Jacqueline’s Jaunts

The KOA we are staying at is the  Billings KOA Holiday . They pride themselves in being the world’s first KOA. It’s a great park with lots of flower beds, as you can see in the photo of Julie below. My only complaint is that they have these pretty flower beds, but no one has weeded them for a while.  Today was a maintenance day. Barry worked on some RV squeaks we had, rerouted some wires, and tightened window screws. We checked out downtown Billings, ended up at Montana Brewing Company, and decided on appetizers for dinner.  Copyright © 2026 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

We were up early to leave by 9:00 AM for Billings, Montana. Once in Billings, we plan to hook up power, jump in the jeep (we decided to name her Charlie), and drive to  Little Bighorn Battlefield . They are only open Friday-Sunday due to the construction of a new visitor center. It looks like it will be a cool building.  On the way out of Yellowstone, we had a slight delay between Norris and  Mammoth Hot Springs. It was a bison traffic jam. The cool thing was we were in our RV, so we were up high and could see everything. I was able to get some great photos, and there was a “ red dog ”, a baby bison. Our last look at bison as we leave the park. I’m sad and really want to come back, but I’m so glad I got to experience the wonders of this park. It is truly incredible.  This little one still had its umbilical cord. We arrived at the  Billings KOA  around 2:30 PM. We checked in with the office, found our spot, hooked up the electrical, and off in the jeep....

West Thumb and Grant Village are only thirty minutes south of Fishing Bridge. Before we drove down, I wanted to stop at the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center again to take photos of the bird displays. I didn’t the other day and have no idea why. I mainly wanted to see the Sandhill Crane and the Great Blue Heron. These are the two birds I saw in a meadow the other day. We have seen a Great Blue Heron by our pond at home, but we have no idea how big they really are. I took photos of the other bird displays since I was there and love bird watching. The photos below are through glass displays so you will see reflections even though I tried to position myself around it.  Sandhill Crane Great Blue Heron The next stop was West Thumb. The visitor center is one of the last remaining old ranger stations. The gentleman who was working today has been working this one for years. He loves it. While I was getting my passport books stamped, he asked if we had been to Old Faithful yet. I said we had, a...

Today’s destination is Lamar Valley. This valley is supposed to be full of wildlife if you get into the area around 5:30 or 6:30 AM. From Fishing Bridge, it was an hour-and-a-half drive, so an early morning was not possible for us.  I think if we ever come back, we would stay in West Yellowstone and get there early in the morning. West Yellowstone has a nice-looking RV park.   We did stop at an overlook area, and a person who works for Yellowstone Forever had a scope hooked up to her iPhone. She let us look through it. We saw a black wolf running through the valley. Such a beautiful sight. Barry and I decided we are going to get a scope as she has. It will be great for all the NP Sites we plan on visiting. She had a map that showed each area where the different wolf packs hang out. The name of each pack is in the colored area of the map.  We stopped at the Tower Falls area and took photos. I could hear a bird but could not see it. I pulled out my Merlin app and recorded...