8/13/15 Driving Across Montana

The North Dakota fields of sunflowers and corn as far as the eye can see, turn into amber waves of grain as far as the eye can see in Montana.   In Glendive, MT we split off of I-94 and head northwest to catch Route 2 for the rest of our travels to Glacier.  The Dinosaur and Fossil Museum visit turns out to be quite an unusual experience.  This small private museum hasn’t got a lot of exhibits but what it does have is set in the backdrop of the Bible. They use some “interesting science” to explain how the earth was created about 5,000 years ago and how dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time..... 

It’s about noon and the temp is 101.  Haze covers the yellow wheat filled landscape which stretches for the 10 hour drive from Montana's North Dakota border to Glacier. Imagine all this has to be planted and harvested every year.  About every 10 miles is a grain elevator and a few buildings/houses.  Most of the wheat has already been harvested as can be attested to by the hundreds, maybe thousands, of rail cars we have seen.  We see at least 2 or 3 an hour and John counted at least 130 cars on one train.  We even saw an AMTRAK passenger train heading West, but all the freight is going East.  

We notice that our gas mileage is down to 9 mpg from normally around ll.5 and all we are doing is driving across flat to rolling hills??? Maybe that last diesel fill up at $2.50 a gallon was watered down. 

Unusual House-Camper

About half way across Montana, we settle into a sweet little campground in Havre called Evergreen.  Small world...at Jack’s OCS "Hi Mom" dinner, we sat with a family from Havre, MT!!  Nestled in the trees, the morning doves coo us to sleep and wake us in the morning.  At 7 pm it is still in the high 90’s but by 9:30 p.m. we can turn off the AC, open the windows, and add a blanket as nighttime temps drop into the 50’s.  Hard to image that within three hours after you wake up it will be over 90 again.  They say these temps are about 10-15 warmer than normal.    After this restful zen campground experience, we finally feel back in the swing of our current lifestyle after getting emotionally discombobulated after our visit to Virginia.

After driving another day across Montana, far off thru the haze we finally see mountains, then realize these are just the foothills. Behind them, about 4 times higher, are the Rockies in Glacier National Park.  Just east of Glacier on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Browning, we stop for a mandatory boat inspection.  We learn that the haze is actually smoke from many fires burning in Glacier.  The biggest one just started two days ago called the Thomson Fire, burning 16,000 acres but will soon become 30,000 by the time we leave the area. 

Owner's House and B&B at Timber Wolf

We spend the next 4 nights at Timber Wolf Campground, a few miles past West Glacier.  Pretty weary after 3.5 long travel days, we relax to a smokey sunset.