Montana birthday

Celebrated my 70th birthday on the road in Montana. Scenery wasn't particularly exciting but pleasant enough. Big agricultural part of the state, with wheat and grasslands that extend for miles. Something soothing and comfortable about the golden yellow of ripe grain, combines in the field, hay bales and cattle scattered across the undulating plains. Small towns with grain elevators and local drive-ins. I took a turn driving and laughed that I spent my birthday cruising in my RV!  We stopped and had a birthday lunch at a fine dining establishment in some little town at Joe's In and Out. No cloth napkins but awfully good pork tenderloin sandwich, crispy fries and a thick chocolate shake.

Will has done the driving up until now. He prefers to drive and I am just as content to let him. Not that I can't, you see. . . 


We stopped for the night at Peck's Dam in a really nice Corp of Engineers campground. Thus is first dam on Missouri River and backs the river up to a mammoth lake. The landscape changes from flat to something they call, the Missouri Breaks as you get closer to the river.  The only trees around were in the campground or the little town of Peck's Dam. All sage brush and what looks like to me ancient dunes.

Birding here was pretty fun however. 
Once we left Peck's Dam we soon got into "bad lands" and more. Will soon be moving into North Dakota and Teddy Roosevelt NP with more of this strange eroded terrain. 

I had a great birthday and so appreciated the calls, posts, messages, and thoughts from everyone. Can't get any better than that. Maybe the best was video of grand-girls singing happy birthday to me.

First day back in the US

We were pretty close to first to cross the border this morning when the border crossing opened at 7am.  Slipped down to St Mary in Montana and entered Glacier NP. Left our RV in the visitor center parking lot and drove the Going To The Sun hiway for a nice drive thru the park. 
St Mary's Lake in morning calm. 
We stopped to hike to a waterfalls and got to see this hunk of a bull moose munching his way along the lake shore.

These are pics along that stunning road.  Peak season at Glacier. When we got to the "top" at Logan lodge, the parking lot was so full and crowded that we just kept going. The wildflowers and scenery were really the best from up there but absolutely too crowded.

But we did find a perfect overlook with a perfect rock to have a picnic lunch! And that one was not crowded.

We were finished sightseeing and on our way across Montana by 2pm. Within an hour we were completely out of high country and onto long, flat roads through the biggest wheat fields we have ever seen.  Stopped for the night in Shelby, Montana at a combination Comfort Inn and RV park. Great idea, wonder why more hotel's don't offer RV sites. 

Prince of Wales Hotel

The Prince of Wales is a Grand survivor from the golden age of railway resort development in Canada.  Constructed in 1926-1927 it was the sole Canadian link in the chain of luxury resort development by the Great Northern Railroad. The hotel's striking design and dramatic setting make it a unique landmark and icon of Waterton Park. It is 90 years old this year and still serves fine dining all summer. 
View from the lobby. 
A couple of pics snuck in here that I liked a lot. Cedar Wax Wing on a hike and Bald Eagle from boat ride.

Back to Prince of Wales Hotel. . .I picked it as my choice dinner spot to celebrate my birthday (early) this evening. Waitress brought me a complimentary decadent desert. Notice our table view. All pretty nice. 

  Old English decor and wait staff all dressed in kilts.

The original, 90 year old elevator is still there and in working order. Never seen one like it. Is oldest working elevator in Canada.

Now, we are having a discussion about being here once before. I remember staying on the east side of Glacier NP and driving up here many years ago. I even remember eating at this restaurant but Will says we were never here. I don't remember anything else about this Park but this hotel just seems familiar. How can I prove this?  Bet I have some old pictures somewhere. 

Waterton Lakes National Park

Although Waterton is about an eighth of the size of its US counterpart, Glacier NP, it is a gem. And we picked two beautiful clear days to be here. Park campground was booked but we found a convenient campground just outside the park. Waterton boasts glacial lakes and mountains that seem to rise straight up out if the water.


This falls is right in the town site, easy walk to find it.
We took a boat ride on the biggest of the lakes, 9 mile long Upper Waterton Lake. It took us to "Goat Haunt" at the far end of lake which is actually in the US in Montana. It has a working border guard station so people can hike into the back country of  Glacier once producing the proper passport. Several hikers got off the boat, but we enjoyed the relaxing narrated ride back.  We did hike a short hike to a waterfalls later in the day.  There is a ton of hiking opportunity here but my hip is still keeping me from anything challenging.  

Stunning sunset.

Last of British Columbia

There it is in the shop getting fixed. Hard sitting around waiting for it but we finally got on the road about 1pm.
Did some birding at a wetland on edge of Cranbrook and found this family of Eared Grebe. See two babies on Mom's back? Nice way to kill some time.

Once on the road it was another gorgeous drive.
Over the Canadian Rockies at Crows Nest Pass and immediately into Alberta and grasslands.
Next stop Waterton National Park. . .can see the mountains of the park long before you arrive.

Extra day on Cranbrook

Will began to suspect a problem with transmission fluid possible leak so as soon as we arrived in  Cranbrook we stopped to have it checked. Sure enough a seal was leaking. Made an appointment for first thing yesterday morning and went on with our day.  Wouldn't you know when we showed up he really didn't have the right part, had to get it overnighted from Calgary. So we turned around, checked back into RV park and decided to see what else we could find here for another day. It is a small leak so chances are we could have made it a long way with no problem, to a bigger 

 city anyway but knowing us, we would have worried about it all the way. 

  There is a really interesting trout hatchery that is here. Got an interesting tour and learned all about raising rainbow, cutthroat, brook trout plus sturgeon which have become endangered in Columbia River basin because of all the dams. This hatchery raises fish to stock hundreds of lakes in Canada. And it was fun feeding the fish in the tanks meant for kids.

The local first nations people turned a sad part of their history into a thriving economic enterprise that benefits everyone.  This use to be a residential school for Indian children from all across the region. Same story, children taken from their parents at  young age and taught to be "civilized". It operated for 30 years and didn't completely close until 1970. It is a beautiful old building but now renovated into a luxury resort, golf course and casino managed by the local band.
Cranbrook is also a big railroad hub. And it has a unique railway museum. They have 3 old luxury trains from various times in history of Canadian Pacific Railway. Not just the engines but the rail passenger cars, sleeping cars, dining cars, lounge cars. And you can get a guided tour through the trains and hear the stories of finding the old cars, painstakingly restoring them to their former opulence, and the rich and famous who traveled that way. One train in particular was trans-Canada for over 10 years but CPR couldn't sustain it after the Depression and hard times.  Some of the cars became lake cabins or vacation homes so returned in various states of repair. Was quite the way to travel in its day.

Free Ferry across Lake Kootanay

Oops, the map is sideways but yesterday's route was from Castlegar to Cranbrook. We took what appears the longer route because we wanted to take the free ferry across the lake. Took about 30 minutes to get across Lake Kootenay and was great fun.

That's our rig tucked in among all the various vehicles.

Guiding us off.
Morning light was perfect.

Once across, the road follows the shoreline for maybe 30 miles so enjoyed more of the lake.  Shore lined with homes, resorts, a few hot springs, beaches and a gazillion trees.

This lake is 66 miles long and average 2.5 miles wide.  It sits at 1700 ft with surrounding peaks at 7000 to 10,000 ft. The road beside it boasts well over 400 corners/curves. There are countless valley lakes like this in BC. Most not so large however.