A Workday in Billings, Then Sheridan

My first night on the road turned out to be a pretty good argument for free parking. I spent it in the Bass Pro/Cabela’s and Sam’s Club lot in Billings. There was a little highway noise, but nothing that caused a problem. I pulled out at 8:15 in the morning, with sunshine and an actual workday ahead of me.

Riverfront Park was Monday’s office. After leaving the Billings overnight lot at about 8:15, I was at the park for the workday, with the motorhome doing double duty as transportation and workspace. Starlink worked despite nearby trees, which is a useful reminder that tree coverage is something to evaluate at a particular parking spot, not an automatic disqualification. I stayed until late afternoon, then started working out how far to push after work. I still want enough time in the Ozarks to enjoy being there before heading to Alabama, rather than simply adding the Ozarks to a list of places I’ve driven through.

The plumbing was STILL winterized. I’d done that before leaving Helena to protect it from freezing nights, and now I was devoting enough thought to when I could turn it back on that the water system was starting to deserve its own project plan. Rapid City and Sioux Falls looked more promising, but the weather along the Wyoming stretch kept me cautious. I was still considering whether to put water in the fresh tank without using the pump, rather than pressurizing the whole system. No final filling or de-winterization was confirmed. So the question of when I get running water is continuing east with me.

I looked at a few routes out of Billings. The US-212 shortcut was tempting on paper, and there was a longer southern option, but the route through Sheridan and Gillette on I-90 looked like the sensible one for the motorhome after dark. I left Riverfront Park, stopped for gas, and headed toward Sheridan.

The fuel stop had its own little technical mystery. At the Holiday station on South Billings Boulevard, the pump hit its $175 transaction limit, so I had to start another purchase. Then it kept shutting off while I tried to finish filling. Between the two transactions, I put in 42.864 gallons for $188.56. That’s a fairly substantial drink, although I still wasn’t completely sure the tank was full. I reset the trip odometer and moved on. At least I’ll have a better baseline for fuel economy going forward.

I made it to Sheridan, stopped at Walmart for a few things, and started thinking about dinner. Also, whether to call it a night. Pushing farther would mean more miles behind me, but it would also mean turning a perfectly reasonable travel day into a late one. I checked what staying in Sheridan would do to the Ozarks portion of the trip. It doesn’t necessarily cost me that time, as long as I keep making steady progress over the next several days.

In the end, I decided Sheridan was far enough for one day and spent the night in the Walmart parking lot. There are still plenty of miles between here and Alabama, but I’m trying to remember that the point of this trip isn’t to see how many of them I can drive after an eight-hour workday.