Back in the USA

August 11, 2013

After leaving Lister Park in Creston, we were at the border in a matter of minutes since we found the right border crossing!  A few questions by the border agent, a quick inspection of our refrigerator and we were on our way to Bonners Ferry and Highway 2.  

Since it would be impossible to stop every five minutes to take pictures of the beautiful scenery, I take pictures through the windshield when I'm not driving.  I usually drive first in the morning so by the time I start taking pictures, there might be a few bugs on the windshield.  Well,  Montana has lots of bugs so my pictures have lots of 'spots' on them!

US-2 somewhere in Montana

US-2, Montana

This poor sign has seen better days but it tells much more about this Memorial than I would ever type, that's why I sometimes include pictures of signs.

Theodore Roosevelt Monument

The Theodore Roosevelt Monument was built in 1931 to honor the president who made forest conservation a national policy.

John F. Stevens was a civil engineer for the Great Northern Railroad in charge of finding a suitable rail pass across the Continental Divide, which he did in December 1889 and by 1893, trains were using it.

In Browning, Montana, we dry-camped at Glacier Peaks Casino, a Blackfeet (aka Blackfoot) Indian casino.  The teepee above is actually a coffee shop in town, not at the casino.  One may camp for free at many Indian casinos but ultimately they are well paid for a free night of parking!

The Blackfeet were a friendly, nomadic tribe and great buffalo hunters.  By the late 1800's, the number of buffalo had been greatly depleted by white settlers and the tribe's population diminished because of starvation and the government's campaign to punish them and take away their land. 

After leaving Browning, I couldn't believe the change in terrain.  I had never really thought about it but the parts of Montana I had seen on previous trips was all about mountains and pine trees so I was very surprised by the prairie, or the Great Plains of Montana, we were driving into.   Miles after mile of flat to gently rolling terrain.  

US-2 is also known as the Lewis and Clark Highway.  It still amazes me to think of the challenges the pioneers faced to settle this country.  We also continued to see the battle sites of the Nez Perce Indians.  

We passed through small towns with names like Inverness, Kremlin, Havre, Zurich, and Harlem before arriving in Malta for the night.  Most of the towns were named by settlers after the town from which they came, except for Malta.  A Great Northern Railroad official spun a globe and when his finger stopped on Malta, the name was given to the town.

Just another old, broken-down house

Malta City Hall

Our night in Malta at the Edgewater Inn and RV Park started out very quiet and then it started raining.  Along with the rain came thunder and lightning and wind.  I have never been in a storm of this magnitude and it was a bit scary because we were in the midst of it.  We were parked under a huge tree and I was afraid it was going to land on the motorhome.  My niece in Texas once mentioned 'horizontal' rain and now I think I know what she was talking about.  The wind was blowing so hard, and the rain was coming down in buckets horizontally.  One could hardly see through it.  Plus, we were parked next to a river and I wondered and worried about how fast rivers rise.  Fortunately, nothing disastrous happened and we were on our way to North Dakota the next day.