Road Trip Day 18: Red Lodge, MT to Miles City, MT

June 26, 2019  Day   18          Miles         288            

Begin Red Lodge, MT             To Miles City, MT

Roads Traveled   Beartooth Highway 212, MT 308, MT 310  I-90, I-94

Slept at Tongue River Winery B & B

No tennis today

Wildlife Sitings: Lots of cows

The view today is a bright, blue, cloudless sky above Broadway Ave. in the middle of downtown Red Lodge.   The Pollard Hotel breakfast is filling and yummy. Instead of a buffet, we could choose from the full breakfast menu. Bub has been enjoying biscuits across Montana.

Breakfast at the Pollard Hotel, Red Lodge, MT

A fresh berry jam tops it off today, instead of gravy.

Berry Jam on Biscuit at Pollard Hotel

Oh my…my skillet has lots of healthy stuff such as spinach, onions, tomatoes and asparagus and includes heartier fare with crispy potatoes and melted brie cheese topped with 3 scrambled eggs. (no, I didn’t finish it and it did negate the need to have lunch today!)

Skillet Breakfast at the Pollard Hotel, Red Lodge, MT

Since the Beartooth Highway was closed yesterday, I am elated that it is open this morning. I didn’t want to go all the way back (68 mi) to Cooke City, but did want to drive up this side, which we heard was was the prettiest part, to the summit. Bub grumbled, not wanting a detour, but, oh well, I was driving!

Switchbacks on the Beartooth Highway MT

I drove carefully through switchbacks that snaked higher and higher

My car's navigation picture of the switchbacks Beartooth Highway MT

for about 30 miles until we finally reached the 10,947′ summit.

Summit of Beartooth Highway, Montana

Snow was piled high on either side of the road. The road was clear and dry, however, except for a few big rocks that had slid down. 

Breath-taking and 

View driving up Beartooth Pass,MT

awe-inspiring barely describe adequately 

Beartooth Highway Switchbacks

the views here at the top of the world.

As we drive back down, we can see the “Beartooth” in the distance.

Beartooth at Beartooth Pass, MT

There is quite a bit of traffic in both directions and lots of motorcycles (and a few brave bicyclists!) but we are traveling as fast as we’d want to go and the whole detour takes just a little more than an hour.

The clouds build and, by noon, they are dark and ominous. The fire warnings, because of all this recent rain, are now showing LOW. There have been so many fires in recent years, this is good. We do get rain off an on over the next few hours.

When we get back down to Red Lodge, we take roads less travelled (Montana 308 and 310) to head over to Miles City for tonight’s adventure. I had to fight with the navigation guidance and Google who both tried hard to get me on the Interstate. Bub had a big AAA map and he proved, once again, that he is a good backroads navigator.

We do eventually get on I-90 and I-94 to get to Miles City and find

tonight’s stop at The Tongue River Winery B & B

Entrance to Tongue River Winery

Locating the winery was made easier by little wooden signs they had posted at all the turns after the cemetery. It was a good thing, because the GPS navigation said we were off the grid and too bad

(well, she didn’t really say, ”too bad” but clearly didn’t know how to get us there).

Approaching The Tongue River Winery, we saw fields of grapevines growing in front and in back of the building displaying a big sign for Wine Tasting. I still chuckle that Bub told my friend, Jacqueline, in Salem that we had seen lots of wine growing on the drive from Ashland to Salem!

Grapevines at Tongue River Winery, Miles City MT

The best of all worlds, I think, must be a winery with wine tasting and bottles of wine and a cute and comfy Airbnb accommodation. 

We start out in their Tasting Room with 5 or 6 different wines. The proprietor, Bob, is willing for us to taste as many as we want. 

There are quite a few sweet, fruity red wines, like cherry and rhubarb (the best seller) and huckleberry. We do sample, but they are too sweet for our tastes. We choose the drier reds. We buy some Brothers and Tongue Tied and head off for our room.

Our Room at the Tongue River Winery B&B,Miles City MT

We open and toast with the Brothers wine.

Montana:Brothers Wine, Tongue River Winery

Which we enjoy with another picnic dinner of crackers and cheese, sausage and the remains of my skillet breakfast. A good night’s sleep beckons!

Ah, the good life!

2 thoughts on “Road Trip Day 18: Red Lodge, MT to Miles City, MT

  1. Oh my goodness! The heights from Beartooth made me dizzy just looking at your pictures (I’m the one who can’t handle the height of a bunny hill with skis on!) Love your adventures on the roads less traveled.

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