Flathead Lake, Montana

Lake is one of the cooler lakes have have visited in my years of travel. The real selling point of the beauty is the fact that you can do so much in and around the lake. Spend a lazy day picnicking in one of the many State Parks along the lake or take advantage of the many water sports. Swimming, sailing, kayaking, fishing are just a few of the good times waiting at Flathead Lake.Flathead Lake is the largest lake in the western U.S. and the largest lake in Montana. Set against the backdrop of Glacier National Park, this picturesque lake is one of the cleanest in the world. Anyone who sets eyes on Flathead will agree that one could spend weeks or the rest of their life in the Flathead Valley of Montana.

Custer State Park \ Wildlife Loop

Custer State Park has become one of my favorite scenic drives. I know it isn't listed anywhere as a scenic drive which is just wrong. The scenery doesn't compare to the Badlands, the Rockies or many other parks but the variety of wildlife one encounters makes it a must go location. What's great is there are so many other things to do within a couple hours of Custer State Park that you can make a week of it easy.
The main thing everyone does here is the Wildlife Loop; an 18-mile loop around the park. Some of the critters you will encounter along the way are Bison, prairie dogs, 'begging burros', pronghorns and if you are lucky you may also run across mountain goats, bighorn sheep and elk. On our 'road trip' around the loop we saw more bison than we could count, in fact, we were stopped more than once by bison crossing the road. The pronghorns were one of my favorites and I would find them all throughout South Dakota and Montana. Actually we came across so many that I got in the habit of flashing my headlights to cars in the other lane so they had time to slow down....always trying to avoid 'road kill'
I actually decided not to camp here because I thought the number of animals might have been just too much for the Bean Dog to handle.

Badlands Region

Well, I got side tracked. I didn't realize just how close to The Badlands, Deadwood, and the Black Hills I was. I turned off my route to Montana for a couple days in South Dakota and I am so happy I did. I have been in the region of SD before but years ago. This part of the country is probably my number one recommendation for those that want a cheap outdoorzy vacation. Insane landscapes, historic towns, camping and so much more.

Started my tour of South Dakota with a scenic drive through The Badlands National Park. I had been there years ago and had forgotten how amazing the Badlands are. This is also where Bella encountered her first buffalo. She thought it was about the coolest thing she had ever seen. For the rest of my Badlands journey I had to roll up the windows whenever we encountered a buffalo. What's funny is that in the coming days and weeks we crossed paths with so many buffalo that Bella could care less. I really think I could have let her out of the car and she would have ignored them.
The horizon where incredibly stormy that day and make for some fantastic photos. Click here to check it out! The Badlands are an incredible sight to see on a clear day but with a storm brewing above it give it a whole different feel and I was thrilled to be there that day.

Additional Information
Entrance Fee: $15 (seven day pass) \ Free with a National Parks Pass ($80 a year)
Pet: only on paved roads and developed areas (strictly enforced)

Guernsey State Park \ Wyoming (June)

Well been touring about like a mad woman. Left Golden six days ago and began heading towards Montana. Spent a day at Guernsey State Park in Eastern Wyoming. Growing up in Colorado I have heard of how amazing Guernsey State Park is and finally had the opportunity to test it out. The water at Guernsey was mirror smooth and the cliffs surrounding it are the perfect backdrop. Even if you only have a few hours extra as you pass through this area I would recommend driving through the park as I consider it a top scenic drive.

