My opinion, the 300 is the best highway car going. It has lots & lots of passenger & luggage space. It cruises quietly & effortlessly at high speeds. The secret is in the transmission, 8 speed.
Once we cross into Utah, the speed limit on the interstates is 80 mph. I set the cruise control for 86-88 mph and in 8th gear, the 6-cylinder engine loafs along at 1800 rpm. It is plenty powerful & got 27mpg overall on the trip. The optional Hemi V-8 will pass everything on the road but a gas station, so nix that.
Don't know if I'd ever want to own a 300, but as a cross-country cruiser...it's top notch!!!
The trip up was very uneventful, knock wood. Our first night was in Beaver, UT; stayed at the same motel as last year, Butch Cassidy Best Western. Nice as usual. Only one really good restaurant in town, dinner there (again).
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Our goal for the second night was Idaho Falls, but once we got underway, our GPS said we'd get there by 1:30pm, too early to leave the road. So we pressed on to Dillon, MT.
Here's our first look at Big Sky country, still some residual snow on the mountains.
For dinner in Dillon, we found a dive bar/restaurant with a gas station vibe. Lots of Montana craft beers on tap, all but the two on the far right:
We immediately spotted our favorite (Cold Smoke, of course), the orange vertical rectangle near the right end, so we shared a big glass.
Above the beer taps on the right is our first "only in Montana" photo, a license plate:
Only in Montana would you have a vanity plate with their two favorite pastimes...drinking & big game hunting.
We got to Missoula before noon on Thursday. That time on the road took its toll, we were tired. We unpacked & moved in, then slept for a couple of hours. For dinner we returned to the only restaurant I know of in the USA that serves Indonesian food, among other Asian specialties. We had rendang daging (beef in a wonderful red sauce of Indonesian spices, over rice) and Nasi Goreng, a fried rice dish with lots of other goodies. I got the camera out but forgot to take pix, as we dug in. Tired brain.
Friday, still a bit tired. Took the 300 in to Enterprise, they washed off 1100 miles of insects and vacuumed the interior. They take good care of us. Gassed up at Costco, that should last us til Bozeman.
We wandered the downtown, had lunch at a real dive bar, the Oxford Saloon, full of characters, the staff & customers...young-uns with ink & piercings, an old guy with a mohawk.
Have a virtual visit: OXFORD
The real bona fides of a Montana dive bar is a big old bison head on the wall. The Oxford doesn't disappoint.
There's an early tango practica tonight but we couldn't get our act together. Will go to a milonga tomorrow night.
OK, I'm going to quit here just to get something out. Back in a couple of days.
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