Tag: Billings

Lake Elmo

Greg and I had a bit of a tussle this morning over what we were going to do today. He wanted to go kayaking on Lake Elmo, and I wanted to take the bike trail along the Yellowstone River.

Guess who won the tussle? Yep.

We went kayaking on Lake Elmo.

Thankfully, the water was a comfortable temperature, and there was a light breeze that kept us from getting too hot.

This little fellow hitched a ride on my shoe. I wonder if he was drawn to the color, which was not unlike his own.

After our kayaking lap around the lake and lunch in the car with the air conditioning on, Greg condescended to take me to a park where we might be able to see the Rimrocks with the Yellowstone River flowing at their base.

We discovered that the bike path was within biking distance of the campground. If only we had known sooner!

Bees and grasshoppers

Just a quick side note. We have been amazed at the number of bees buzzing about Billings. (See what I did there?)

We hardly have any in Pennsylvania anymore, but it seems like everywhere we went in Billings, there they were.

Knock on wood that I get out of this city without getting stung!

I also loved all of the flying grasshoppers. You couldn’t walk anywhere without encountering one every few feet.

This little guy was giving me the evil eye.

Billings

I have not been impressed with Billings as a vacation destination. It is not a pretty city, and it doesn’t seem to have much in the way of cultural or recreational opportunities.

Weirdly, the KOA (i.e. campground) was packed. A lot of the older folks were on their way to or from somewhere, but there were also lots of families.

Of all the campgrounds we’ve been to, this one was the busiest and seemed to have the least reason for it.

Tomorrow we are headed to Yellowstone. At last!

Pictograph State Park

After a leisurely morning and a visit with our next-door neighbors, who asked to have a tour of our trailer, we headed to Pictograph State Park.

I have to confess that this state park was a bit of a disappointment.

After touring the visitor’s center, which was pretty informative, we headed down the trail to take a look at the caves where the pictographs were.

The pictographs were almost impossible to identify. In fact, I really only saw two in the first cave and none in the other two caves.

This is the largest pictograph I was able to identify. What does it depict? I have no idea.

The scenery was amazing, though. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Four Dances Natural Area

Billings seems to be ringed by a series of cliffs called the Rimrocks. There are a couple of parks along the top of the Rimrocks. Four Dances Natural Area is one.

Since it was just down the street from Pictograph State Park, we decided to stop there and take the trail up to the scenic overlook.

This was another disappointment, but one I was expecting (based on my research before we began our trip).

The scenic overlook overlooks a refinery. Not exactly the most beautiful view!

Next, we headed to Lake Elmo State Park to check it out. Greg is interested in possibly kayaking there tomorrow.

It’s a small lake right within the city limits and should be perfect for kayaking, assuming we get there early enough to beat the heat.

105 Brewery

Then we headed to 105 Brewery, where I had my first ever beer. 🤢 🤮

Two Moons Park

There is a bike path that goes along the Yellowstone River right below the Rimrocks. We decided to see if we could figure out how to get on that bike path.

Greg thought we might have access from a tiny county park called Two Moons Park, so we headed there after our beers to check it out.

It does, indeed, provide access to the bike path, so maybe we will give that a try tomorrow as well.