Ahhhhh!

After spending a loud, hot night dry camping in a truck stop outside Three Forks, MT, we escaped north on US 287.  Mostly level fields and pastures bordered by grassy hills took us as far as Great Falls, with one exception.

This canyon through the Big Belt Mountains took us down then up again.

In three places one lane was closed due to fallen rock.

The Missouri River traveled along with us.

Don't know what made this big nest along the river.

Just outside Great Falls we found some antelope.

We stopped for fuel and lunch then bypassed the city.  This is just a part of Great Falls.

Soon we were rolling up and down long sweeping curves and grades along I15.

Just outside Cut Bank we turned west on US 2.

During the winter, bitterly cold arctic air masses sometimes assail the town, making their claim of being the coldest town in the lower 48 a true one.  The town is named for a gorge or cut bank on the outskirts of town.

I found no reference to this mural but it was well done.

As soon as we left Cut Bank we were on the Blackfeet Reservation.  It extends from Cut Bank west to the boundary of Glacier National Park, and from County Rd. 44 north to the Canadian Border.  In other words, we will be on the reservation until we enter Canada.

On to Browning with the Rocky Mountains getting closer and closer.

Our friends Brock and Leola did not come this way.  They didn't need the fuel stop in their motor home, and they opted to take the scenic route--US 287 to US 89 into Browning.  Our route added about 50 more miles than their route, but they arrived only about 20 minutes before we did.

As last--another buffalo herd, just outside East Glacier Park Village.

Village it is, small enough to walk around in about 10 minutes, but our home for the next 9 days.  The Y Lazy R Campground is the smallest place we have ever stayed.  There are only a dozen or so sites and the yellow building which is the shower house/restrooms.  The red building is the town laundry.  It has 16 washers and 6 industrial-sized dryers.  Only 2 of the dryers work.

The entire campground

The view and the quiet and the cooler temperature make me say ahhhhh.  I don't even mind the occasional train that runs along the tree line in the foreground.  The horns only blow once and the sound is more or less muffled by the trees.

Tomorrow we are riding bikes along the Going-to-the-Sun road, the only one through Glacier National Park.

Come along if you wish.

Louise and Duane