It was a cool morning when we left Jam and Mary's Rv Resort in Missoula, MT and headed east to Billings Montana.
It had rained for the past several days and on top of the mountains off in the distance there was snow on the tops of those mountains. It was beautiful to look at and we were so very glad that we were not going to be driving in the snow!!We arrived in Billings and pulled into the Billing KOA (Kampgrounds of America). As it turns out this is the very first KOA in the country.
The year was 1962. Billings, Montana businessman, Dave Drum, walked his cottonwood
-shaded land along the Yellowstone River. He watched the baggage-laden cars and RV's zip down U.S. 10 pm the way to the Seattle's World Fair.Drum knew that affordable places to stay along the was were few and far between for those weary travelers. He saw an opportunity.
Drum quickly constructed a campground on his land that offered hot showers, clean restrooms, a small store and a patch of grass - all for $1.75 a night.
The campground was an instant hit! Today there are 475 KOA Kampground locations throughout the United States and Canada.
As we were setting up our campsite, another RV pulled in next to us and to our surprise it was a Tropi-Cal, exactly like ours!!!! It turned out that the couple was from Key West, Florida. They were new to camping and were not exactly where they were going to go from here, we shared some of our information with them. They eventually wanted to go to the Grand Teton National Park and were going to go through Yellowstone. We told them about staying in Cody and all there was to see and do there and then what there was to see in East Yellowstone. They thanked us for the information and the next day headed to Cody, WY. I hope they enjoy the area as much as we have in the past!!
That is all for now, we are heading out to Little Bighorn Battlefield soon....more later.
Candy and Johnny
