Now that we have crossed into the United states, it is time to make our way across Montana. I was snapping some photos and this one happened to be my absolute favorite! I think it's somewhere between Shelby and Havre on US 2.
I think that it's going in my top five photos of the entire trip...
To me, it almost looks like a woven tapestry
or someone stitched it with crewel threads
on a canvas and added cotton or lambswool
to the top section.
I am always thinking in fiber themes?
Anyhow, back to the trip. Now that we are in Montana, this is really "Big Sky Country". Looking about in 360°, and not seeing any mountains is really a big sensation change from the day or two before up in the Canadian Rockies.
As we neared Shelby, Montana it was time to turn and go east on Route US 2. You see, US 2 is close to my heart because it drives entirely across the top of the United States and right through my hometown of Iron River, Michigan. It rolls off the tongue in the common vernacular of people in the area, on the radio station, on TV commercials, or anyone giving directions or talking about going somewhere. US 2 means that main highway that takes you across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was kind of heartwarming to see that familiar nostalgic road sign.
We drove along quite a ways until we were getting close to Havre. Steve had found a little BLM land campground called Fresno Dam. It is sponsored by the Fresno chapter of Walleyes Unlimited. There's no fee to camp there, but they ask that you leave a donation if you can.
We pulled on in and found a beautiful spot right along the ledge overlooking the lower parking areas and the swimming beach. There was a nice breeze coming across the reservoir.
There were about four or five other campers there, but room for maybe 30 or so?
There aren't any hookups, but there is a pit toilet and picnic tables available. It was just perfect to get off the road far enough that we don't hear any noise from the highway.
We found a perfect spot in the shade...
There was a little donation box attached to the wall by the pit toilet. We popped in a $20 bill and hope it helps. We appreciate having a nice safe spot to park for the night.
On the path down to the lake, we saw this little sign showing appreciation for our donations and who is sponsoring and maintaining this area.
Some stairs led from our camping level to the two layers of parking lots below as well as the harbor, boat landing and swimming area. Further up above us there was another road that swung off with additional campsites. But we think it would be a lot windier up there.
We looked on the map, and this reservoir was really very large. I suppose it is a favorite among the fishermen. We didn't see too many there, but it was during the week and there were pretty strong winds blowing. Maybe not the best weather for fishing, there might have been a storm cutting across from the West to the East on the weather map.
Another family had pulled in to the campground, and donned their swimsuits and headed down to the beach for some swimming. On their way back up, they said it was nice--- but the water was cold.
By sunset, some of the wildfire smoke began to appear. It made for an absolutely beautiful sunset but we could catch a whiff of it in the air with the increasing wind.
All in all, we had a pretty relaxing night. We heard a few fishermen pull in early in the morning and go down to the lowest level of the parking lot.
We hit the road early and started our Eastward trek across the state. We had actually made reservations for the first time on our entire trip. We knew the temperatures were going to increase today as well as the amount of wildfire smoke in the air. We had decided we wanted to be sure of having a campsite with full hookups or at least electricity to get through the evening. So we started by hitting the road by 8:00 a.m. then we could maybe be somewhere by noon for our reservation...
We first stopped in the small town of Havre at their Walmart and stocked up. Remember, we had used up all of our produce and eggs and any fresh meats for the border crossing. So we were able to grab all of our familiar items that we wanted to reload the refrigerator. Enough to get us through the next few days.
We really enjoyed this gorgeous scenery along the way! But we could see the smoke coming down from the north...
To the south, as we drove heading east, it wasn't too bad. We loved seeing the ranches, and the rolling countryside. Every now and then there were herds of cattle. And a lot of open space.
Some areas look so barren. I'm not sure if this is windswept so much that nothing grows here, or was something already harvested?
Every now and then, we passed a little crossroads. Once in awhile there were little buildings that are like this. Kind of scrabbled together or added on. I wonder if originally this was a schoolhouse, or maybe a church, or maybe an inn?
Once in a while, sticking up out of nowhere, would be a clump of cottonwood trees. You can pretty much bet there's a spring underneath there, allowing them to flourish in the wide open prairie.
Many of the little towns we were driving through exist right alongside of the railroad tracks. Almost everyone has an abandoned or defunct granary. This is where the farmers would all bring their crops to be shipped out on the next train. Nowadays, shiny new harvester silos line the railroad tracks instead of these huge old buildings. They are rusting away and falling apart.
