Hi-Line Montana - 09/28/11 - Havre, MT

As we left the park this morning for our drive to Havre, MT, we happened upon a black bear wanting to cross the road.  As with most good photo ops - our cameras were safely tucked away in the back seat!!!!!  Trust us - we saw him!!

The Hi-Line is a geographical term referring to the portion of the northern United States south of the Canadian border along which runs the main line of the BNSF Railway (originally the mainline of the Great Northern Railway) and U.S. Highway 2.

Havre, Montana is generally considered the central town along the Hi-Line, and the Hi-Line name has its origins in the railroad line being the northernmost railway line in the region.

We visited the Railroad Museum and took the tour of their underground city - Havre Beneath the Streets.  This was an interesting tour.

Havre Beneath the Streets (Historical Underground Tour) is a recreation of Havre's history. When fire destroyed most of Havre in the 1840's, business owners moved underground to carry on their business until the town could be rebuilt. 

We head out tomorrow for Glendive, MT.

Deb & Karel

Glacier National Park - 09/26/11 & 09/27/11

Today we head out for a 5-hour drive North to Glacier National Park - St. Mary.

We decided to approach the park from the West and drive on more scenic roads.  The further north we went, the more fall colors started to show.  Mostly Aspens and Cottonwood trees.

The main pass through the park was closed at the top as they were rebuilding the road.  We had to go around the park to the east side and were able to take a different scenic route.

We stayed at St. Mary Lodge and were very happy that we added an extra day to this part of the trip.  The GNP is very beautiful and more rustic and natural than Yellowstone National Park.

It rained most of yesterday, but it was still a nice drive/hike through the eastern portion of the park.  We spent yesterday afternoon sitting in the main lodge with it's big fireplace along with the other guests who got wet on their hikes.

We met a nice couple from Holland.  They both are police officers in The Hague.  We had a great time sharing stories and adventures from our vacations.

Deb & Karel

Anaconda - Pintler Scenic Route - 09/25/11

The Hickory House Inn is very nice.  We truly enjoyed our stay with MaryJane!!

We spent the day driving around the Pintler Mountain Scenic Route.  It was a gorgeous day and very warm.

This 64-mile drive goes from Anaconda, one of Montana's most historic towns, to Georgetown Lake, Philipsburg and ends in Drummond. The road travels through both conifer-clad mountains and sage-covered hills.    

We stopped to take a picture of Georgetown Lake which reminded us of another Georgetown that we will be visiting later this year!!

Philipsburg is a quaint sapphire mining town.  We enjoyed walking around.  We then moved on to find lunch in Drummond.   We had lunch at the Wagon Wheel diner with a view of the Used Cow Lot.

We then continued our drive back towards Anaconda and stopped in Deer Lodge.

The city is perhaps best known as the home of the Montana State Prison, a major local employer.  Deer Lodge was also once an important railroad town, serving as a division headquarters for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("the Milwaukee Road") before the railroad's local abandonment in 1980.

The current Montana State Prison occupies a campus 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of town. The former prison site, at the south end of Deer Lodge's Main Street, is now the Old Prison Museum. In addition to a former cellblock building, the museum complex includes a theater, antique and automobile museums, and a former Milwaukee Road "Little Joe" electric locomotive.


We walked through most of the museums before heading back to the B&B.  We went to a supper club for dinner and felt like we were transported back to the early 80's.  There was a lot of food and the music they played were 80's love songs. - You betcha!!!


Deb & Karel

Ghost Towns and Living History - The Vigilante Trail - 09/24/11

It's Saturday and we are headed out of Butte.  First we need to stop at Super KMart to buy some shorts and short sleeved shirts because it is very warm here.  We brought clothes for cooler weather.

We head out of town for a scenic drive south and west of Butte.  We stopped in Virginia City and Nevada City.

The ghost town of Virginia City began to be restored in the 1950s. Most of the city is now owned by the state government and is a National Historic Landmark operated as an open air museum. Of the nearly three hundred structures in town, almost half were built prior to 1900.

We continued our drive through this area stopping in little towns such as Amsterdam, Montana.  It was a cute - very small town - with a grocery store that sold some Dutch treats.


