Montana Skies
As we drove peacefully through Montana- we sure could see why it has a ‘big sky’. It is a very large State, with less than 1 million residents spread right out over a place where life seems to be very easy going! Waterton National Park continued to be very scenic and we had also been recommended to see Glacier National Park. However, we were not able to travel through the main route of Glacier as Nessie exceeded the length limits of the road! As we continued to enjoy the scenery – our next views were to catch us by surprise. The Cascade Canyon had the most unusual and spectacular rock formations, with a calm flowing river carving its way through. We simply had to stay here and ventured further into the canyon to see what else we could find! The Prewett State Park was just over the road from the Missouri Inn. We met Buzz and Mike, across at the pub, and as the weather was gorgeous and the scenery magnificent, we decided to stay on there! The call of the river was far too appealing and the children and Phil carried our dingy boat and supplies up river for almost two miles, just to be able to float back down river to base camp! They all had an amazing time and I was able to film them cruising around the final bend, only a couple of metres away from two white-tailed deer, who were busy grazing on the river bank. We would like to thank Fred and Arlena, who gave us a guided tour of their newly built house, and we send our congratulations to them on the success of all of their hard work. Our journey was to take us out of Montana (for a while!) and into the State of Idaho. The Snake River RV Park, in Idaho Falls, was very welcoming and we enjoyed our stay. The next day, we made it into the world famous (first ever National Park in the USA!) YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK! We stayed over at the Madison Campground and really enjoyed an interesting, amusing and informative Ranger talk that evening. The theme was to do with the resident animals in Yellowstone and the changes that they are going through right now, in the fall, as they prepare themselves for the harshest season of all – WINTER. Some animals have already migrated, others are gathering supplies and some are getting ready to hibernate. It was very interesting as we thought of how each animal has adapted its life to prepare for the oncoming season. We were very proud of our children as they answered relevant animal questions correctly, and this was only complimented by some fellow Brits who were also visiting Yellowstone. These people visited with us at the end of the presentation to say ‘well done’ to the children and that this was the first time that they had felt proud to be British, since they have been here in the States! Thank-you so much! The next day we were all up and ready early, to go and explore Yellowstone! Our day in Yellowstone was soon to be chopped short by an unexpected course of events! As we had just reached the beginning of steaming ground –and volcanic activity that reminded us so much of Rotorua, in New Zealand, where we were earlier this year, we stopped to take a photo...... Nessie must have thought it was time for a rest and refused to go again as we left that pull in.......a Ranger called the truck and Nessie was being towed for the first time on Macswayround....Thank-you to Matt for rescuing us and for taking us to Westgate Auto-body and Towing who were also extremely helpful. After some phone calls, it was determined that Nessie had a computer transmission hitch and would need to go to a garage 80 miles over the way, and as this was Friday afternoon, it was looking like we had a stranded weekend ahead of us all. We are strong believers in fate, and this weekend was just another example of how Nessie and Macswayround has worked for us.....as the owners of the Towing business, Craig and Stephanie were extremely kind to a stranded family and invited us to stay over with them! First, we enjoyed a lunch with Craig and Stephanie and then took some time to see the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Centre, in West Yellowstone. Our thanks also, to Randy who took his time to show us around and explain about their residents and aims of the centre. We saw the biggest grizzly bears we have EVER seen here and learnt a lot about their daily routines and general welfare which helps to make their life as natural to them as possible. This weekend was really meant to happen, as, after a lovely evening, with barbequed elk for tea, we hope that we have made some more really great friends. It is very strange how this world takes you along your life ..... The next day we had great fun, catching up with this family, with children of very similar ages to ours, who were also having a fab time. We went to the lake with a Jet Ski Bike-and everyone was well entertained for the afternoon! The weather was perfect and the very strange thing is that Nessie decided to work for this lake trip and so she appeared to be all better again! The children enjoyed ‘sleepovers’ in the house with their new found friends, and we gate-crashed in the driveway for two nights! Late on a Saturday night, Phil even found himself out on a ‘wrecker call’ with Craig! The local Sheriff had called to say a fifth wheeled trailer had been abandoned in the middle of the highway! It was like old times for Phil to be called out on ‘a breakdown’ and it reminded him of his garage days as he got involved to work through technical hitches that presented themselves on the side of the road. Phil found himself loving it all over again! We would like to extend our special thanks to Craig, Stephanie and family, for giving us all the opportunity to get to know each other and we know that we shall all meet again – sooner rather than later!! We said our goodbyes and set off for Bozeman – just a little closer to the garage where we need to get Nessie checked over.........
Thursday, 01 October 2009 04:24:36 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)      Comments [0]  USA