5 Nights

Part of what I (Tim) am enjoying about our current lifestyle is the unknown of what our next “home” will bring. Of picking a spot on a map, having no idea of what the campground might look like, how friendly or noisy our new neighbors might be, or even if there will be a spot for us. I am pretty sure Amanda enjoys this aspect as well, though she does get anxious wondering if a campground will be full when we arrive. (We have gotten the last spot in a campground about 3 times so far). The flexibility of having no real plan allows us to make the best of either situation, move onward if we feel there is a better spot down the road, or extend our stay if we so desire. Rock Canyon Campground fell on the plus side of the scale and we decided to extend our original 3 nights into 5.

Our most recent home

These 5 nights will be a new record for us. My notes show this is the thirtieth campsite in our 2 month journey. After the last two weeks that contained long drives across South Dakota and Wyoming and action packed days in 3 different national parks, we were ready for some down time. A few days to catch up on work, touch base with family and friends and generally just decompress.

Rock Canyon turned out to be perfect stop for just that. It is a small, ~30 site private campground just outside of Livingston Montana. Nestled along side the fast moving Yellowstone River and enclosed by 1000′ cliffs on two sides. Our site isn’t actually on the river and we only have about 10′ of grass between us and our neighbors, but we each have a big tree for shade, the folks are friendly and quiet and there is easy access to a calm river “bay” for all the dogs to swim in. (they would be immediately swept downstream if they tried to swim in the river itself). The town of Livingston is 2 miles away. So far we have taken advantage of the large Albertsons grocery store, the laundry mat, and a pizza place. When we leave tomorrow we will hit up the car wash and try to get some of the dust and dirt off the outside of the Airstream.

Site 19

Phin playing in the river bay, the main river is to the right, up against the cliffs.

Saturday we went west on interstate 90 for 30 mins to checkout Bozeman, MT. We ran some errands at the big box stores (The designers/planners had actually put a little thought into the architecture of the big boxes themselves), then walked the lively main street and found a candy shop where we got our afternoon ice cream. A nice enough town. I had originally thought it might go on our list of “town we may want to live in”, but now I’m not so sure. I didn’t see anything that really drew me in or excited me.

It is impossible for me to see a sign for ice cream and not stop.

We will spend the rest of this Sunday enjoying the sunny weather, gobbling up the wifi and cable TV, and taking the Phin for a swim or two. Tomorrow we will move about an hour west to Missouri Headwaters State Park. Will there be a site for us? (Most likely, their reservation system shows all sites available) Shade? Full sun? A view? Any good hikes or spots in any of the 3 rivers for Phineas to swim?

Here are a bunch more photos from the last few days.

Tim working hard, or hardly working?

Phineas hardly working

Amanda’s Zucchini bites

Bozeman Bench

This is Montana

Livingston, MT

Livingston, MT

Rock Canyon RV Park

Here is the Zucchini Bites recipe in case anyone is interested:

Makes: 12 bites

• 1 cup zucchini, grated
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cheese, grated (any kind works- I used Monteray Jack)
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water. Don’t skip this step. Otherwise the middle of the bites will be soggy.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, seasoning salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon, fill the muffin cups to the top.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.