TRAVEL DAY
From: James Kipp Recreation Area Campground, south of Malta, MT.
To: Billings KOA Holiday Campground, Billings, MT.
Day 352 – We moved rapidly out of the fire-ridden Icefields Parkway in Alberta Canada and into Montana U.S.A. We stopped for 6 nights at the James Kipp Recreation Area Campground adjacent to the Slippery Ann Elk Viewing Area. Now it’s time to move on for several one-night stays until we reach another destination campground site where we’ll have a longer stay again. The campground we are going to today for one night is a KOA Kampground, which offers full hook-ups. It’s time to dump tanks and get fresh water.
Check-in time for the KOA was 3 p.m. (and they would charge us extra if we got there early), so we took our time getting ready to go this morning. As we were hooking up the Honda to the RV, another trailer pulled into our campsite to grab it. That’s how competitive it is here for a site. They were patient and told us not to hurry as we went about the process of hooking up and checking the lights, tires, etc. (It still seemed a bit brazen to me.)
We departed James Kipp Recreation Area Campground at 11:50 a.m. It was 66 degrees and sunny. It was warming quickly out. It’s gonna be a hot one. The drive was somewhat boring at first because the terrain was flat and barren, but about half way on our journey, it became hilly again and there were lots of trees. We stopped at the town of Roundup, Montana and had our lunch at a pull-out. Roundup, it was, since there were loads of cattle on farms and ranches.
The roads were in good condition and there wasn’t much traffic. Just two-lane highways and we encountered very few towns. We saw lots of Cows and Horses and a few Antelope. Also there were some oil wells here and there. As we approached Billings, MT, the big-city sprawl began with some housing developments. Billings was a large, bustling city. We crossed the Yellowstone River and got briefly on the I-90 thruway before getting off at the exit for our campground.
We arrived at the Billings KOA at 3:02 p.m. We had reservations for one night. We were directed to site #M2, a back-in campsite with full hook-ups (YAAA) and a patio. It was a nice campground. We were surrounded by big rigs, much larger than us. We could use air conditioning to our heart’s content, which was a good thing since it was 92 degrees and sunny outside when we arrived.
Because it was much later than we usually arrive, we had little time between unpacking and dinner. But it’s just for one night so it doesn’t matter. So grateful for the A/C under these hot conditions, we will relax and sleep just fine.
For more detailed information about Billings KOA Holiday Campground, Billings, MT, click here.