Driving Days...

We've been traversing northern Montana en route to Glacier National Park.  The long distances can be hard, especially since Lisa does all the driving, and I can't stand sitting for long periods, but we make lots of detours and had some interesting stops along the way, especially yesterday. Our first stop was Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, a beautiful reconstruction of an old fur trading post on the Missouri River. It provided much fodder for our nerdy history loving brains, and included two park rangers in full period dress. After a walk to the confluence on the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers we got back on the road and headed into Montana.

The rangers at Fort Union recommended we stop at the Fort Peck Dam Interpretive Center as well, so after a few hours of driving and 12 miles of "highway" stripped of its pavement (with no warning signs) we got to check out the massive earthen dam constructed by the WPA in the 1930's. The interpretive center had great exhibits on the dinosaurs and ancient marine life of the area as well as the history of the dam project.

More driving led us to Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs Resort for a couple of hours of much needed soaking and a long chat with some fellow full-time RVers on a journey similar to ours. After some delightful observations of a burrowing owl while looking for camping, and a night spent indoors due to thick clouds of mosquitos, we headed south to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.  It's rugged country and there are only a few roads suitable for the Minnie so we poked around for a bit hoping for some fun wildlife sightings but were ultimately unsuccessful.

After the refuge, we headed to Lewiston, hopeful, based upon guidebooks, to see some interesting art and a bustling small town. Alas. The potential is definitely there, yet too many storefronts were shuttered and the art, which is plentiful, just did not grab us. The drive through beef and grain country to Great Falls was lovely. We pushed on from Great Falls as we need to be in striking distance of Glacier National Park if we have any chance of getting camping in the park. 

As the sun sets on one side of the Minnie, a wonderful rainbow lights up the other side, and the gentle rain is making us sleepy.

We have no idea what was growing in this field off Highway 2, but it glowed like no plant we've ever seen.