As we drove along, the terrain changed off in the distance. We could see the faint outline of some mountains through the smoky atmosphere of the wildfires. Yes, the smoke was catching up to us!
The clouds were also looking darker, so I don't know if the storms were going to circumvent around us or if it was just going to be a rain shower. Not being familiar with this area, I don't know how to "read" the clouds or their formations. To me they look ominous and scary!
But as we drove a long, some of them seem to reduce in size and whisp away in parts. This would expose patches of blue dky overhead. I looked on the wildfire maps and the air quality hazard distance. They are kind of random in this area. Some showed high and some showed low. So I think we were right on the fringe edge?
"Oh beautiful for spacious skies
and amber waves of grain"
How perfectly said.
America the Beautiful.
I think it was maybe written about exactly this... We saw how vast the fields are and watched them undulate and dip and sway in the breeze.
We drove along until we needed to make a turn to the south towards Fort Peck.
This was our FIRST time making RESERVATIONS on this entire trip!!!
We were already familiar with this park because we had been here last year. We had been attempting to drive on US 2 all the way out to Washington State. But we got this far in August 2024 and the wildfire smoke was so bad that we turned around and went back home.
So here we are again, almost a year later, trying to hide out here with electrical plug-ins so we could keep the windows shut to hide from the smoke.
We already knew the layout of the park and knew every single site was level and beautiful and shaded. So it was very easy to go online and look for a site. We had gone online the day before and there were no sites available. But Steve went back online again towards evening, and we found one single site available! Someone must have canceled, and we were able to snap it up!
This is a very nice park run by the Army Corps of Engineers. They also honor our America the Beautiful Senior Access Pass which gives us half price on their $25 camping fee. So we were staying here with electric hookups for $12.50.
There is a dump station near the entrance to the park as well as water spigot spaced around in the park at various places to fill your holding tank before you get into your campsite.
They have showers and firewood available to purchase.
We were reserved on site number 3. They are long deep sites with tall shady trees overhead. But not so many that it obstructed our Starlink. The electric posts are located nice and deep in the site so you don't need a long electric cord or extensions to reach the post. The picnic tables are heavy concrete and was a little more forward than we would have preferred. But it would work out just fine to grill out our dinner for the evening.
The temperatures were rising throughout the day, and the forecast was get into the high 80s and low 90s. We sure were glad to be able to be plugged in and turn on the air conditioning.
This was the "backyard" to our campsite. Such lovely wide open space of neatly cut lawn. It was just perfect to take Nick out on his long flexi lead to burn off some of his energy.
Nick will never, ever be let off lead no matter how much we think he will listen. Because he suddenly thinks he can fly after birds or airplanes or anything else he will launch his little body up in the air and try to follow whatever it is he sees. He turns immediately deaf to anybody calling him, and focuses only on the bird. He thinks he can fly with them!!!
So in this photo below he is definitely on a secure harness double clipped to his collar and the harness with a sturdy flexi lead cord.
We have taught him to run around us in large circles, kind of like a horse on a lounge line. We can get him to burn off his energy by racing around and around and around. We encourage him by chanting "run run run" to keep him moving and burn off all of his pent-up energy. By him going around us in circles while we stand in the middle stationary, he gets in a lot more exercise than if we were just walking him on the leash. Just look at him go...
While I was exercising the goofy boy out back, Steve was getting out the grill and starting to cook our dinner.
While at Walmart earlier in the day we had picked up some steaks. We know they are not top quality. But we were going to grill them up anyhow. Steve had marinated them in the fridge in a Ziploc bag for most of the day while we were driving. While he got out the grill, I made some baked potatoes and some salads with our fresh new produce.
I know it looks like a lot of meat for two people. We would slice up the leftovers into little strips and freeze them to use in a stir fry later. Actually, they weren't too bad.
TOAST to another day of safe driving and seeing beautiful vistas across the state of Montana.
Dinner wasn't too bad after all, steaks were surprisingly tender. Nick got a little teeny piece as he waited patiently under the picnic table.
We relaxed outside for the evening for a while, but traveling over 500 miles in the last 2 days has worn us down a bit. It wasn't too long before we were toddling off to bed.
Thankful that we had a campsite with electric hookups to run the air conditioner because things were getting more hot and more humid and a little more smokey...
Steve sat out to finish his beer while I headed inside to make up the bed and get in my jammies.
Sweet dreams.