Eastern Texas \ Huntsville SP & Lake Livingstone SP

HUNTSVILLE & HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK
Have spent the past several days checking out the State Parks of Eastern Texas. Wow, what beautiful country this is. Texas is one big ass state so I did take the freeway from San Antonio to Sealy where I got off and took country roads the rest of the way to Huntsville. This area is peppered with a number of State Parks and National Forests including Huntsville State Park, Lake Livingston State Park, Sam Houston National Forest. Not far off you will also find Crockett National Forest.
Once off the freeway I was driving along quaint country roads with giant trees shading my drive much of the time. In fact the tree canopy was so intense that my XM Radio lost it's signal. Cool!
I have become very good friends with my AAA map of Texas...in fact, it is looking more a great novel passed around for years. My new favorite thing to do is to take a turn then look at the map for my whereabouts.
The first day out from San Antonio I ended up in Huntsville. Not knowing anything about Huntsville my first impression, driving through the old town, was a tranquil old west town set against a forested backdrop. Bean Dog and I spent the day in Huntsville State Park which was absolutely beautiful. There is plenty of camping, fishing, boating and much more. One could definitely spent days reading books and hiking here.
Back to my first impression as someone who only decided to go to Huntsville cuz there was lots of green on the map (green=State parks, National Parks). I spoke with my Uncle (from TX) the day I left Huntsville and he informed me that to Texans Huntsville equal big bad prison. Apparently Huntsville Prison is the number one execution prison in the country. Funny how people have differing views on a place.
While in Huntsville there were two, count em' two festivals going on. The first was the General Sam Houston Festival. The namesake of this festival is General Sam Houston who led the fight for Texas Independence. He served as President of the Republic of Texas, United States Senator and Governor of Texas. He moved to Huntsville in 1847 and you can't miss the massive statue of Mr. Houston right off the I-59.
The second festival was the Airing of the Quilts. The history of this festival goes back to the pioneer days. Women brought their quilts across to Texas in covered wagons. These quilts were cherished possessions. Each spring, the quilts were brought out to 'air' in the sunshine following a long winter of use. The Airing of the Quilts Festival takes place on the Square in Historic Downtown Huntsville.
If you are passing though Eastern Texas take time out to check out Huntsville and Huntsville State Park.

LAKE LIVINGSTONE STATE PARK
After spending a couple days in Huntsville I just took off driving with no particular place to go. After just a couple hours wandering the countryside I ended up in Livingstone. Livingstone is only 45 minutes east of Huntsville but I took my own way. This is another quaint country town with a State Park just a few miles down the road.
Bean Dog and I had a good time at Lake Livingstone State Park. Grabbed some goodies at H-E-B, local chain grocery store, and took off for a day at the lake. Another gorgeous park with tons to do. Plenty of camping, hiking trails, boating, biking and even horseback riding. Like all the State Parks in Texas; Lake Livingstone is quiet during the week and packs out on the weekends. Bean and I had no trouble finding a fantastic spot with a lake view for a picnic. After exhausting Bean Dog out with a long hike I did the Road Trip Junkie Radio Show right from the park....what a great background for a radio show.

Other Stuff
If you plan to camp in Texas on the weekends make reservations
Both Huntsville State Park and Lake Livingston State Park have stores if you forget something
Boat rentals available at both Parks
Dogs can go anywhere except building and water

Current Location: Rest Stop

I still have to catch up on some blogs from the past week or so. This blog is out of order....sorry. On my way from Beeville, TX back up to San Antonio to pick up my mom and sisters for a visit back down in the Mission, TX area. Running early so I pulled off at a rest stop about 60 miles south of San Antonio and lookie there....they have wifi. I will give the GPS coordinates on the Roadtripjunkie.com website for all those geocashers out there that may need to nip to the loo and catch up on some internet at the same time.
The weather out here is pleasantly cool, especially since I have been dealing with 95+ temps the past week. Crazy to me that Southern Texas it saucy hot from March-November.
Anyway, better take the Bean Dog for a spin around this high class rest stop. Miss. Bean has been eating strange bones that she finds the past day or two and spent the am puking in front of Best Value Inn. Bet y'all wanted to know that eh.

Roswell, New Mexico to Pecos, Texas

I forgot to mention in my last post that when I drove into Roswell my XM was playing "The Freaks Come Out at Night" by Whodini. I thought it quite fitting while rolling into Roswell.

Anywho. Only drove a handful of hours down to Pecos, Texas....'Home of the First Rodeo'.

There was actually a bit to do in this agricultural town off the 285. They have a museum showing the history of the area. There is of course the rodeo each year in June and a zoo that I never did see. Apparently the zoo is home to two dozen types of animals....by the way....the leaflet of Pecos shows a long horn for the pic of the zoo.

If you do find yourself passing through this sleeping little town make sure you stop at La Nortena. La Nortena is housed in an old warehouse building and makes a damn tasty tamale. There is a menu and you can either dine in or take out your food. The staff informed me that the tamales are made from scratch. They weren't kidding....they even grind there our corn in the back. To date this is the best tamale I have ever had.