We spent today travelling across Montana from Great Falls to Glendive, near the North Dakota border. We took State Hwy 200 because it looked like it would be a considerably shorter trip than travelling down to I-90 at Billings and then going across. What I failed to learn in my research is that although Hwy 200 is designated a 'truck route' it is just barely that in many sections. No shoulders along significant stretches of road, and work being done on many areas meant it was a tiring drive for Gerry. It didn't help that the wind was blowing like crazy out of the southeast. What's with that? What happened to that west wind that was supposed to help our mileage in this hotel room on wheels?
However, before I go on about today's drive, I do have to tell you about our afternoon/evening in Great Falls. We got into the city at about 2:30ish; not bad, coming from south of Calgary. We already knew we couldn't get a spot in the RV parks in town, so we planned on spending the night at the Walmart 'campground.' The Walmart in Great Falls does allow RVs to overnight in their parking lot, so we knew we weren't going to get towed away. We had to get groceries because I didn't want to risk losing 'forbidden fruits' (and meat and eggs) coming across the border, so all I had were staples. We also picked up a cheap phone that will let us call home (and home call us *hint, hint* Kenny) without exorbitant Telus roaming charges. Seems odd to be using a dinky little phone like that instead of my Blackberry, but to save $3/MB, I'll forgo the updates to Facebook and checking my mail for a bit. And yes, even texting the kids.
After we put all the groceries away and got the phone set up, we set out to find Eddie's Supper Club because a friend had recommended it highly. The placemats on the tables said the place had been run by the same family since 1944, and the decor looked like it! But the service was wonderful, and the food was very good! I had a campfire ribeye steak that was yummy! Ger had prime rib which he said was good, but he's also very biased towards Leto's in Lacombe, Smugglers in Calgary, and the Keg. So yeah, I agree with Pat, if you're in Great Falls, you have to check out Eddie's.
After dinner, we found a Starbucks so we could get our 'net fix, and then headed back to the motorhome. By the time we got there, several other units had pulled in, and we talked with one guy who was on his way to Lacombe! Such a small world! After a nice little visit, we headed into the motorhome. But we forgot one thing...it's July 4th weekend down here.
There are vendors selling fireworks all over the place! And obviously people are buying them because they were going off all over the place around us. I looked out the front window of the MH and could see them a block away, and on the horizon...seemed like everyone was setting them off! The kicker was the one that went off at 7:00 this morning. I'm sure that was just the fireworks vendor in the Walmart lot telling all us squatters to get the hell out so someone other folks could come stay and buy fireworks. Maybe not, but it's a good story!
So we got up, got dressed, fired up the MH and headed to the Flying J to fuel up. Of course, breakfast at Denny's was a must, and then we were on our way. As I said, it was a very long drive, but there was some amazing scenery. I don't think I've every seen so many badlands as on that trip today! We stopped at a rest area near Mosby to grab some lunch, and I took some pictures of the historical signs there. I also took a lot of pictures on the way, often bouncing from one side of the MH to the other. I'm trying to get them loaded on Flickr, but the wireless here isn't cooperating all that well, so I'll have to post the link to the collection later.
(The wireless *was* good enough that we were able to Skype with Brenna earlier tonight and sign Happy Birthday to her -- that was fun!)
Tomorrow, we're going all the way across North Dakota, via Bismarck, to Ashby, MN. It's all Interstate, so it should be relatively uneventful. There was some flooding around Bismarck a couple weeks ago, but there doesn't appear to be any warnings out now. Keep your fingers crossed, 'kay? We'll have 'net access again, so we'll see how uploads go then!
Uh-oh...there go the fireworks again!
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