The Long Way to Red Lodge

The quickest drive from West Yellowstone to Red Lodge, Montana would be to drive through Yellowstone National Park, out the Northeast Entrance, and onto the Beartooth Highway from Cooke City to Red Lodge.   If we only had the Jeep, that would be a perfect drive.  But since we are driving a 28 foot motorhome that is towing a Jeep,  the Beartooth Highway is not for us.  The highway travels among about 20 mountains that are 12,000 feet or higher, and winds around many switchbacks to get over and around the mountains.  There are steep grades both up and down, so we drove Highway 191 north out of West Yellowstone along the park's western edge, up to Big Sky, then onto Bozeman and on I-90 over to Laurel, where we took Highway 212 down to Red Lodge.  

It was a scenic drive and relatively flat, which the motorhome enjoyed.  We followed the Gallatin River and then met up with the Yellowstone River on I-90.  Bozeman, Montana is a good-sized city with shopping malls and chain restaurants.  We spent one night there in 2009 and visited the Museum of the Rockies, which has great exhibits on dinosaurs.  I noted a few stores with Montana woolen products, rugs and home furnishings and might have to look them up online when I get home to see what I can find to put in our family room.  

We made it to Red Lodge around 2:15 p.m., and after hooking up the motorhome we headed into town for a late lunch and a grocery store run.  We went back to a place we ate at in 2009 and liked called Foster and Logan's Pub.  We shared a plate of bison chili cheese fries because it was what we had last time before our lunch.  Everyone enjoyed their meal and left pretty stuffed. Ruth only ate half of her lunch because she saw an ice cream parlor near where we parked the car, and she wanted to get ice cream for dessert.

Red Lodge is a mountain town with a historic main street full of restaurants and shops.  The ice cream shop has an old fashioned soda fountain in the front with a counter and stools.  So cool.  We're happy to be back in Red Lodge - this time to stay for a few nights instead of just visiting it for lunch on a scenic drive.