A Restful Day in Red Lodge

Today we had a down day on the trip, a first in a long time.  No alarm clocks and early departure time.  After I woke up, I went to the Wheat Montana bakery for a cappuccino and a caramel sticky bun, and then I made Jeff and the kids pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  This resulted in very happy children, which, on a long road trip in confined quarters, is a very good thing.

With no long drive planned for today, we spent the day in Red Lodge and at the campground.  After breakfast, we went to the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary.  The sanctuary takes care of wild animals that for various reasons, can no longer survive in the wild on their own.   They have wolves, red foxes, a mule deer, a bison, owls, mountain lions, two elk, four black bears, turtles, a rabbit and some other birds.  The animals Henry and Ruth really liked were the Spirit, the miniature pony and Elijah, a donkey.  While we were watching them, the donkey brayed and the pony neighed and the kids got a kick out of listening to them chat.

We then headed into town to walk around a bit.  We checked out the book store to look for some local books and other interesting stuff.  Henry picked out a book about wolverines and Ruth found a new journaling book.

We then visited the Montana Candy Emporium, a wonderful candy store in a historic building with nostalgic decorations and antiques throughout.  The emporium had all kinds of candy, from homemade chocolates to candy we ate when we were kids to newer stuff.  They had candy cigarettes, Pop Rocks, Teaberry gum, Chiclets, pixie sticks, Squirrel Nut Zippers (I remember getting them at Halloween when I was little), bulls eyes (Jeff's favorite), and more than 20 kinds of salt water taffy.  There was an amusing and sometimes disgusting/disturbing selection of mints, including Underpants, Franks and Beans gum (the box said it was 100% vitamin free), pickle flavored mints and other wacky stuff.  Henry debated buying a O Henry candy bar he found there.  We filled a brown paper bag with candy we all picked out.  Jeff got bullseyes and jawbreakers; Henry got some gummies and red velvet cake and apple pie taffy; Ruth got Air Heads and Tootsie Rolls; and I chose huckleberry, root beer float, caramel apple, apricot and caramel swirl taffy.  I also picked up some homemade chocolate sea salt pretzel caramels that looked delicious.  If you're ever craving a candy you liked as a kid or one you just can't find in a store anymore, or some of the best saltwater taffy, you can visit the store online and order some.

Foster and Logan's 

After we got our sugar fix, we continued down the street doing some window shopping.  As we passed  Foster and Logan's Pub again, we got to thinking about the fabulous chili cheese fries, and well, it was lunch time, and we didn't have anywhere else to be, so what the heck, we went in.  Ruth and I shared an order of chili cheese fries and a salad and Jeff and Henry shared nachos.

Jeff had a conference call, so we headed back to the campground after lunch.  I wasn't ready to give up on Red Lodge just yet, but the kids wanted to hang out in the motorhome while Jeff got some work done.  They both had books they were reading, and Ruth was gearing up for another dip in the pool.

Note that all of the Franks and Beans
gum has been sold.  Yikes.