Date: 29 July 2001 (Sunday)

Start: KOA West Glacier, West Glacier MT

End: Havre RV Park, Havre Mt (237 miles)

The temperature was 48f when we got up – the cold front is here. It was cloudy.

We ate, hooked up, and left.

The first 40 miles retraced part of the triangle we did yesterday (US-2 over Marias Pass). The truck did well pulling up this hill, mainly because it was so cool. As we dropped down from the pass to Browning, we entered another Montana – the high plains.

About ten miles after leaving the last mountain, we were in rolling hills that soon flattened out to grass covered prairie. The transition was fascinating to watch because you could see one world in the rear-view mirror and another through the windshield.

We usually cruise at about 55mph on two-lane roads and get 12.5 mpg while towing. Today the wind came up from nearly astern and blew briskly. We kicked it up to 62mph and got 16 mpg for the day. This makes up for the day we arrived in Montana bucking the wind.

At Cut Bank, we noticed the eastbound Amtrak "Empire Builder" at the depot. This line is the old Great Northern railway. Its owner, James J. Hill, was known as the "Empire Builder", so the railroad named its top train for him. Amtrak continued the tradition.

By the time we reached Shelby, we could see the train’s headlight catching up with us in the rear-view mirror. We went through Shelby (it’s been quite a circle since we were here in May) while the train made a station stop. About 30 miles east of Shelby the train overtook us and took the lead – two engines, baggage car, ten superliner cars including the diner and sleepers, and an express car tacked onto the end.

In this region, we could see a line of hills running east-west, paralleling US-2 but about 25 miles north of it. These are the Sweetgrass Hills, according to signs and the atlas.

As we pulled into Havre, we could see the train at the station getting ready to pull out and continue its run to Minneapolis and Chicago. The Great Northern had a major facility here, and Burlington Northern Sante Fe continues it. It includes engine shops, car shops, a big transmodal (truck to train container transshipment, and vice versa) park, and a large yard for assembling trains.

We pulled into a nice RV park on the east outskirts. It’s part of a Best Western motel, Conoco gas station/store, gift shop, and casino complex owned by one group. The park is entirely paved and all sites have full hookups. Guests can use the motel’s pool and other facilities. Since this is Montana and gambling is legal here, there is even a poolside bar and mini-casino in the motel. Across the street is the building with a big casino, three dining facilities, and lounge.

We backed the trailer in and unhooked, and then connected all the utilities. There is only one TV channel, so that limits our watching (besides, it’s Sunday night). Garrison Keillor’s show was running on the local PBS station, so we listened to it (a re-run of his Mothers Day show).

Then we took the truck for a tour of the town. The visitor’s center was closed but a sign directed us to the nearby mall. At the mall, we found a kiosk with lots of brochures for things around here.

The kiosk is also the starting point for the Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump tour, since the jump point is right behind the mall, at the top of a sharp cliff overlooking a deep gully. The Indians herded buffalo to this point and drove as many as they needed over the cliff, then used the bodies of the killed buffalo. It is believed the site was used for 2,000 years. There are archeological studies in progress and some of the findings can be seen.

We were hooked, and decided to stay a day here to see some of the local attractions. Among these are Fort Assiniboine, the Nez Perce National Historical Park, Havre Beneath the Streets and Railroad Museum. A big factor in that decision is that the temperature should stay in the 70’s and 80’s – not the 102f they had two days ago. It did reach 84f today.

Albertsons is the big local grocery and we needed things, so we went there next. Very friendly folks, they even carried our groceries to the truck.

We had lasagna and salad with choice of wine for dinner at the little house in the fancy RV park, then settled in with the Great Falls (MT) Sunday paper and various books.