Here is the YouTube video that goes along with today's blog:
Thompson Creek Campground in Alberta Canada, was such a nice quiet place. We woke up to cloudy skies and drizzly rain. But we didn't care, we were in a comfy peaceful campsite with nobody else around us. Steve made up our coffee, and we took the time to make a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
We loaded up and headed on out on Highway 11 which was also called the David Thompson Highway. We headed east towards a town called Caroline. Then we were going to turn south and head down to Calgary and see how far we would get.
Leaving Thompson Creek... The highway squishes in between the mountains to the left and Abraham Lake on the right.
It's too bad it's such a cloudy day. I bet this view is spectacular with beautiful sunshine and puffy clouds and blue skies. But we travel when we can, and do what we are able to do with the weather.
As we drove further east, we were entering into foggier and foggier looking skies. Because we had the air conditioning on inside, we didn't realize that the haze was from the wildfire smoke from the north. I looked on the wildfire maps for Alberta and sure enough... We would be in wildfire smoke all of the way through, until we get maybe south of Calgary.
So by the time we reached the other side of this long, long Abraham Lake, all of that haze was actually wildfire smoke. Ugh! The sun was trying to penetrate it, so everything has a funny cast to the daylight.
I am glad that we can set the dash air conditioning to circulate within the motorhome and not suck the outside smoke within the motorhome.
We drove towards the east and actually it didn't look quite as bad as it did behind us. The wildfire maps weren't giving us a lot of hope though, it showed heavy smoke all the way down through Calgary and into the Great Plains of the United States.
We did stop in the small town of Caroline to get fuel and to also put in the DEF fluid that are Mercedes-Benz diesel engine needs. Every 2,500 miles we need to put in about 2 gallons. The rest of it gets saved for the next time or topping off in between.
The fuel prices weren't too bad in this part of the province. We paid $1.35 a liter which converts over to $3.76 a gallon US. That's pretty good considering when we fueled up in Jasper / Banff Park at over $6 a gallon!
But we really don't stress over the fuel prices. We would be taking this extended long trip no matter what the diesel prices were going to be, and just spend less money on other things elsewhere.
We turned and headed south, and we were on the McLeod trail. As we got a little closer to Calgary, it seemed that the haze thinned out a little bit. We were able to see these beautiful bright yellow fields of what is used to produce canola oil. The plants are developed from what is called rapeseed, and it's used to make canola oil that is specifically made here in Canada.
"Can" is for Canada and "ola" for oil. That is how the name Canola came about. Sounds better than "rapeseed oil"! It is better for cholesterol and saturated fats than vegetable oil. Canada is one of the major importers to the United States of canola oil. I know we switched to it a number of years ago, and like it better than vegetable oil. Those fields look so pretty and sunshiny, even against the dark smoke-laden skies overhead.
As we were rolling along in these beautiful Western looking towns and terrain, I was trying to spot as many horses as I could. I was snapping pictures with my cell phone and sending them in real time over Messenger to my friend Vicky. We were both giggling every time I could find another horse to send to her...
I also managed to spot a big dog park. There were some people on one end doing some obedience training. On the other side, the big dogs were playing and having a grand old time. There wasn't any time for us to stop with Nicholas. Plus, the heavy air with the smoke is just too difficult on my lungs. Sorry Nick, you'll have to wait for the next dog park when the skies are more clear.
We worked our way around Calgary to the southern end of the city. We avoided most of the heavy traffic. We pulled into a Walmart and stocked up on a few things. We were careful to not stock up on ANY produce or dairy. We would soon be crossing the border in a day or so, and we can't take any of that over the border. No vegetables or fruits or raw meats (especially chicken!) and definitely no eggs.
Supper was a crazy conglomeration of leftover chicken alfredo, and some pulled pork on buns with a little gravy.
Using up what we had, and trying to have just enough on hand for breakfast before crossing the border. We were down to three eggs and two pieces of bacon.
Although it was a busy Walmart, I figured we might as well just spend the night there.
But Steve thought he wanted some peace and quiet. He found another campground on the map about 35 miles down the road.
The skies ahead looked ominous and there were thunder and lightning storms with heavy winds predicted for the night.
We drove on southward...
Just before the storm started, we pulled into a small town called Cayley, Alberta. Just past their Main Street, they had a ball diamond complex of three or four ball diamonds, a concession stand, some picnic tables and a gravel drive. The rest of the place was grass and you were allowed to park anywhere on the grass to camp overnight!
The host suggested we camp near the bushes and the concession stand because of the high winds forecast for tonight. He said if we were up by the other ball diamonds, we would be getting full blasted from the side with the wind.
