decided to make it a long drive day and get to Baker,MT tonight. Unfortunately, Baker was completely booked motel wise due to N Dakota oil field workers, railroad workers and pipeline workers….who would have guessed that all the motels in town have long term reservations for M,T, W and TH nights. Our only choice was to continue west to Miles City, an 80 mile drive, which is much bigger….the problem was the same there, however, after being turned down at 4 motels, we found a room at a Super 8. At this point I would have taken a horse stall as it was by now after 9:00PM.

 

This will be a short post as I’m really tired, but wanted to share one great story today and a few photo’s of the back roads .

 

So, after some great gravel road drives we pulled into Ipswich, S. Dakota the home of the YT. We drove by the local Museum, however, it was closed so I took a drive down Main St and found a YT Mural painted on a building. I stopped to take a photo, at which point a lady came running out of a local business and was yelling “oh my god…I love your car, what are you doing in Ipswich? That led to our World Tour story at which point she insisted we go into her store….her name is Glorya Kackman and she owns the Red Bobbin Sewing Salon. Turns out Glorya is a costume designer and her store is a very cool place with all types of different clothing. To make a long story short, we got her to sign the car and had a great time hanging out. Then on the way out of town we found the Ipswich Arch that had been originally located at the entrance to Main St, then moved to Hwy#12, then moved again due to height restriction on the highway and finally to a nearby park.

 

YT mural on a Main St building

YT mural on a Main St building

Our new friend Glorya on Main St in Ipswich, SD

Our new friend Glorya on Main St in Ipswich, SD….she’s really a great very funny enthusiastic lady !!!! She made our day!!

Glorya signing the car...we're fast running out of room for signing

Glorya signing the car…we’re fast running out of room for signing. I told her I should park the car as I was stopped in the middle of Main St…her reply “this is Ipswich…there won’t be any cars coming by here, leave it where it is….you know what, she was right!

The YT Arch now at a park next to Hwy #12 in Ipswich

The YT Arch now at a park next to Hwy #12 in Ipswich

Heading onto another YT back road adventure....

Heading onto another YT back road adventure….

One of a couple historic YT bridges we went under

And finally, our first US Roadster incident….we met a large double trailer gravel truck coming at us at high speed on the highway and just as he passed us we heard a loud pop, and a small gravel chunk hit the windshield creating  a thumb sized rock chip in the windshield….at least it didn’t break it!!!

Rock chip in windshield....thanks gravel truck driver!!

Rock chip in windshield….thanks gravel truck driver!!

And our final goodbye to the back roads….an eagle nest high in the trees and a herd of buffalo!!!!

An eagle nest, I think, high in a tree...

An eagle nest, I think, high in a tree…

A small herd of buffalo...not something you see everyday ....

A small herd of buffalo…not something you see everyday ….

Hope some of this made sense…I’m too tired to think

Yellowstone Trail in Wisconsin….

We’ve spent the last two days in Wisconsin having a great drive on the YT through some super scenery and excellent back roads. I’d just like to say that  the YT has been a great choice for our final World Tour US leg. Anyone looking to do a local or cross country drive  should really check out the Yellowstone Trail….good roads, great history and scenery…I really don’t understand why it’s not better known and more traveled.

OK, on to the blog. We left Illinois last Sat AM and headed into Wisconsin following the YT route along the Lake Michigan shoreline then on to Milwaukee. At that point we left the trail and made the short detour to Hartford, WI, the home of the Wisconsin Automotive Museum. This is a “must see” if you are in the area as it features Wisconsin built cars including Kissel, Nash, AMC and as well as other unique car brands as well as historic dirt track racing displays and a fully restored steam locomotive….

The reason for the detour off the YT trail was to meet up with Mark Mowbray, the Executive Director of the Yellowstone Trail Assoc. He kindly agreed to meet up in Hartford for lunch and go over our YT maps….he is a wealth of information  and helped greatly in  our YT routing.

 

Mark and I in front of the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford, WI

Mark and I in front of the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford, WI

Luke and Mark Mowbray, the Executive Director of the YT next to the restored steam engine

Luke and Mark Mowbray, the Executive Director of the YT next to the restored steam engine….this baby is BIG !! I’m glad I don’t collect them…

Mark has produced a write up on the Yellowstone Garage located in Fond Du Lac, WI  that his father owned and operated and where Mark worked part time after school. It’s a great read and can be purchased on the YT website…www.yellowstonetrail.org. Mark had told us about the garage and it still exists today, only now called Northern Battery, also across the street is the Yellowstone Trail Park….see photo’s below. He has a lot of history and stories about the place as you can imagine…

 

1930's Yellowstone Garage in Fond Du Lac, WI

1930’s Yellowstone Garage in Fond Du Lac, WI

 

Yellowstone Garage today

We left Mark mid afternoon and drove to Stevens Point, WI for the night and met up the next morning with a tried and true YT fan….Connie Milz and her husband Ray and daughter Val. They were having breakfast in a nearby town, so we stopped to say hello to them and their breakfast group. We continued to drive on and Connie and family caught up with us after breakfast and spent the rest of the day following us and helping to navigate the YT to almost the MN border….we stopped for a quick lunch to talk about the World Tour where they left us and we continued on to Granite Falls,MN for the night.

Connie and her breakfast group....Connie is on the far left

Connie and her breakfast group….Connie is on the far left

I really love this building....it is truly unique. Check out the curved glass block!

I really love this building….it is truly unique. Check out the curved glass block!

A stop along the way to discuss routing...Luke, unkown lady, Val, Connie and Ray

A stop along the way to discuss routing…Luke, unkown lady, Val, Connie and Ray….

Below are a few random photo’s from the afternoon drive…

Back on gravel....

Back on gravel….

Young Amish girls on bikes ....you can only find this on the backroads!!

Young Amish girls on bikes,….you can only find this on the backroads!!

One of many Amish buggy's we came across..

One of many Amish buggy’s we came across..

A rock marker for the Yellowstone Trail

A rock marker for the Yellowstone Trail….back in the day, this is how they used to mark the route!!

The leaves are just starting to turn....autumn in the Midwest is so scenic!!

The leaves are just starting to turn….autumn in the Midwest is so scenic!!

Tomorrow on to South Dakota….Roadster is running great and weather has been very good overall…just a little rain today.