We left Lake Stevens yesterday, after getting up really early for our walk. It was a sunny day…a real rare occurrence this June!
Our lunch spot was at Vantage, WA
Then, we drove and drove and drove, ending up in Missoula, Montana for the night. We stopped for lunch at Vantage, eating cold leftover pizza down by the Columbia river. The stretch between there and Spokane sure seems long…but there were some very interesting clouds off to the east…never saw such clouds before. They seemed like hills painted on the sky.
A sign there that made sense and provided a chuckle
Because we knew we were just pulling in to sleep, we actually parked in a Walmart parking lot. (Shhh, don’t tell Judy!) We moved once, looking for a quieter, darker spot. Didn’t sleep well, then at 5 the sprinklers came on…moved again and tried to sleep a bit more.
The interesting two-tone clouds
Thursday morning we left Missoula and headed north, northeast on highway 200. (First time on this highway for us). It is a gorgeous drive through lots of forests and rivers…Judy even spied a moose! We stopped on the other side of the continental divide for a quick lunch, and then drove on. The scenery changed dramatically and rather quickly to dry rolling plains. Lots of ranches and cattle, some farms..not much else! (Although Harris spotted an antelope in a field.)
We were one of 20+ spread out at the Missoula Walmart
We stopped in Great Falls to see the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It is a great place to visit, full of all sorts of interesting displays. Then we drove about 10 miles out of the way to see one of the
“great falls”..and the dam behind it. It was a very quick stop, because….the flies!!! Were out!!! In force!!!
We took a break at a Made in Montana business
Actually the flies were out in force at the center as well. A ranger told us these white flies live for 2 weeks, and this was day one. Lucky us. At least they don’t bite, but they were swarming everywhere and very annoying. Judy ran up the trail at the dam, and back down again about that quickly. Harris toughed it out a bit more to take his pictures.
Interesting sign in the Men's
Our lunch break today looking back at the Continental Divide
A made to scale replica of the canoe used by L&C
One of the four smaller falls
The "Great Falls" that almost killed the expedition
We drove on a bit more to Fort Benton, where we are parked at an RV place for the night. Obviously we didn’t have internet last night, so tonight we’re posting for two days. Tomorrow we plan to get up early and drive the rest of the way to Froid, in the northeast corner of Montana. Why? You may ask. Because it’s there. No, really, because we were invited to a wedding, and thought this would be a great reason to go out again. (Not that Harris needs an excuse, mind you.) Keith will be there as well, and we’re looking forward to seeing him and his friends.
Total miles driven:
Day 1= 500
Day 2= 212
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