Big Sky country--for real

July 5--Malta, MT

It amazes me how much mobility there was in the campground this weekend. I thought the place would be full and everyone would stay for the weekend. Well, the place was full each night (give or take a few tent sites), but a third to half of the campground left and was replaced each night. Sometimes very late--people would pull in at 9pm and out at 6:30am. Hell, you might as well just stay in a parking lot!

I continued doing nothing last night, and enjoying it immensely. This morning I woke early (or rather I got up early, after Puck woke me up around 6am), and was out on the road by 8:15. The cats weren't happy, but they knew what was up. I hope they enjoyed their peace, because we're going at least four (and maybe more) one-night stands.

I got gas (and of course spotted diesel for less money pretty much everywhere today) and headed through Hellgate Canyon, to Highway 200. It was fairly deserted, although since I don't go much over 60mph, lots of people passed me (when they could). There was low fog here and there, which was very pretty, but the odd deer trying to cross the road (and one confused German Shepherd in Lincoln) made things a bit hairy. It wasn't actively raining, for the most part, but it was very cloudy. When I got to Lincoln I stopped at the Hi Country Beef Jerky Trading Post, and got some jerky (it's damn tasty--I'm trying not to eat all of it today) before heading over the pass. Luckily it wasn't too cold--Rogers Pass (this one, not the one I went through in Canada) has the record low temperature for the lower 48: -70 F. Now that's cold.

Once down in the (relative) flatlands, I could drive a bit more consistently (I've been getting 18 to 20mpg lately--I don't know why I wasn't doing this well before; maybe the tires?). I drove through Great Falls to get to Fort Benton, which was a big-time steamship port. This was the farther you could get up the Missouri (upstream are the Great Falls of the Missouri, which tends to put a crimp in boat travel). for about 20 years, this was quite the boom town/hellhole. Everyone coming up the river stopped here, and several trails (like the Mullen trail, to Walla Walla, and the Whoop-up Trail, to Ft. McLeod) began here. I walked up and down the riverfront, reading all the signs. There was yet another heroic Lewis/Clark/Sacajawea statue (why is it that it's always Lewis, Clark, and either Sacajawea or the dog?), plus a full-sized keelboat--big and shallow-draft. There's also the Shep statue (for those who don't know, Shep was the dog of a sheepherder who died and was shipped off on the railroad--afterwards, Shep met every train apparently hoping to meet his master--he was killed six years into his vigil). I also found Veteran's park, which had a monument to the military dogs in Vietnam, which apparently were left behind when the troops left, which is sadder than Shep.

Headed north and east, the clouds were amazing. Montana lived up to its Big Sky Country billing, because the clouds were incredibly dramatic. Dark, light, rain falling or not, near and far, really cool. It wasn't quite as cool when I had to drive through the rain, but still, pretty cool.

Nothing much else happened until I stopped at Malta--oh, wait, I saw the Empire Builder headed west, just east of Chinook (I think it was only about half an hour late). I'm at a campground recommended by AAA, which is literally a stone's throw from the railroad. Those other campgrounds where I said the trains were near? Nothing compared to this. The rig shakes when the trains go by. Luckily there's no whistles, but I'm likely to think it's an earthquake. The cats don't seem to mind, so I'm sure I'll sleep through it OK. I just did laundry (had to dry everything twice--weeny dryers) and ate bean burritos. I suspect it'll be early to bed, if I don't find something good on TV (yay cable! I am SO not into roughing it.)

My parents, my sister and her husband and her kids, and both family's dogs are going to be headed to Billings tomorrow to pick up a 31-foot RV to drive to Toledo--I believe I've started a fashion! I'm trying to get them to write a blog as well,b ut no takers.