Livingston, Montana
9/7/2018 to 9/9/2018
The Northern Gateway to Yellowstone Park
Saturday 9/07/2018 We left our campground near Glacier National Park and headed towards Livingston, Montana. The drive was a little further than we like to drive in a day so we found another campground about halfway there. We backtracked and drove through Missoula again and then caught interstate 90 east. Since we were only staying one night I just picked a place along the way. It was called Bearmouth Chalet RV Park in Clinton, Montana. I had called a couple of weeks ago and reserved a spot. When we pulled in I couldn't find anyone to pay or tell me where to set up. I walked around, knocked on a couple doors but nobody was around. We decided to just pick a spot and find someone later. The campground was almost empty so we pulled into a pull-through site and set up. Later in the day a couple of other RVs showed up and finally, someone came around and collected my money. It was a nice place but very close to the freeway and railroad track. We could hear the traffic all night long and a train seemed to come along about every half hour.
Saturday 9/08/2018 Today we are heading to Livingston, Montana which is 195 miles away. We are staying at an RV Park called Osen's which is right outside The Historic Downtown section. We wanted to stop here to visit where Wendy housesat for several months a few years ago. She loved Livingston and wanted us to see her apartment building and the owners who became friends of hers. After we set up the trailer, we drove to the downtown area, parked and walked around the streets enjoying the historic buildings and all the shops and eateries along the way. We then took a drive to the Sacajawea Park that Wendy liked walking to. It's a very nice community park with outside activities and is situated along the Yellowstone River. The water is this section of the river was very low but still made for beautiful photos with the mountains in the background. We took a long walk on the path near the river and then drove back into the downtown to find something to eat. We decided on Montana's Rib and Chop House (which was recommended by Wendy) but we didn't know we needed a reservation. Luckily they had a small table on their outside porch area and we were able to be seated right away. We enjoyed a very good dinner and then went back to the trailer for the evening.
Saturday 9/9/2018 We enjoyed breakfast downtown at Gil's Goods which was also recommended by Wendy. It is very close to The Grabow Building where she housesat and she liked walking here for baked goods. Afterward, we drove to The Grabow to meet her friends, Chris and his mother, Patricia - the proud owners of the Grabow. During the busier tourist season, Patricia is a tour guide on a Yellow Bus and sometimes Chris drives the bus. This bus is a historic vehicle that was used by Yellowstone National Park with their tour groups in the 1930's. Patricia was thrilled to be able to secure one of these buses for Livingston. We weren't able to take the Yellow Bus tour because it wasn't running anymore but Chris and Patricia graciously invited us to take the identical tour in their own car. Chris chauffered us around the same route while Patricia explained all of the historic sights. We had a wonderful time discovering all the history of Livingston, Montana. Chris needed to get back so he could go to work and we went back to the trailer for a few hours.
Later in the afternoon, we walked around the train depot where Chris works. There were many very interesting displays on Livingston's train depot history and another section upstairs that showcased the many movies which were set here. We stayed until closing and then drove back to the Grabow to meet Patricia with plans to go out to dinner together.
The first photos here are of the inside ground floor area of the Grabow. As you can see, there's beautiful, antique furniture as well as a pictorial history of the Grabow and it's family members. We chatted for a few minutes here before we began about a 45-minute drive to a new, luxury lodge and restaurant called The Sage which is situated on the banks of The Yellowstone River and the Yellowstone Park is only 35 minutes away. It was truly a grand rustic lodge and the restaurant is in a separate building. This happened to be their opening night but Patricia had made reservations and we were seated immediately. The food is cooked over an open wood fire and you can watch the chefs at work. The dinners were artfully arranged on the plates and tasted fantastic. We enjoyed several hours of dining and conversation. Thank you very much, Patricia and Chris! We had a great time!
Saturday 9/10/2018 Today we packed up the trailer and are headed to Yellowstone National Park.
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