We left Glendive, MT at the crack of 7:00 to get to Great Falls as early as possible. Rachel emerged from behind the rear curtains somewhere around Circle, Montana. We stopped at a Sinclair Station to empty the bladders and fill the coffees. The Sinclair Station dinosaur at this particular station appeared to be made of soggy paper mache. The specimen was complete with a creepy smile, threaded studs protruding from it's body, and disjointed vertebrae. Rachel wanted me to take a picture with it. I declined. She settled for an enthusiastic snapshot through the VAN window.
Back on highway 200 toward Lewistown. At Lewistown I discovered a substantial amount of transmission fluid dripping from the VAN's undercarriage. Despite there being ONLY about 9,000 miles of driving left, thoughts of tow trucks, transmission repair bills, and mountainous terrain consumed my thoughts for the remaining 100 mile drive to Great Falls. Hey, I didn't bring all these tools for nothing, right? The tyranny of owning tools...
We arrived at Grandma's house around 1:00 PM and were greeted with hugs and a hearty lunch followed by cake and ice cream. Grandma's friend and neighbor Mary stopped by for coffee, cookie crumbles, and a brief VAN tour. She shared stories of her own travels to Alaska. It seems like we are the only people who haven't been to Alaska. Yet.
After dinner, Rachel got the Official Tour of Great Falls. Seeing the ducks, geese, swans, and seagulls at Gibson Park was the first stop. We didnt bring any bread to feed the water fowl so it was a quick stop. Onward to Black Eagle Falls and Giant Springs. We walked around Giant Springs for a little while. Giant Springs is home of one of the shortest rivers in the country. The Roe River is only 201 feet long and flows directly into the Missouri River, which is the longest river in the country.
Gram and I are checking out the cool, bubbling origin of the Roe River.
Only a thin walkway separate the Roe and Missouri Rivers.
The tour was finished with a stop at Crooked Falls and back to Grandma's for some relaxing.
Thanks for having us on the first leg of the trip Grandma. Hope to see you again soon!
Our next planned stop is Glacier National Park after a little VAN maintenance.
Day 1: Minneapolis, MN to Glendive, MT
Day 2: Glendive, MT to Great Falls, MT