Billings to Whitefish, MT, 6/29

On June 29, Kristin and I drove from Billings to Whitefish, Montana, which is only 20 minutes from the park gates at Glacier National Park. We made really good time the whole day, so we had some time to stop a few times and get a good meal:


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The day started in our B&B in Billings. Our hostess had us help her feed the horses when we got up, which I really enjoyed. Her horses were a bit older and very gentle, even if they were a little greedy for their treats. I am still not sold on B&Bs that are just people's homes--the night we got in, I felt like I was intruding on their privacy since we didn't get in until 10pm. Then in the morning, I felt like she was intruding on our privacy--she was cleaning up and stripping the beds before we even had a chance to pack up the car and leave.

After we left Billings, we headed out on I-90 towards Missoula. On this leg of the journey, we found out just how small the towns in Montana really are. We saw Billings, Butte, and Missoula (3 of the 4 largest towns in the state). They were all pretty small, though the towns are not why you come to Montana, of course. The further west we went, the more pristine the landscapes became. We kept missing some big storms as we drove, so the clouds really made our pictures. Right after we left Missoula, there was a severe thunderstorm warning for the whole county, but we barely got rained on. Kristin took this one with my camera, I think it's amazing:


After Missoula, we headed up north towards Bigfork, around Flathead Lake. I really enjoyed Bigfork. The people were friendly, the food was good, and the lake was a welcome sight to see. The couple people we interacted with seemed to have a personality that I associate with someone from California--I wonder if they were transplants. Here we are at our first real meal of the trip:





After dinner, we continued on our way. We saw pre-fab cabins for sale, as well as a cowboy church:

Fargo to Billings, 6/28

Sorry I missed a day posting to the blog. Our bed and breakfast near Billings, Montana had a sudden lapse in wireless internet service when we got in last night. Namely, they must have had their wireless router plugged into an outlet that turned off when they switched off the lights and went to bed. Plus, I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day anyway. Driving across the entire state of North Dakota, plus a chunk of Montana, is a serious endeavor, it turns out. Our B&B host near Billings told us he has never driven the entire state in his life.


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The drive across North Dakota was, in Kristin's words, desolate. I don't think there's a better word for it. The eastern part of the state was endless green farmland. First flat as a pancake, and then the occasional rolling hill. As you go further west, the hills turn into large green mounds, and the crop cover starts to look more drier, its color washed out. We couldn't believe how few towns we saw along the way. Bismark came and went as barely a blip on our radar. I am glad we kept our tank pretty full here because every exit basically warned us not to get off I-94 to try to find a gas station or a cafe with a big blue sign that said "No Services." I suppose it makes sense, considering the state has just over half a million residents, spread out amongst the vast expanse of farmland covering the state. Of course, there were a few gems along the way. Here's the small town of Oriska (population 128):



Then after that, we stopped in Jamestown, ND to look at the world's largest buffalo sculpture, walk around a reproduction of a town in the wild west, and walk through the Jamestown Buffalo Museum. We saw some buffalo from a distance, particularly some white buffalo that I remember hearing played a role in Native American mythology. Here are a few shots:



After a while, the big mounds I described that dotted the landscape became more rocky and we spotted them more frequently. Our source of entertainment slowly switched from discussing the merits and mechanics of the process of mowing the medians of the highway (the mowing team was out in force) to spotting hills. Then suddenly, the hills turned into an amazing canyon, The Painted Canyon at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Unfortunately, I don't think the pictures do it justice. The canyon really did look painted. Apparently, the hills are made of loose clay, so they change every year after the rains. Then the red colors in some of the hills are from natural fires that have ignited the coal veins deep within the hills and baked the clay to that vibrant orange/red. If we were lucky, we would have been able to spot a smoldering hill somewhere in the distance, but we weren't that lucky:


This area was called the badlands of North Dakota, which makes sense because I don't think you could really farm land like this. Nor would it be easy to have livestock graze here. This landscape continued on into Montana, though as we got near billings everything started to look more like the cattle country I was imagining for eastern Montana. Billings was a small looking city, but we stayed at a B&B about 8 miles north of town. Our hosts were very nice, and they accommodated us even though we were late and didn't get there until 10pm. Their ranch was very isolated, up a gravel road, and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. However, they gave us our breakfast that night instead of in the morning because we were afraid of trying to go back into town and then not finding the ranch again. It was a beautiful place, but it was not my cup of tea. I don't like staying in someone's home because then it's like being a house guest rather than a hotel patron. I'll tell you more about the ranch tomorrow!

