Day 34 August 4, 2024 Milk River Alberta to St Mary Montana 94 miles
We knew we had a shorter driving day so we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We didn’t leave until about 10:00 am.
The route we have chosen is definitely on the back roads. We drove for over an hour and saw only a couple of vehicles. Round bales dot the barrow pits. No one seems to pick them up because some of the plants have grown back up around the bales. Don’t know who does any of the work. Also don’t know who owns the bales. Many of the fields are full of bales also. Then one field had rectangular bales. Definitely a rarity. All of the bales are so big that they have to be moved with machinery.
More pasture land today with some cattle. Not nearly enough to eat all the hay. No one breed of cattle dominates which makes the fields more interesting.
Today is cloudy with a chance of rain. Then there is smoke too. As we go further west the mountains come into view. Unfortunately they are difficult to see because of the smoke. That is so unfortunate because they look pretty impressive. The terrain has become more rolling and we continue to roll along.
The road connecting the one we are traveling on with the road to the US is gravel. Only about 1.5 miles that were smooth for gravel. We saw a number of birds of prey perched on power poles. None of them appeared to be hungry.
Before long we are at US Customs. The lines are longer than our other crossings. The officers also seem to be doing a more thorough job. Then an officer comes back to the car saying he is an old car enthusiast. Some of the others told him to come look. After a few minutes he left. Then another officer came saying he heard the story and came to look. We were asked to drive through the x-ray scanner similar to airport scanners. Well that was a first. By the time we left most officers had come to take a look and/or take photos.
The drive from Customs to the KOA only took about 30 minutes. We were another big hit. The owner happened to be there. Rob explained we really didn’t need any hook ups but the website didn’t show those. Well they don’t have any but he would let us go in their group tent spot for much less. This is our first experience at KOA. It appears to be doing very well.
Rob adjusted the brakes before the rain got started so that was really good. The plan is to drive the going to the sun highway tomorrow and the brakes need to be at their best. The rain has been falling most of the afternoon and early evening. The forecast sounds promising for tomorrow. Time will tell which weather app made the best guess.
Spoffords Travel 