Hey, we're in North Dakota. How many of you have ever said that? Hwy 85 north from Belle Fourche, SD, to I-94 in North Dakota is a 175-mile, mostly straight road with rolling prairie on either side from horizon to horizon, broken occasionally by buttes or rocky outcroppings. There are few trees, fewer houses, lots of cattle, sheep, some horses, and a good number of pronghorn antelope. The landscape is dotted now and then with big rolls of hay and the odd oil well pumping away. However, once you get into ND, there are more cultivated fields. We went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park at Medora, ND. We drove the 35 mile scenic loop. It looks a lot like South Dakota's badlands, but it is much greener, not as dry and dead-looking. We only saw ... read more

We took the Kings Hill Scenic Byway (Hwy 89) south from Belt, through a beautiful valley, alongside Belt Creek, into Lewis and Clarke NF. It's a lovely drive through the Little Belt Mountains, over Kings Hill Pass, el 7393, past Showdown ski area to White Sulphur Springs where we turn east on Hwy 12. As we head east, it becomes drier, less green, more sage. We've only gone about 1/4 of this trip on interstate highways. In our opinion, if you're not in a hurry, the scenic byways are the way to go. At Billings we got on I-90 east and stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. They have quite a museum there and the grave markers and interpretive trail are pretty impressive. There are yellow wildflowers everywhere.... read more

We headed east on US Hwy 2, which skirts the southern part of Glacier National Park. We stopped at Goat Lick Overlook (which was recommended by more than one person.) We actually did see several mountain goats, big and small. We crossed the continental divide (again) at Marias Pass, elevation 5220'. I think before this trip is over, I'm going to have to sit down and count how many times we crossed the continental divide. At East Glacier Park (that's the name of the town) we headed north on state road 49, a winding, climbing road that overlooks the valley east of Glacier NP. We entered the park again at St. Mary and took the Going-to-the-Sun Road west back to West Glacier. St. Mary Lake is gorgeous and the glaciers and waterfalls on the east ... read more

It is 32 miles from West Glacier, MT to Logan Pass, up the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP. We made the round-trip drive in only 5 hours and around 150 photographs. The best description I can give of Glacier National Park's scenery is "WOW!" And if the snowy mountains, glaciers, lakes, rivers and waterfalls aren't enough, today we saw a moose enjoying his lunch from the bottom of a pond, bighorn sheep watching all the people that were watching them, a mountain goat totally ignoring the traffic going by or stopping to take his picture near Logan Pass, and a golden eagle soaring overhead. They just finished digging out Logan Pass and the visitor center there. There is still snow beside the walkways that is 6' deep or more. Snowball fights are ... read more

Craters of the Moon National Monument was other-worldly, but beautiful. The lava flows, boulders and cones were fascinating. But the really amazing thing was the wildflowers growing out of that dead-looking black ground. There are 750,000 acres of lava, that in some places looks as if it was just spewed out of the ground and tilled up in rows. We drove the Sawtooth Scenic byway through Sun Valley to Galena Peak Summit. It was a beautiful drive, but the towns of Ketchum and Hailey had a kind of phony frontier facade feel (how's that for alliteration.) Galena Peak Summit looks over the Salmon River Valley to the Sawtooth Mountains. A gorgeous wide view. The Salmon River Scenic Byway runs along the Salmon River for 162 miles. The climate changed from green, lush mountains to dry ... read more