We finally arrived in Anaconda and found the B&B.  What a difference from the hotel in Butte.  The Hickory House Inn is a very nice B&B and MaryJane is a wonderful hostess!!!


We walked around town a little bit trying to find somewhere to eat.  Most of the little towns in this part of the state are small and have bar type food and family restaurants.  We ended up eating a a family restaurant across the street from the inn.


Deb & Karel

Driving to Butte - 09/23/11

It's Friday and we drove to Butte from West Yellowstone.  We took the route via Bozeman and drove through town.

We found our way to the War Bonnet Hotel in Butte and find that what we reserved and how they sold it were two very different things.  We reserved a 3rd floor suite with a balcony looking at the mountains.  The suites were 'under construction' and not available so they show us a 2-room 'suite' on the ground floor next to the hotel laundry.

We went back to the lobby to question the accommodations and they offered us a 2-room 'suite' on the 2nd floor.  Since it was the better of the 2 we told them we would take it.  We got to the room and brought our computers to go online and look for somewhere else to stay.  We did find another hotel that looked a bit nicer in the historic district of the city and drove through construction traffic to find that they didn't have any rooms for the 3 days we wanted to stay in town.

Backup Plan #3 - We went back to the room and contacted the lodge in St. Mary's in Glacier National Park to see if they could let us stay an extra night.  We have reservations for Tuesday - and we are in luck we can come there early on Monday.  This is good because we wanted to stay a little bit longer up there.

Backup Plan #3a - Now to find another place to stay on Saturday and Sunday.  We contacted the Hickory House Inn B&B in Anaconda and they had a room available.  As a matter of fact the whole B&B was available.

We stayed the one night in this miserable hotel right at the I90 exit.

On Saturday we decided to take one of our day trip drives and head towards Anaconda for the weekend.  We visited Virginia City and Nevada City - preserved wild west towns.
Deb & Karel

 

Tour of Yellowstone - 9/22/11

Hi there,  we have had issues with getting good internet connections so the next couple of posts will let you know what we have been doing for the last 4 days.

On Thursday, we hired a private guide to give us a tour of Yellowstone National Park (YNP).  Since the park is so huge and we only had 8 hours we did a partial loop through the park.

We started early in the morning at sunrise and the park was beautiful in the morning frost/fog and the sun coming over the mountains.  We saw a bald eagle and an osprey in the trees.  Of course there was the usual couple of bison walking on the road stopping traffic.

We met our guide at the Old Faithful Inn and took off for adventure.  We were trying to find some of the black bears that had been seen for the couple of days before we arrived.  We never did see them.

We saw a lot of the springs, bubbling mud pots, pools of boiling water and smaller geysers.

The couple of spectacular sights were the Grand Prismatic Spring which is the largest hot spring in the US and the 3rd largest in the world.

We also saw a couple of beautiful canyons with waterfalls, herds of bison and elk and a couple of coyotes.

The weather was perfect, sunny and quite warm for this time of year.  The last 4 days have been in the high 80's.

The last wonder of the day was waiting for Old Faithful.  She did not fail!!

 

West Yellowstone Montana - 9/21/11

Yesterday was a long driving day from Custer, South Dakota to West Yellowstone, Montana.

It took us 10.5 hours with some stops along the way.  Besides driving through the entire state of Wyoming, the longest part of the drive was through the north end of Yellowstone National Park.  It was a nice drive and the weather was beautiful.

The place we are staying at - Bar N Ranch - is very nice.  This is a very nice Bed & Breakfast style lodge on about 200 acres in West Yellowstone.  We have a view of some foothills of the Rocky Mountain range from our balcony.

Today we took it kind of easy.  We went for a drive to Henry's Lake in Idaho.  We then drove to Island Park, Idaho and took a drive to Big Springs which was a dirt road up the 'hill' in the Targhee National Forest.

Tomorrow we will be in Yellowstone National Park all day with a private guided tour.  Maybe we will see a moose!!  Keep your fingers crossed.

We have been hoping to see a moose or two and so far have not had any luck.  So enjoy the one we see at the ranch.         ~ Deb & Karel