Rapid City to Deer Lodge

June15.We left Monday morning and drove as Far as Billings MT. We decided to try and stay at a Walmart. I called ahead they said no problem, but make sure you park at the far end. No problem, until we got there and found that the parking lot was small and to find space to park anywhere was a challenge. We did manage to fit, but just barely. We planned to straighten out or repark when the person, parked in front of us, moved and the parking lot thinned out. The car did move around 5pm but before we had a chance to move, someone else backed in even closer than the last. We stayed where we were. I hwas having trouble sleeping with the traffic. The tire air pressure alarm went off around 11 and at 2am my clock went off and the refrigerator alarm was going off and saying low battery. I had to wake John to start the generator to recharge the battery to make sure the fridge stayed cold. For me, it was a long night.
June 16, Tuesday. With me guiding John out of the space, we left early the next morning. I increased my driving time to almost an hour!!! We stayed in a town called Deer Lodge for the night. Close to the interstate, with mountains in the distance. We just relaxed.
June 17. On our last leg of the trip by ourselves. We had a little less then 4 hrs before we reached Kalispell. We didn't want to leave too early so we took the time to eat breakfast at a nearby resturant. Later I would call and make sure they could accommodate us a day early. As usual the scenery was beautiful. In Missoula we picked up 93 and headed north.-----for about 5 miles then we hit construction, Major construction. Sometimes 'no road' construction. Two lanes-heavy traffic-no shoulder-35mph speed limit( should have been 5mph.). This lasted for almost an hour it seemed like forever. John did a great job! We found the campground easily, Spruce Park on the River.
Peaceful! Here is where we will meet up with everyone else for our Alaskan adventure.