Leaving It All Behind for Big Sky
There’s no perfect formula to change your life completely. We sold 99% of our belongings including our house and cars. The clothing, furniture and necessities are a large obstacle for some especially sentimental collections, photographs, or art. For us, it really became a freeing experience. We have found that we need less, and even after two or three years on the road we were still looking to lighten the load. Your experience and needs will be different, but we can help you through this period including how to efficiently sell and donate your belongings. We will try to advise you on what you need and don’t need.
We eased into the Full-Time life by purchasing our RV well before the launch. We kept it in storage at the National Indoor RV Center in Atlanta, for a time, used it for vacations and short trips on long weekends. NIRVC has centers in several states and provides very good service that we count on. When we have major work or annual service, we use them. We moved out of the house and to the rig while we negotiated our remote jobs. Trust me, we had major speed bumps and challenges, but our focus was unbroken as we hit the road.
The Lakota Indian School and Museum
It’s quite a ride from Hotlanta to Big Sky and we had never been that far in our rig before. We made several overnights, passing through Nashville, St. Louis, Kansas City and Sioux Falls, traveling due West. We visited St. Josephs Lakota Indian School Museum in Chamberlain, SD. They have a beautiful campus on the Missouri River. This would be the first of several fantastic small museums in small towns that we would discover. We spent approximately two hours at the museum. We stayed a few days at a nice RV Park on the West side of the Missouri that is part of the Arrowwood Resort. It is right on the river with a walkway and there is a boat marina at the hotel.
https://www.stjo.org/, https://arrowwoodcedarshore.com/
Buffalo Gap Ranch
Our adventure continued and we arrived at the Visitor Center for Teddy Roosevelt National Park on a cool, foggy July day. Our RV reservation was at Buffalo Gap Guest Ranch located between Medora and Sentinel Butte, ND. We battled the muddy washboard road to the ranch and found it mostly empty, but open. There were few guests, but the location would suit our needs fine. Full hook-up was $40 a night, there is a full restaurant, gift shop, a wide variety of hunting available as well as horseback riding and boarding about $15 a night. It’s 20 minutes to Medora (North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame) and 30 to the National Park.
http://www.buffalogapguestranch.com/
Teddy Roosevelt National Park and the Bison
On this cool cloudy day, we were excited, again, to see the largest mammals in North America. At 6’ tall at the shoulder and weighing up to 2,000 lbs., they are also known to be the most ferocious. We made our way into the park and two minutes inside was our host. We encountered a herd of about 50 near the end, turnaround of the park road. You’ll also find large fields of Prairie Dogs; you’ll hear the squeaking and squealing. On a pretty day you can spend the whole day here, enjoy a picnic. We keep chairs and a table with us.
https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm
Wall, South Dakota
You’ll see cool sculptures of horses, bulls, and wildlife along I-90 and about 100 advertisements for the Mall of Wall. It’s worth a visit and has everything touristy. But we headed to a canyon wall at Badlands, SD. From I-90 at Wall, take SD-240 South towards Badlands National Park. Just a couple of miles and you’ll pass a small lake to the left (East) and you’ll see two radio antennas, take the first dirt road left to the canyon wall. WARNING: If it’s wet, it’s slippery and likely soft. Many a rig, 4WD or not can get stuck, we did. But we did make it to the edge of the canyon in our Class A, towing our Jeep. Boondocking right on the edge you will see amazing landscape views. You can see for miles, and you may see thunderstorms. Keep an eye out as the weather can get dangerous. RECOMMENDATION: Park more than 12’ from the edge. We stayed two nights and visited Badlands NP. It has an amazing, rugged terrain, hence bad lands or “mako sica” named by the Lakota people that you can hike and hunt for fossils or drive through and enjoy the beautiful views.
https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm
AIM for Big Sky, Montana
We met up with the All Inclusive Motorhome Club (AIM) for a Rally with 50 rigs parked in the Skier’s Parking Lot at Big Sky Resort. This well-organized Rally included just about all our meals, and they were great, no exaggeration. Also included was Happy Hours, Rig and Equipment education, provided by National Indoor RV Centers, Overnight Camping of 4 nights and 5 days, Helicopter Ride with Yellowstone Helicopters over the mountains and Earthquake Lake, a Cowboy Cookout, Pitchfork Fondue, Swag Bags or Gifts and some entertainment. This style vacation isn’t usually our style, but we had an absolute blast!
We met some very nice people from all over the country that we are still in touch with today. The seminars by NIRVC were good and everyone who had a question about their rig was provided with a service tech to inspect their rig right there on sight. No charge of course. After a gondola trip to the snowcapped peak at Big Sky, we did a little Zip-Lining on the ski mountain. One of the real highlights of the Rally of course was the helicopter trip out of West Yellowstone Airport. We paid a little extra and extended the flight to an hour and those mountain views were well worth it!
Our last night at this Rally included the Cowboy Cookout at the 320 Ranch located along the Gallatin River. AIM arranged two buses to take the group to the ranch. Most of the guests were “primed” for a fun night. The buses arrived at the ranch and the guests boarded horse drawn wagons to take them to the dinner tent. As we arrived a group had loaded a wagon and there was a crack of thunder and lightning. The horses took off with the loaded wagon at full gallop down the dirt road and our new friends were filled with excitement. Ahead was a sharp, 90 degrees turn to the left and at that speed, I expected the horses to jump the split rail fence. Luckily the experienced cowboy with the reins in his hands was able to slow the horses and they made the turn safely. Our host turned to our group and asked, “who’s next?!” Some of our new friends were apprehensive but we jumped right in. The Cowboy Cookout was fantastic with all you could eat, delicious Ribeye Steaks and BBQ Chicken. The offer cabins, private parties and events plus a lot more!
That was our first month full-time. There is so much more to the first trip including California, Utah and Arizona. Those stories are “Coming Soon.”
