White Sulphur Springs to Great Falls, Montana

White Sulphur Springs was our home for the night, in the middle of a wide valley, in the Conestoga RV Park. Daisy loved sitting outside greeting our Albertan neighbors, and at dusk a herd of deer passed in the nearby pasture. I have been feeling like a lonesome cowboy all day, and the remoteness of our camp enforced it.

Early next morning, I requested a latte stop at the local expresso/garden shop. I was greeted by a large yellow lab rolling seed potatoes on the floor. What a friendly lad....and good coffee too.

We moved on slowly into the Little Belt Mountains, having been warned by the potato dog's master that there would be snow on Kings Hill Pass. The snow was a light layer of powder over melted rivlets. We followed Belt Creek, swollen from snow melt, for miles, until the road broke away to avoid a chasm of 1000 foot cliffs. We rejoined the stream at an overlook for Sluice Boxes State Park, then descended into Great Falls.

After a hardware store stopover for RV mechanical supplies, we took a tour of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at the falls. There were five falls here before dams somewhat obscured them. The expedition knew they were really on the Missouri River because Indians had told them there would be falls. That was the good news. What a trek they had to go around them 18 miles overland with all their supplies and boats. The portage delayed them over a month on their quest to reach the Pacific.

The City of Great Falls has a 30 mile hike and bike path along the river and the falls, with 12 miles paved. We are hoping for the rain to let up so we can bike it.

We settled in at Dick's RV park, a two night stay with the Indi 500 Race on the docket for Sunday. Carl's favorites in the race all had mishaps, but then, we didn't bet any money either.

Carl replaced the door hinge, the drawer runners, the running light and a few things that had nothing to do with the guardrail incident. He's still got the tailpipe bracket to do, but we need the rain to stop.

Daisy really wants the rain to stop. She had a run in the dog yard during a brief respite. Felt so good! Same effect as me doing Yoga on the RV floor this morning.

Tomorrow we leave for St. Mary's just outside Glacier. Read about the RV Park run by the Johnson's at www.johnsonsofstmary.com and you will see why we are looking forward to the visit.