OCT 7, Wednesday, to Havre, Montana
We got up at 7 a.m. and found Audrey back from dropping Marcel at the airport (he had to go back to work). We said our goodbyes and drove to the local park where there was a dump station. It was snowing when we left but cleared as we headed east on hwy 27. We turned south on 21 then east on Hwy 1. The country side is sure brown, I guess from the cold and time of the season. We stopped for brunch in Basscano and again in Medicine Hat for fuel: 88L @ .879. From here, we headed south on 41; the country side was hilly and when we reached Cypress Park, we climbed quickly to 4000 feet where we entered a forest of pine and fir and came upon this big lake and a beautiful scenery. This is where all the camping takes place in the summer and there were also a lot of cabins and houses. We continued climbing to nearly 5000 feet then exited the forest onto huge field of grass and cultivated land. We slowly descended to approx. 2800 feet where we reached the US border at 4:45 p.m. Now there is an isolated post! It was in the middle of nowhere with the Canadian border consisting of two houses, a shed and garage and the actual border building, the US side was exactly the same, nothing else. The guys were very friendly and after answering a couple questions and presenting our passport, we were on our way. The country side was the same and we continued to descend to 2300 feet and finally reached Havre, Montana, our stopped for the night in Wal-Mart parking lot. The town is very quaint and would be worth exploring but another time. Lots of Casinos in Montana, Terry and Glenda! We counted 12 in the town on the main drag! It was +7*C when we parked for the night and clear sky.
We travelled 599 KM in 8 ¼ hours at an average speed of 54 MPH
N 48* 33’ 20”
W 109* 44’ 05”
Alt: 2531 feet
As a foot note, I got a pack of 30 beers for $17. while Val paid $29 for 15 in Olds. Goes to show you how much we are being ripped off in Canada.
OCT. 8, Thursday, to Glendive Montana
We got up this morning to very cold temperature outside: -6*C (22*F), BRRrrrrr!
We finally hit the road, Hwy 2, by 10:30 a.m. after shopping for groceries at Wal-Mart and having breakfast at McDonald. We travelled in a valley between high hills much like the Kamloops region back home. Again, very desolate, with huge cultivated fields of hay, wheat and whatever else they grow. We would see a patch of trees like an oasis and this is when we would find a village or town. We stopped in Glasgow where I took on fuel, 15 gal @ 2.799 and we had lunch here inside our rig. Temperature outside was a balmy 6*C (42*F).
At Wolf Point, we turned south on 25 then 13 to Glendive where it changed to 200S. We had rolling hills and lots of up & down and down & up. We saw a few wild animals, mainly coyotes, deer and antelopes. We finally reached I-94 and Glendive where we spent the night @ Green Valley Campground and paid $16.50 for full hook-ups.
We travelled 500 Km (311 miles) in 6 hrs @ 57 MPH average. (With the wind behind us, it was easy travelling at 65 MPH!)
N 47* 07’ 16”
W 104* 43’ 37”
Alt: 2084 feet
OCT. 9, Friday, to Sturgis, South Dakota
A cold morning; -6*C! We left in a hurry! We travelled East on I-94, crossed into North Dakota where the scenery became absolutely awesome as we entered the Badlands Region. The rock formation was incredibly scenic with sandstone and clay with colors grey, brown, and reddish making it a tableau to be seen. We reached Hwy 85 and turned south where the country side became rolling hills and a mixture of grassland and cultivated fields. We slowly climbed to 4800 feet and the temperature dropped some more as we went up. We finally reached Belle Fourche, South Dakota at 3800 feet then we went south east on I-90 to Sturgis.
As a side note, Belle Fourche is the geographical centre of the U.S.
We exited at #37 and arrived at our campsite, Rush-No-More Campground. We are surrounded by 2 rigs; one from Alaska and one full-timer whom work here and is leaving next week for Tempe, Arizona. It is -4*C and there is about 1.5 inch of snow on the ground. What makes it really cold is the wind which is constantly gusting. We are next to a mountain, part of the Black Hills. We’ve paid to Monday; this is a Passport America member. The forecast is for warmer temperature by Monday so if we haven’t frozen to death in the meantime, we should have “No Jacket” weather soon
We travelled 293 miles (471KM) at an average of 53 MPH in 6.5 hours
N 44* 20’ 25”
W 103* 27’ 41”
Alt: 3822 feet
OCT 10, Saturday, Rapid City and Deadwood
We had a slow morning as neither one of us wanted to go out in this cold (-7*C) so we took our time dressing and having breakfast. Tucker however had other ideas so I took for his morning walk then started the truck which sputter and protested from the cold but started up and I let it warmed up.
We left around 11:30 a.m. for Rapid City, 20 miles from here, and stopped at Wal-Mart as Val had to exchange her curling iron that she had bought in Havre. Rapid City has a population of approx 60,000 people and is spread on the east side of the Black Mountain within view of the prairies. It is 600 feet lower that where we stay and it was -4 with no snow.
We took Hwy 16 and 16a to Mt Rushmore. We drove through Keystone, population of 311, where “NORTH by NORTHWEST was filmed. We continued climbing to 5100 feet, paid $10 to get in and walked up to the view point where we took some picture of the figures in the granite rock but didn’t stick around outside too long as it was -8*C. We went inside where we looked at the exhibits and watched a movie on the making of the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. It was IMPRESSIVE!
From here, we went west and north on Hwy 244 and 385 to Deadwood. The drive was interesting with lots of tortuous curves, I can see why bikers love this country.
We stopped at the info centre in Deadwood, population 3100, got a map then went to explore a bit. We are at 4800 feet and it is cold, -5*C. We took a few pictures and went for a beer in Wild Bill Hotel, where Hickock was shot to death from behind. They even had the exact place set aside as a tourist attraction. Across the street were Calamity Hotel, the Gem, and the original sheriff BULLOCK Store and hotel now. We had a couple of beers and Nachos that Marcel would have been jealous of. We also learn that the movie Deadwood was actually filmed in California so no sets to look at.
We drove home via Hwy 14a east then I-90 and were home by 5 p.m. A very good day!
CHECK OUT THE PICTURES IN FOLDER # 44
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