Fargo

Kristin and I are now in Fargo, North Dakota. Well, technically it is Moorhead, Minnesota, but they are right next to each other. The drive was easy, it went quickly, but it was also strange how few towns there were along the drive, and how few drivers there were on the road. I do have to say, it was nice being able to set the cruise control for the whole drive and not have to constantly slow down for a nice, elderly couple from Iowa.


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I suppose the most notable part of tonight's drive was how late the sun set, how long the sunset lasted, and how the twilight lingered on even after the sun was completely gone. It reminded me of the sunsets that I remember from England, where the summer sun just seemed to keep hanging on in the sky after sunset. The official time for sunset in Fargo was 9:25pm, but the sky was still bright and orange until 10pm. Then there were hints of sunlight left until about 10:30pm.

This isn't my picture, but it's from the same drive and looks pretty similar to what we saw:

Mall of America

Well, I am happy to report that I have finished the first 435 miles of the drive so far. On Friday, I drove from Chicago to Galena to go to Lauryn's brother's wedding. It was a really nice wedding, and I enjoyed the chance to see Galena and spend some time with her family. This is the first time I've seen Lauryn wear a dress, and I have to say she looked beautiful!

Finishing this leg of the drive wasn't without its hiccups... the first one being Chicago traffic on Friday at 2:30pm:


I was driving between 0 and 20 mph all the way to the airport, about 30-50 until Huntley, IL, and then the road finally opened up after that.

After visiting Galena, I have to say I wouldn't mind going back sometime in the near future. I liked that it felt like a small town from the 1800's, and the Civil War history with Ulysses S. Grant being from there is interesting too. This isn't my photo, but this is what Main Street looks like (too bad they don't pedestrianize it):


The drive from Galena to Minneapolis, while surprisingly quick, was not what I expected. I took US Route 52 the whole way through Iowa and Minnesota, which was completely different to my experience on the interstate. The road was only two lanes (1 in each direction) almost the whole way, and instead of having exits for nearby towns, we went right through the towns and had to slow to 25 mph. I saw a lot of small towns that looked like they hadn't changed in 50 years, mostly with populations between 150 on the small end and 3000 on the large end. While I didn't expect to see this, I saw a child who couldn't have been older than 12 riding a motorcycle on his family's long driveway.

I got a bit nervous about finding gas because most of the stations (and everything else) was shut because it's Sunday. It worked out in the end, though. As the towns got larger, the gas stations were more likely to be open. Besides a few horse & carriages, some picturesque views of the Mississippi, and enduring some Sunday drivers going 35 in a 55, I think my favorite part of the drive was Fountain, Minnesota. Apparently it's the sinkhole capital of the USA. Now I thought that was a title reserved for someplace in Kentucky near Mammoth Cave, but I guess I was mistaken. For a town of only 343 people, I guess they're lucky to have any claim to fame at all:


I think they should add more to the sign: "Elevation: 1,306 ft above sea level, and sinking"


Anyway, now I am writing from the Mall of America, near the Minneapolis/St Paul airport. Kristin's flight gets in at about 7:30, and then we'll be on the road again for Fargo, ND. It feels strange writing from in the mall, near numerous stories of shops, screaming kids, the smell of mall pretzels, and some indoor carnival rides. The mall is certainly huge and worth a look, but it is the antithesis of what I am looking to experience on this trip. But I guess there is plenty of time to witness some unspoiled natural beauty and escape from excessive consumerism over the next month... so in the meantime I guess I'll go ride the roller coaster and buy a Cinnabon.



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Snow blocking our route...

Well, we're on track for getting on the road this Sunday. Time has really flown by, I can't believe the trip starts so soon! I do have to say, I have prepared more for this trip than I have for any other time I've traveled. And that includes when I moved to Oxford for a year (though I almost moved there indefinitely). However, it seems that we're facing an obstacle that I can't really plan around--there are still 50 foot snow drifts in Glacier National Park that have a big stretch of the road closed. Normally, Going-to-the-sun Road (the Sun Road) opens in early June. This year, the opening was delayed until June 18, but then it got pushed again because of late season snowfall. Apparently, the amount of precipitation in the park was about 80% of average up until April, but by June it was 110% of average.

Here's the part of the drive that I'm worried about:


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Here's the stretch that's currently closed (in red):


Aaaaaaand here's why it is closed:


This photo is taken just past Logan Pass at an area called "Big Drift." Apparently, there's a 40-50 foot snow drift that forms here every winter, which can take a long time to clear. According to some local newspaper articles, the hope is to have the entire route open in the next few days. I just hope there isn't another blizzard or avalanche to prevent that from happening. I am not quite sure how we'd modify our route if we couldn't drive through Glacier anymore. Plus, going through Glacier is on the main reasons for picking this route in the first place! Anyway, I am crossing my fingers for now. Also, I am highly considering packing a snow shovel, which I didn't originally plan to do...

