June 27, 2013 Travel to Fort Peck Lake

We left our little spot this morning and headed east on US-2.   This route is called the Hi-Line Route because it is the most northern US east to west route.  We have traveled sections of this road and loved it.  It is two lanes through farms, ranches, small towns; it follows the railroad and there is usually a river nearby.  In this stretch it is the Missouri and the Milk Rivers.

But in 1919, motorists called US-2 the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. It was promoted as “the most wonderful Highway in all America”. However the road in Montana was a series of interconnected rutted country roads that became gumbo mud when wet. Despite the hazards, the route was a popular one with motorists in the early days of the automobile travel.

Some sites along the way:

As we got close to Glasgow, we saw these wonderful creatures along the hills - I have to find out that story :

Wonder how this happened:

We arrived at the Downstream Campground by the Fort Peck Dam.  Once we set up, we checked out the rest of the campground and decided to take a little ride around the area.

Many farms and pastures:

And granaries:

Fort Peck Dam:

What a treat to see this gal:

We purchased some firewood and tried to enjoy a nice campfire.  However, this area is loaded with gnats and mosquitos - Yikees.  So once we cooked supper, we stayed in the rest of the evening .

Tomorrow we are headed to the Interpretive Center so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 181 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Montana: US-2; SR-24; SR-117; Yellowstone Road

June 26, 2013 A Busy Day

Today we cleaned the motorhome - in and out; did the laundry; went grocery shopping and by the end of all of that, we were pooped!

We spent some time trying to figure out what we are doing next.  As most of you know, we do not like making reservations. But with the holidays coming up, we may need to hang out somewhere.

So our first phone call was to Fort Peck - Downstream Campground (Army Corp of Engineers).  All their reserved sites have been reserved but they do have some open first come, first serve.   The next call was to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit, near Williston, ND.  We have been told by many people as well as some visitor centers to avoid that whole area because of the oil boom and lack of places to stay.  When I spoke with the NP, they told me that there are plenty of spaces and that their business is way down because people are avoiding that area.  She asked me to please let everyone know that they have lots of room.

Although we wanted to explore more of the area around Havre, we will be leaving tomorrow to go to Fort Peck, stay through the weekend, then go to Teddy Roosevelt National Park, North Unit for the July 4th weekend.  That is the end of our planning for now - .

I have also been spending more time really getting to know my camera.  There is a lot of free information on the internet and I decided I needed to learn something new.  I have this camera for many years but I did everything on fully automatic.  My latest lesson is learning how to read the color histograms and what to do to make them better.  Stay tuned for those pictures.

Enjoy today!

June 25, 2013 Travel to Havre, Montana

This morning we woke to a beautiful sunny blue sky kind of day (and I truly hope that this is the end of the rain for southern Alberta).

We packed up, said our goodbyes to Lynne and Fred and off we went south to the border.

Past the oil pumpers:

And beautiful horses:

Many old farm buildings:

And to the border crossing.  We gave them our passports, answered a few questions and then were asked to pull over - routine inspection.  The great thing was that the border agent was born in Pennsylvania so we chatted more about PA than anything else.  I did lose one orange even though I purchased it in the U.S.  Oh well.  The last thing he said to us as he left was “Welcome Home.” 

We continued south on I-15:

To Shelby, where we turned east on US-2:

OOPS:

Trains, Trains, and more trains:

With views like this, no wonder they call Montana “Big Sky Country”:

No sure what this yellow is but it was beautiful:

We arrived in Havre and are staying at the Fairgrounds for a few days.  The rest of the afternoon and evening, I spent on the internet, getting caught up with the blog and emails.  Tomorrow we hope to get caught up with phone calls.

We hope to stay on US-2 until we get to Michigan so stay tuned for our next adventures.

Stats for Today

Miles Traveled: 207 Miles

Alberta: PH-3; PH-4

Montana: I-15; US-2