The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 8 - Monday, August 10

We leave Hamilton, Montana and head south into Idaho and parts unknown. We'll keep you posted. But first, breakfast at the Coffee Cup Cafe:

We were going to stop here, right next to our motel, but it has been closed for a few months. If you know...

Nonetheless, we soldier on. We head south through the Idaho Rockies, the Salmon River-Challis National Forest, and the Salmon River Basin. A few photos:

Salmon River.

Random Observation from Randy: I have no idea where that tree came from. I was just trying to get a shot of the valley, you know... good composition. This will be my Christmas card next year.

We were alerted to the fact that Craters in the Moon was only 15 miles ahead, and, of course, we had to find out what the heck that was.

Well, here you go...

Apparently, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a vast, surreal ocean of basaltic lava flows, cinder cones, and rugged volcanic features in central Idaho along US-20/26/93 between Arco and Carey. Formed by ancient eruptions along the Great Rift, this 750,000-acre geologic wonderland mimics an otherworldly lunar landscape.

Ok, so everything after "Apparently" is AI.

But wait! We're not done! As we head south through Idaho into Nevada, we take a little side trip through Twin Falls, Idaho, to the scenic byway of the Snake River Canyon.

Favorite Towns: Wisdom, Idaho

                             Jackpot, Nevada

Favorite Signs: Bighorn Sheep Crossing - Next 5 miles

                          Rocky Knob Restaurant - Visit The Knob!

Things we cannot hang around for: Back to School BBQ - Darby, Montana.

Fire Hazard Signs - 3

One lane highways - 0

Next: Not sure. This is a big nation!

The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 7 - Sunday, August 9

We finally made it to Glacier National Park! But there is a snag: it's crowded, and it's covered in smoke.

Random Observation from Randy: I'll just assume all this is very pretty.

The day started with breakfast at Big Sky Cafe.

It's for sale, in case you are interested.

Some of the photos are eerie, obstructed by smoke. But some opportunities arose for clear photos. Nonetheless, here they are:

The only Glacier we could see clearly.

Logan Creek, dammed up.

Favorite Town Names: Elmo, MT

                                    Two Medicine, MT

Favorite Signs: Many Dancing Woman Trading Post.

                        Help Me Jesus!

                        Thank you faculty for teaching with heart!

Things we cannot hang around for: Shakespeare in the Park, Cut Bank, MT. (The Merchant of Venice.)

Fire Hazard - 2  

One Lane Highways - 0

By the way, we finally found a minor league baseball game in Montana after we left Glacier National Park. It was supposed to start at 3 PM. Unfortunately, it was cancelled because - you guessed it - an air quality alert.

Next: No promises!

The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 6 - Saturday, August 8

The best laid plans...

So we didn't make it to Glacier National Park today, nor did we see any baseball. Montana is too large for our ambitions. Six more hours of the scrub and cattle ranches. 

Move along now, nothing to see here.

Our day starts at the Bearstone Cafe for breakfast.

As you can see, they are all about the bears.

Once in a while, however, we see something rising above:

Notice the haze on the horizon. Apparently, all of Spokane is on fire.

Every town in this part of Montana.

Favorite town names: Straw, MT

                                      Chester, MT

Favorite signs: War on Weeds!

                          Glowin' Up Columbus

Random Observation From Randy: I didn't get what I wanted in this picture, and yet, I don't care.

Fire hazard signs - 1 Air Quality alert

One lane highways - 0

Things we cannot hang around for: City Park Community BBQ festival, Shelby, MT.

Next: No predictions anymore.

The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 5 - Friday, August 7

Well, we made it as far as Columbus, Montana, about 40 miles west of Billings. The trail took us to Route 85 west through South Dakota and into Wyoming. We then cut north into Montana and headed west from there. Forever.

It is flat, a scrub land used for cattle ranching, with a touch of rock outcroppings popping up here and there.

A few pictures starting in Rapid City and along the drive:

Bikers heading into Rapid City.

Spearfish, South Dakota

We had four hours of this.

The haze in the background is wildfire smoke. Air quality alert day.

The back of his motorcycle is modified to look like the old Chevy Bel Air. Notice the fins.

Cowboy behind a gas station hauling his horses back to the ranch.

Random Observation From Randy: We should pull over for the night, I'm getting bedsores already.

Favorite Town Names: Center of the Nation, SD.

                                        Lame Deer, MT.

Favorite signs: Mr. Liquor

                          Stoneville Saloon - Cheap Drinks/Lousy Food (Apparently not! The lot was full of                                         motorcycles.)

Fire warnings - 2 (including one air quality alert).

One lane highways - 1

Things we cannot hang around for : Sturgis Biker Rally.

Next: Glacier National Park and Minor League Baseball.

The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 4 - Thursday, August 6

Update: The Sioux City Explorers hang on for a 7-6 victory over the Lake County Dock Hounds.

Random Observation From Randy: I think Google is going to f*** with me today.

Maybe. 

But we start our day off with breakfast at Kate's in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. Kate's is a small Cafe and Ice cream /sweet shop. Kate's has an interesting origin story. Kate ran the Tip-Top Bar in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa from 1946 to 2000. There is a military base nearby, and she welcomed all of our military personnel into her establishment. There was a fish fry every Friday, where she would boil the fish and throw it onto newspapers spread on the tables and let everybody dig in. She also owned an antique shop next door (now closed) where she would lay out cots and let those who had had too much at the bar sleep it off for the night. The recruits at the base loved her. The granddaughter turned it into a cafe in 2000.

Unassuming, yet, the decor still has the same artifacts from the original joint:

We leave Sioux City, Iowa north into South Dakota, and take Route 50 west. For a long time.

We stop for a break at the Lewis and Clark Trail rest stop in Chamberlain, South Dakota, to visit the Dignity Statue:

From Wikipedia:

Dignity of Earth and Sky (shortened to Dignity for brevity) is a sculpture on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River near Chamberlain, South Dakota.^[ The 50-foot (15 m) high stainless steel statue by South Dakota artist laureate Dale Claude Lamphere depicts an Indigenous woman in Plains-style dress receiving a star quilt. According to Lamphere, the sculpture honors the culture of the Lakota and Dakota peoples who are indigenous to South Dakota.

Behind the statue is a scenic overlook of the Missouri River:

After that, we head west to the Badlands!

We are stopping for the night in Rapid City, South Dakota. 

Favorite town names: Scenic, SD.

                                     Interior, SD

                                     Box Elder, SD

Favorite signs: Tattoo Monkey

                          City Limits Road

                          Inactive Catholic? Come on Home!

Things we cannot hang around for: Megadeath and Lynyrd Skynyrd in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Wildfire warnings - 0     maybe soon?

One lane roads - 2

Next: Great Falls, Montana (maybe?).