Glacier Gateway Plaza Cut Bank

We left our camp site on the banks of the Missouri river and headed for Great Falls, we wanted to return to some of our favorite cowboy shops before heading further north towards the border. As we drove along the road a guy pulled up along side and said our wheels were making horrible noises and it might be the trailer bearings. Well we pulled over in a side street and I listened to the wheels ...

I titled this entry Glacier Part II because all of us have been to Glacier in the past, just not together. Helen was here with her boys on a train vacation trip and Danny and I toured when returning from Alaska. We were too close not to give it a little of our time.

Danny found an RV park in Cut Bank, Mt. that was situated on a cliff overlooking a river. Now I should know what river but I don't. It was a little scruffy ...

... this region without a lanmark or road to guide you. Those thoughts end abruptly as we start to see oil wells next to the road and into the distance. It's mostly oil wells that we have for scenery for awhile, and then it's cattle ranches with oil wells interspersed. Just west of Glasgow, Montana we see our first antelope for the trip. Further along the route we see herds of antelope, but sorry it's too rainy for a picture. We are getting ...

we climbed our final mountain pass before the appalachians and found ourselves staring up at the continental divide. instead of crossing it at logan pass, the alternate route took us up and over maria's (pronounced like mariah) pass. the morning started off quite chilly. because it can be annoying to take lots of extra clothes on the bike and because we knew we'd start heating up soon with the climb, dan, brad, and i decided to wait around camp ...

... the road was two lanes, but there was very little traffic. We did see some wildlife, although none posed for a picture. We saw magpies, pheasant, wolves (?), pronghorn sheep, and played dodge-um with prairie dogs. The countryside is very unlike the east. There are miles and miles of nothing but ranch land. We drove miles without ...

On Monday, 5/12, Don and Loretta stopped at the wide spot in the road known as Happy's Inn, Montana. Someone told them about Thompson Lake Baptist Camp (website http://www.tlbaptistcamp.org/), a beautiful place just outside Glacier National Park. Thanks to managers Sherry and Truitt Eason for a restful night there. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, May 14 and 15, the Stevensons stayed in Kalispell ...

... has one of these amusing birds claiming it. Aster Park overlook is 600 feet above the falls. The trail is only half a mile long. This makes it much steeper if shorter than yesterday's hike to the glacier. Rory marches on up while Chere needs to take her time on the ascent. The climb is rewarded with a good view of the surrounding mountains and ...

I got to Shelby, MT after spending the day driving thru Montana. What a huge state it is and I drove through the back roads ending up on Rte 2. The driving out here is FAST! The landscape is boring Spent the night at the Badlands camp ground and loved it. Loved waking up to prarie dogs and birds. I have some photos to share. Tomorrow I drive into to Canada.

After shopping in Missoula, we drove for several hours towards the Canadian border. We pulled off at a quiet exit in the middle of nowhere, near Shelby, to stretch our legs, then went in to Shelby for some food. The entire time we ate some creepy guy was watching me from the table behind us. He looked like his parents might be siblings.