Great Falls, Montana to Yellowstone National Park

We left Malmstrom Air Force Base this morning and drove to Yellowstone National Park. We were both excited about going to Yellowstone... this would be the first visit to that famous National Park for both of us.

Heading southwest out of Great Falls, we drove on Interstate 15 which follows the Missouri River for about 60 miles before dropping south toward Yellowstone.  

This stretch next to Missouri River was just beautiful... so much so that we got off the Interstate at one point to meander around to take a closer look.  Anyway, we stumbled across this fishing area.  There was not a soul around... just us and Mother Nature!

Yellowstone is a huge park with lots to see and do, and my research indicated  that driving the Trek around the park would not be a practical option. So I had reserved a car from Budget Car Rental in the little town of West Yellowstone, which is literally right outside Yellowstone's west entrance. We picked up the car and Lynda followed me into the park, headed to the Fishing Bridge RV campground. 

Just driving from the West entrance to the RV park was wonderful! On the way, I saw Mule Deer and Elk, and the scenery was amazing. To give you an idea of how big Yellowstone is, it took about an hour to drive from the West entrance to Fishing Bridge.

I have no doubt that we are going to have a wonderful time here at Yellowstone, but I have to say that the Fishing Bridge RV park is very disappointing.  Based on reviews I had read online, I did not expect this to be a particularly good facility, but it's even worse than I thought. The check-in process was awkward and there was a cluster of RVs all tangled up in the check-in area when we got here. The sites are very crowded together and the roadways are narrow. In fact, I managed to hit a post that was sticking out of the ground about two feet - just below my line of sight. There are no picnic tables, or even space for a table, and (believe it or not) the majority of sewer pipes are raised by15-24 inches so you have to empty your tanks against gravity. Really disappointing!

Anyway, based on what I've read and seen so far, I think we are going to really enjoy Yellowstone despite the shortcomings of Fishing Bridge!  We only have two full days here and so we're doing some careful planning to get the most out of our time. Stay tuned!