P.S. (Pris Snippets)

We’ve seen a variety of terrains in our travels. In northern Montana we saw miles and miles of flat agricultural fields (presumably wheat). As we headed south in Montana we began to see rolling hills with cows and horses and not as much agriculture.
We stayed in a private RV Park just on the outskirts of Great Falls, Montana and used that as our base to see the Lewis and Clark sites. ( Of course, it didn’t hurt to have wonderful restaurants and shopping near by.)
The owners of the RV Park served breakfast in the morning that included wheat pancakes from the local fields with chockberry syrup. The chockberries were also picked locally. We saw lots of Canadians camping since we were not far from the Canadian border.
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls was top rate. The displays were very well done and the facility was exceptional. There was even a walking trail with plants that were described in the Lewis and Clark journal. There was a word of caution on walking the trail to watch out for rattlesnakes. We were also warned about the rattlesnakes when we visited the First Peoples Buffalo Jump south of Great Falls at Ulm. I understand that there are lots of prairie dogs and they are not allowed to shoot them, hence the rattlesnakes.
The buffalo jump museum at Ulm was another interesting museum with enthusiastic, well informed young guides. The buffalo jump (high cliff) where the Indians tricked the buffalo to stampede off the cliff is visible from the visitor’s center.
We drove out of town to see one of the five “great falls” and saw large flocks of white pelicans. It seems strange to see pelicans away from the ocean.
We are also seeing large number of prairie dogs. Unfortunately they dart across the road and we are seeing lots of road kill.
Then it was on to Butte, Montana and then Missoula. Most of this time we had off and on rain showers.
We particularly enjoyed Missoula, home of the University of Montana. There is something about the atmosphere of a college town. It’s a very “green” city with lots of parks, bike paths, and a wonderful Saturday morning farmers market. It seemed as if the whole town turned out for the market. We loaded up on baked goods and fresh vegetables.
We had some time to kill, and we’ve wanted to explore the panhandle of Idaho, so we’ve taken a side trip from the L and C trail.
Then it was north to Flathead Lake and Kalispell, Montana (only 60 miles from the Canadian border). The CG was right on the lake and we enjoyed beautiful sunsets (when there weren’t showers).
We mainly took back roads and drove through heavily forested areas. It’s sad to see large areas of the forest that have died because of the bark beetle.
We camped at a Corp of Engineers RV camp on Lake Pend Oreille just outside of Sandpoint, Idaho. Sandpoint was an upscale tourist area with fine shopping and restaurants located right off the lake.
We again had a camping spot with a view of the lake. I particularly enjoyed watching the osprey and bald eagles dive for fish in the lake. There are also lots of large blue herons in this area.
The next stop was Heyburn State Park at the southern end of Loeur d’ Alene Lake. Most of the sites had been reserved but one CG on the lake was first come first served. We got a beautiful site overlooking the lake. We have been wondering the entire trip where are the mosquitoes. Well we found them, but luckily the wind comes up in the afternoon and they aren’t as bad. The weather is mainly high in the 70s but most people have fires to keep the mosquitoes down.