Google Latitude

Well, I've had to change where my blog is posted. Due to not fully researching the functionality of Wordpress, I failed to realize that there was no way for me to put a Google Latitude badge on my blog. This is one of the main reasons I am making this travel journal--so that my friends and family can check this page while I'm traveling and see my current location. Hence, I have migrated over to Blogspot, which is owned by Google. Now when I leave on the 27th, you'll be able to check here and see my progress in real time!

Progress Has Been Made

Well, I don't really have a ton of exciting stuff to add about the trip, but I did make some progress in the past week or so, so I thought I'd add it here.

My main accomplishment is that most of my shopping is done for the trip. The main thing I got that wasn't on the list from my last post was a new car stereo. I decided that I really want to be able to listen to my iPod/Phone on my car since radio stations might be lacking a bit on some parts of the drive. Plus, this stereo has Bluetooth built in, so in addition to being able to stream music from my phone, I'll get to try out the world of hands-free telephone calls. This is a bit of a tangent, but I decided to get the stereo from Abt Electronics. When I called to pull the trigger on the purchase, I was on hold for quite a while. Finally, a "manager" took my call because he saw that I had been waiting so long. After we finished up the order, he said to ask for him if I had any questions or problems with the order, and said that his name is Mike Abt. Anyway, he's the president of the company, but I guess if customers are on hold long enough, anyone available is supposed to take the call. I knew there was a reason I liked Abt so much. Here's an article in case you're interested, which you're probably not: Abt and Goliath.

Anyway, back to the trip. The good news is that I'll be having a good friend of mine accompanying me on part of the drive there (from Minneapolis to Calgary), then she'll fly home from Calgary. It will be great to have someone with me--even though I like traveling by myself, 5 days in the car by myself is a lot. We were looking at my original route, and we have actually modified it a bit. The main difference is in Montana. Originally, I was going to go Billings, Great Falls, Glacier National Park. Now, it looks like we're going to try Billings, Butte, Glacier National Park. Here are the two routes so you can see the difference:

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My friend was interested in stopping at some hot springs, which is why we picked this new route. I am not sure which one we will stop at though--there's Fairmont Hot Springs which is basically just a swimming pool and resort, there's Chico Hot Springs Lodge, or Warm Springs Montana which is a natural spring instead of a warm swimming pool. Anyway, there are lots of options.

The other benefit of passing through Butte, MT is that we can drive up Montana Highway 83 which is an old logging road through forested valleys that is supposed to be beautiful.

Shopping List

As I am preparing for my two thousand mile drive, I'm trying to decide what I need to purchase for the trip to be safe, comfortable, and convenient.

So far, I'm working on:

1) AAA membership
2) CB radio (for communicating with truckers, hearing about speed traps)
3) A can of Fix-a-Flat
4) Spare headlight bulb
5) Fire extinguisher
6) One quart of motor oil, one gallon of water for the radiator, a gallon of washer fluid, a roll of paper towels, a box of large ziplock bags, a rubber mallet, a long nylon rope, a reflective windshield cover, and a funnel.
7) AAA Emergency Kit
8) One person tent, matches, a blanket, long-burn candles, sunscreen, and a knife
9) A small box of PowerBars and other high energy snacks
10) Extra pair of glasses, sunglasses
11) A book about Banff

Let me know if I am missing anything!

The Route

From July 2 until July 23rd, I will be volunteering on an organic seed farm in Sorrento, British Columbia that I found through WWOOF .



I have an adventurous friend who is interested in traveling with me, but if it doesn't work, I'll be driving there alone. I've decided to go for a variety of reasons, which I am sure I will elaborate on in future posts. But for now, I'll just discuss the basics. On June 27th, I'll be leaving Chicago on a 2,225 mile road trip to the farm in Sorrento, Stellar Seeds. The trip will take me through five American states, two Canadian Provinces, and through three national parks:

June 27: Chicago, IL to Fargo, ND (637 Miles)

June 28: Fargo, ND to Billings, MT (607 Miles)

June 29: Billings, MT to Glacier National Park, MT (413 Miles)

June 30: Glacier National Park, MT to Calgary, Alberta (230 Miles)

July 1: Calgery Alberta to Sorrento, British Columbia (338 Miles)


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