jnjfraz

Maria
Sorry I thought you were getting in at 10:45 am.

Billings is 1 hour north of Red Lodge. As to road closures you can find that on the Yellowstone Park web site. I know that they have been doing a great deal of road work in the park and some roads are closed... but it is usually at night and they always post on the web.

maria_so

thanks jnjfraz. How about by Red Lodge area? Would I have problems by beartooth hwy to red loge then back down towards Devil's Tower and on to South Dakota? I was really more concerned of those road closures. I know the park should be ok when we are there but will double check before leaving.

maria_so

oh, padams, I am definitely not missing Crater Moon. I've been looking forward to that since that publication.

maria_so

ok, can someone recommend lodging for Red Lodge? I am getting so confused with all the little towns. Does Red Lodge have a "main street" area and if so, would it help to stay in walking distance to it? That wine bar/restaurants sounds really good to us. Does anyone know what the name is?

For that matter, can someone also answer the same questions for Custer, SD? (not the wine bar, of course but perhaps another spot to have a nice dinner?)

Thanks!

Dayle

Maria,

Yes, it's me. I went to Yellowstone (again) and Montana for the first time about a 1.5 ago. I enjoyed Montana, but was surprised it was SO dry and brown. Of course, when I was there some huge wildfires started and the smoke was so bad, I came home a couple days early. Just couldn't even breath.

When I go back, I will definitely make it an early summer trip.

In Red Lodge, I noticed a few charming little B&Bs, some low budget motels. There are nicer motels I'm sure. Nothing I can recommend as I had my pug, Yoda, with me and we stayed at the Super 8 where they like dogs! You know what those are like anyway.

It's a very small town with a Main Street area - the hwy that passes through. The wine bar/restaurant was on the east side of the street. It's a small enough town you shouldn't have any trouble finding it.

Hope this helps a bit more.

Hi BarbaraS!

maria_so

yeah, I just checked on some lodgings and amazingly, the one I liked, Pollard hotel, is booked for Sept 3!!! However, I found one (beartooth hwy and cabin) that's available. He said they were within the the city limits but a mile from the downtown area. Can anyone recommend this place?

BarbaraS

I highly recommend the Sage Creek Grill in Custer. The Comfort Inn is the highest rated on Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g6...ta-Hotels.html

Dayle - have you had enough snow yet?

maria_so

Been looking at the Custer lodgings and I think we're going to stay at Keystone. I know that Custer is closer to Custer State park but really, it's not that far from Keystone (~30 min drive according to mapquest)and we wanted to see Mt Rushmore for the evening lighting which is closer to Keystone(I saw someone mention that at another post so want to look into it). We also really wanted to stay put more at the end of the trip (and I like the feel of Keystone too, at least according to what I see on the web, vs Custer)since for most of it, we are moving around allot (Yellowstone mainly).

Also, I just booked Yodeler Motel in Red Lodge. I checked tripadvisor and they suggested to ask for an above street level room so I did that. Has anyone stayed there before? It looks like it's about 3 blocks from cute main downtown area. (I hope we can find that wine bar!!!)

BarbaraS

I think staying in Keystone is a fine choice. You have to do a lot of driving in that area to get to all the sites and it seemed to me that it was six of one or a half dozen of the other as to which was the best town to stay in.

Dayle

Maria,

I seem to remember seeing the Yodeler Motel in town, but didn't see the inside.

Barbara, Been shoveling a LOT. The piles at the side of my driveway are over my head now....the more the merrier!

maria_so

Ahhhh, snow! The only chance I got to see it this year was in Boston in early December. I miss it! We don't get much snow here in Houston....

BarbaraS

Houston sounds pretty good to me right now Maria! Dayle loves the snow, but I love the sunshine.

maria_so

haha. i guess it's always greener on the other side, isn't it. It is lovely weather here right now. sunshine and cool, not hot. is houston was like this all the time, it would be great. however, i'm not that optimistic...

marg

If you are near Cody, Wyoming, we'd recommend a visit to the Buffalo Bill Historic Centre. We've been there twice and spent hours looking at all the exhibits.

jnjfraz

We went to Red Lodge for a Willie Nelson concert and stayed at the Comfort Inn. It was clean and nice. There is just one main street with some interesting bars and shops... don't think the wine shop existed or we would have found it. That year was a big fire year in the park and we watch one start in the background as we watch Willie Nelson, very odd indead.

We're in Idaho Falls with a Cabin by West Yellowstone. All of this area has had a serious lack of moisture the last few year. This year Idaho Falls is heavy snow and West Yellowstone is average. Large problem in this part of the world.

maria_so

jnjfraz, is the route to jackson hole you mentioned above awhile back from idaho through swan valley and teton pass, is that hwys, 26, 31, 33, then 22 to Jackson?

Also, on the way back from Arco, we want to do a grocery shop. What is a good grocery that would be well stocked en route (close to the hwy)?

Many thanks!

maria_so

How does this route look?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e...82&ie=UTF8&z=7

maria_so

Ooops. Sorry. Let me try it again.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e...82&ie=UTF8&z=7

maria_so

ok, maybe not then.

anyway jnjfraz, if you can let me know about that route and a grocery store you recommend in Idaho Falls that's pretty well stocked but near the freeway enroute out to Jackson Hole, that would be great!