After all the joking about the eclectic (Dave N's suggestion!!) yard art in the RV park we were in last night everything really turned out quite well. The park, although a little over the top in "artifacts" as our DWLP friends call them, was a very nice oasis for us and really quite cheerful. We rested well and were bid farewell by our hostess when we pulled out of camp at 9:10. As a footnote...I stated last night that the park had FOUR sites. I miscounted...it had THREE!

The skies were cloudy as we set out and we had a very few minutes of light sprinkles . The humidity, I noticed, was 43% which is not much by Mt. Juliet standards, but much higher that the 22% we had yesterday! It is amazing what a difference that makes. We didn't go far...just about three tenths of a mile to the Roundup Post Office where we mailed a couple of birthday cards. After that, we were on our way in the direction of Billings, MT coming through some very rocky and desolate looking areas.

On the outskirts of Billings, we stopped for fuel paying $3.59/gal getting 9.6 mpg. John was frowning over that until he remembered that we ran the generator over an hour and a half yesterday when we stopped at Walmart. A mile or so down the road we pulled into a laundromat (clean with good machines) where we got everything washed up, finishing that chore at 12:15.

Never going into Billings itself, we turned NE for 27 miles, heading towards Pompeys Pillar. On our drive, we crossed the Yellowstone River and passed a train carrying rails . It is our understanding that the rails today are a mile long between welds. This train certainly looked as if that could be the case. It was VERY long and the rails we saw seemed to go on forever.

After arriving at Pompeys Pillar at 1:00, we had lunch in Mufasa and relaxed for a few minutes before heading to the interpretive center. It was quite warm (88 degrees) under bright blue skies, and as I said earlier, the humidity was higher than we have been used to the last few days. As we drove into the park, the (young) ranger at the toll booth said, looking us over VERY carefully, gently let us know that the walk to the top of Pompeys Pillar was 200 steps up...and 200 steps down. I think she was under the impression that at that point, we would turn around and get the heck out of Dodge. Hummph. Just because "there is snow on the mountain", it doesn't mean that we are over the hill...at least not as far as she seemed to assume that we were!

Now for a little history of Pompeys Pillar: On July 25, 1806, near present day Billings, MT . Clark named a sandstone outcropping "Pompeys Tower (now Pompeys Pillar) after Sacagawea's son who was nicknamed Little Pomp. On the rock face Clark inscribed his name and the date. This signature is the only physical evidence "on site" of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Clark wrote in his journal on that day, "...this rock I ascended and from its top had a most extensive view in every direction...emence herds of Buffalow, Elk, and wolves."

According to one of the brochures on this place: "Following the Yellowstone cottonwoods down-steam first by horse, and later canoe, it is clear that Captain Clark was busily claiming the territory. It is also significant that he recorded these marking in his journal. As a result, albeit by good fortune, William Clark's signature on Pompeys Pillar remains to this day. It is the only known physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, appearing on the trail as it did two hundred years ago. Further, this means that Clark's signature is the embodiment of the claim by the United States, under the Doctrine of Discovery, to the Louisiana Territory and the interior of North America . In other words Clark's signature on Pompeys Pillar is the physical manifestation of a legal document representing a land claim by the Unites States. This signature is as valid today as it was over two hundred years ago." Captain Clark left many marks on the trail. Only this one remains.

Proving our ranger at the entry booth wrong, after listening to a movie in the interpretive center and reading some of the exhibits, we courageously set out on our own Voyage of Discovery and trudged up all 200 steps, and happily (and more easily) came back down them later. It really was a fantastic view from the top of the Pillar. John took a video which, as usual, I may or may not be able to get out tonight. I think you will be amazed. We could see the winding Yellowstone River below us and, with our eyes squeezed a little shut and out of focus, could imagine the small group of men camped there on its shore and hear their scramble up to the top of Pompeys Pillar. Rhonda and Larry ...wish you could have been here with us!

I mentioned earlier in the blog that we made a Lewis and Clark Trail tour in 2001 with our friends Larry and Rhonda. However, we didn't do this part of it. We followed the trail out to Astoria, WA but did not follow any of the trip back because we headed north and across Canada instead. Today sort of put a cap on that trip and we are very glad that we did it.

Leaving Pompeys Pillar at 3:30, the temperature was 95 degrees! No wonder the gal at the gate thought we wouldn't (or shouldn't!!) climb to the top of the pillar! After our decent, we drank a lot of water as we were heading out towards Garryowen, MT. This was yet another road that we had not traveled on before and luckily we didn't run into any more road destruction (I mean construction!) on our way...until the last 1/4 mile, but that is another story that I will explain shortly. We continued to follow the Yellowstone River Valley north east for several miles before turning south . The hills were rolling with very rocky formations. We continued to follow the Lewis and Clark trail, crossing over the Little Big Horn River a couple of times as we passed the Custer Battlefield to our left. Since we have been to that venue several times, we don't have it on our list for this trip.

Our home away from home tonight is the 7th Ranch RV Camp. Now for the story of the last 1/4 mile: Congratulating ourselves on almost being through for the day we came, once again, to that dreaded Montana sign...Rock Road Ahead!! Yikes. They weren't kidding. The road we were on ended...and a rock road faced us. We could see the campground on a hill in front of us but debated turning around to head back in the direction from which we had just come and check into a KOA we had passed on our way. However, since we were so close, we decided to inch Muf up the gravel road and see what they had to offer. The folks here were nice and we decided to make it an evening. We have a beautiful 360 degree view of the area, we have very good electric, and only had to pull up on one block to get level. It is still quite warm...96 degrees when we pulled into camp...but the AC is working well, John is doing a short job of removing some of the flying wildlife of Montana off of Muf's face and we are getting settled in for the evening. Tomorrow I think we are planning to head towards The Black Hills. Stay tuned!

We drove 151 miles today.