"...then I will live in Montana, and I will marry a round American woman, and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me.  And I will have a pick-up truck, or umm... possibly even...a recreational vehicle, and drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?"

In the movie Hunt for Red October, the guy who played Sean Connery's first mate on the Russian submarine daydreams about living in Montana if their plans to defect succeed, and the quote above fleshes that out.  The round woman, rabbits, and RV I'm a little lukewarm on, but I sure do appreciate the freedom to go from state to state. Sadly, he gets shot near the end an his dying words are: "I would have liked to have seen Montana".  I have no idea what I'll say or if I'll even get the chance to knowingly say my last words, but I can promise you now, those won't be them.  I got a full dose of Montana.  And they don't call it "Big Sky Country" for nothing -- the sky really does seem bigger there.  Let's go right to the action...  

Our friends Lewis & Clark spent a big chunk of their trip in Montana.  As I pontificated in the Wyoming section, had history unfolded a little differently, the Missouri River system would have been a terribly important transportation artery for our country.  After I crossed out of Yellowstone and into Montana at the twilight's last gleaming, I enjoyed a terrifically spooky ride north on US89 along the Yellowstone River.  I pulled over at a rest stop at one point and dipped my feet.  Looking around, with very few cars coming by, things didn't look much different than they probably did for L&C 196 years ago.  Anyway, I got back to the interstate and stayed the night in Bozeman, Montana -- a college town!!

Lewis & Clark / Missouri River Country in Montana

Bozeman -- home to Montana State University -- actually was a really cool town!  The downtown main street mixed a western charm with a definite funky feel -- good coffeeshops and restaurants -- along with art galleries, second hand stores, alot of cool stuff -- one might say "a liberal haven in a predominantly conservative state."  Also, surprisingly, some of the best radio stations of the whole trip were while I was in the radius of Bozeman.  I relaxed in the morning writing some of these trip notes in one of the coffee houses, had lunch, then was off.

Downtown Bozeman (Mile 6335)

My next stop was to the relatively obscure Missouri Headwaters State Park, also known as "Three Forks".  It is here that the mighty Missouri River splits into 3 nearly equal branches -- and thus this is deemed to be the beginning of the Missouri River.  Unlike the festive spectacle where the Mississippi River started back in Minnesota, this place was abandoned!  No tourists, no fanfare, just a little plaque I snapped a picture of (below). Then, I proceeded on to the nearby town of Three Forks.  Not much going on, but they did have a pretty good candy store for such a small town.

Start of the Missouri River and town of Three Forks (Mile 6368 to 6373)

It was a very neat place, and I of course visited the State Capitol building itself, pictured below.  I took the tour, said hello to the governor's receptionist, very fun.  When my father made me memorize all the state capitals when I was 5 years old, Helena always struck me as a very remote place I'd almost certainly never see (same with Bismarck!) -- but here I was at last.

The State Capitol Building of Montana and View from the Steps (Mile 6514)  

Interstate 15 continues to follow the Missouri River northward (which is actually going upstream -- back toward St. Louis) -- I stopped off at another historic Lewis & Clark site they encountered a little while before Three Forks -- called the Gates of the Mountains -- again, a very quiet, out-of-the-way site with almost no tourists.  Apparently, there were not alot of other geeks running around the country visiting obscure historical sites.  Anyway, my picture didn't come out as good as the postcard, below... (Mile 6526)

I spent that night in Great Falls.  Before looking for a hotel, I figured I should see the actual "great falls".  To my shock, surprise, and dismay, after driving to the very edge of town, I saw the sight below...

A Dry Waterfall!!! Great Falls, Montana (Mile 6602)

They have actually dammed the falls to such a great extent that there's a mere trickle now, which you see at the lower left.  Can you believe they actually still have the nerve to call the city "Great Falls".  What a scam!  Anyway, after leaving this revolting spot, I had some trouble finding a motel -- because the Montana State Fair happened to be in town.  I dropped into the Holiday Inn on a lark, even though I didn't imagine they'd have a vacancy.  But as an incredible blessing, the manager took pity on me and gave me the last remaining room -- the bridal suite -- at a really low rate.  How cool was that?  The kindness of strangers can be a great thing.  After checking in, I went over to the State Fair and bopped around for awhile, had some of that great corn-on-the-cob they serve at fairs, and went home and went to bed.

The next day I was off to Glacier National Park -- 140 or so miles up the almost abandoned US89.  It was a beautiful morning, and one to definitely appreciate the big sky.

The Road to Glacier (Mile 6722)

Glacier is way up there... it actually borders Canada and is partners with Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.  It's a big park, but most people just drive through and see the sights on the park's one highway called "Going-to-the-Sun Road".  I'd like to tell you that I strapped on my backpack and did a whole Grizzly Adams back-country thing, communing with nature for a week, eating grubs and berries, killing wild animals with sharpened sticks, and sleeping under the stars -- but no, I just drove along the road and stopped at the main sights taking a few short hikes.  The scenery was awesome, so please enjoy the pix below...

The Entrance to Glacier (Mile 6789)

St. Mary's Lake (Mile 6799)

One of many gigantic rocks... (Mile 6802)

Crossing the Continental Divide for the last time on the trip (Mile 6808)

Emerald Pool near Lake McDonald (Mile 6822)

Coming down the other side of Glacier, near Flathead Lake (Mile 6909)

And then, around sunset, I arrived in the town of Missoula -- another college town, home of the University of Montana.  As I pulled into the motel, the odometer hit the 7,000 mark -- 7,000 miles from Vero Beach.  Missoula was very cool, and incidentally, the birthplace of my friend Gary -- who knew??  I went for a run, dropped by the U of M, and saw a bit of the town.  I was psyched for the next stop, but a little sad that the end was almost in sight.

Lovely Missoula, Montana (Mile 7000)

Idaho, Baby!