We were the only ones there, besides the host!
We also decided that parking on the gravel area would be much better than parked off somewhere in the soft grass. With the amount of rain that was forecast, we didn't want to wake up in the middle of a mud hole.
The suggested donation is $20 for the night. We scraped the bottom of our Canadian money stash into an envelope, mostly coins. We got rid of the rest of our "loonies and toonies"and had to add in a $5 bill of US currency to hit the $20 mark.
Here's the only information we could find about the campground, because there was nothing on their city website.
We got settled in just before the rain started. It blustered, blew, and downpoured and roared overhead all night long. I think it was the worst rainstorm of our entire trip?
I sent Steve out in the morning to take photos, there's no way we were going to go out in the storm when we first got there. So these are the "morning after photos" of the campground before we were getting ready to leave. There was some standing water even in the gravel areas. The grassy areas were totally saturated and mushy underfoot. Glad we did not park in the grass.
Technically it's not a campground with campsites, but they do have two porta potties there. I wonder which one is the Women's and which one is the Men's? Lol! (We use our own bathroom inside the motorhome).
Steve took Nick out into some of the grassy areas to snoop around and do his business. Of course, we always clean up after him.
This is the area that is wide open grassy spaces... not on the ball diamonds. I guess you can just park anywhere you want? The row of bushes helped protect us from the heavy winds that blew down from the north overnight.
We were snugged up tight to the gate and the bushes, just past the camphost spot. We appreciated his suggestion to hide out there. After listening to the howling winds from the storm during the night, it was a great idea.
The donation drop box is right here on the corner of this little maintenance building by the campground host. Like I said, we used up the last of our Canadian coins to fill the envelope. It was kind of funny for Steve to drop in an envelope that went clunk in the box.
This appears to be a little community fire pit area and picnic tables near the concession stand. I suppose if we were camping nearby on a sunny day, we could grab one of those tables and bring it over by our camper. But with all the rain, we just hid out inside overnight and the next morning.
It was pretty cold in the morning. Only 54°. But we knew the hot weather was going to be coming along soon after that storm front went through. They were predicting highs up in the '80s and '90s in the next few days. We decided we were going to get a substantial amount of miles under our tires and get heading back towards the Midwest of the United States.
We decided to drive straight south to the crossing between Coutts, Alberta and Sweetgrass, Montana.
We had originally thought about going down through the Canadian Rockies into Glacier or even going further west into Washington State. But instead, with the high temps and all of the wildfires smoke, we changed our minds and decided to come right down into Montana and then head east.
We can save Glacier and Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and Washington State for another trip in the future. Maybe all the way down the coast of California?
We prepared everything to get ready for our crossing. We have our passports ready, as well as the special CDC form required now by the United States government for bringing your dog back into the country. We had the vet fill out the paperwork before we left and it's good for 6 months. We printed up the form while we were still at home. I don't know how people can print out the CDC form while they are traveling? Maybe if they go to a library or a bank somewhere? I'm glad we had ours printed up and ready to go because actually... this will be our 8th border crossing of this trip!
1. Crossing from Minnesota into Ontario at the start of our trip.
2. Crossing from British Columbia to go into Skagway, AK.
3. Crossing after Haines, AK back into the Yukon.
4. Crossing from the Yukon into Alaska at Beaver Creek.
5. Crossing from Alaska back into the Yukon at the Top of the World Highway.
6. Crossing from Stewart, BC into Hyder, AK overnight to watch for whales and bears.
7. Crossing back from Hyder, AK into Stewart, BC to head on through to where we are now....
So this will be number 8 to cross back into the United States at Sweet Grass, Montana, USA!
Here we are pulling up near the border crossing to our final time hauling out the passports on this trip.
Of course we do everything according to the rules, with what food supplies we have on board, declaring anything that we purchased, and handing over our passports.
It's a good idea to not wear sunglasses so they can see your eyes, turn your engine off, and only have one person answer the questions.
We had absolutely no problems, only two quick questions, and they welcomed us back to the United States. We were free to proceed.
BACK IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
But now, we were going to have to deal with the wildfire smoke from Canada and the hot weather forecasted while coming across Montana and North Dakota. Ugh.
That means looking for campgrounds with electrical hookups, and running with the air conditioning full blast from the dash. We can also supplement the air conditioning by running the generator and having the roof air cool the camping portion of the motorhome running as we drive down the road.
Here's the You Tube video that goes along with today's blog:
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