My First Day in Montana
My first day in Montana, and I’m camping! By a tranquil river in Beavertail State Park. There is no one in my part of the campground. It almost didn’t happen this way. I was originally planning to spend the night in Missoula (10 miles away approx), a rather unattractive town, but all the motels and hotels I checked were full - and there are quite a few. Apparently, some sort of soccer tournament and Special Olympics event all going on at the same time. I would have never guessed that I could have a tough time finding a bed in Montana. As I left Missoula I headed toward Butte, MT, 110 miles away, but as the final light of day began to dim I took a chance on this park, a last moment decision as I spotted the sign. Good stroke of fortune.
This is the first time I’m camping two nights in a row. Yesterday, I spent the night in Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston, Idaho - on the Washington / Idaho border. It was quite a scenic drive across Northern Idaho to get here. Highway 12 follows the Clearwater river through a steep hilled valley. It is called the Lewis and Clark Road, named after the famous American explorers. Numerous signposts on the Native Nez Perce tribe who lived here prior are also prominent.
Summer camping is a lot easier than winter camping. Not having to fight the cold and longer daylight hours make quite a difference. I’m hoping the latter will allow me to make up for my leaving later than I originally planned. (Original planning date of May 1st)
It’s good to be on the road again. For awhile I was wondering if I would ever get on the road again. I didn’t leave until late on May 20th. The last few weeks since South America have been fairly busy. Everything from digitizing about 150 music and language CDs into MP3, getting more blank passport visa pages (44 more blanks!), gear changes and add-ons, and of course planning the upcoming international leg. I haven’t done much planning for the US other than a preliminary route. Having full time wheels and traveling in one’s home country make traveling pretty straightforward.
I’ve decided to use my frequent flyer mileage for a round the world air ticket instead of my original plan of going by freighter and avoiding air travel as much as possible. I came to the conclusion that lots of ground travel in my given time frame would tire me out and give me less energy to explore my target destinations. Going by air also allows me to control the timing of when I get where better. Which is useful for taking part in the many world celebrations that occur each year. I had such a good time in Rio for Carnaval that I want to hit as many other festivals as possible.
The downside is that I have to do more up front planning on choosing flight dates and routes. I’ve posted my initial attempt in the Footprints and Trails section. While ideally I would like the freedom to linger in a place as long as I like, the Summer Olympics in 2004 is dictating my schedule at this point which forces me to travel at a certain pace. I’m anticipating that after the Olympics and the air ticket are over (1 year from start) I can start traveling in a more spontaneous manner. Africa, the rest of South America, and parts of the Middle East aren’t on the 1 year leg which I will be using the air ticket.
The next few days will see me traveling through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park before heading to Mt.Rushmore, then down toward Texas.
This is the first time I’m camping two nights in a row. Yesterday, I spent the night in Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston, Idaho - on the Washington / Idaho border. It was quite a scenic drive across Northern Idaho to get here. Highway 12 follows the Clearwater river through a steep hilled valley. It is called the Lewis and Clark Road, named after the famous American explorers. Numerous signposts on the Native Nez Perce tribe who lived here prior are also prominent.
Summer camping is a lot easier than winter camping. Not having to fight the cold and longer daylight hours make quite a difference. I’m hoping the latter will allow me to make up for my leaving later than I originally planned. (Original planning date of May 1st)
It’s good to be on the road again. For awhile I was wondering if I would ever get on the road again. I didn’t leave until late on May 20th. The last few weeks since South America have been fairly busy. Everything from digitizing about 150 music and language CDs into MP3, getting more blank passport visa pages (44 more blanks!), gear changes and add-ons, and of course planning the upcoming international leg. I haven’t done much planning for the US other than a preliminary route. Having full time wheels and traveling in one’s home country make traveling pretty straightforward.
I’ve decided to use my frequent flyer mileage for a round the world air ticket instead of my original plan of going by freighter and avoiding air travel as much as possible. I came to the conclusion that lots of ground travel in my given time frame would tire me out and give me less energy to explore my target destinations. Going by air also allows me to control the timing of when I get where better. Which is useful for taking part in the many world celebrations that occur each year. I had such a good time in Rio for Carnaval that I want to hit as many other festivals as possible.
The downside is that I have to do more up front planning on choosing flight dates and routes. I’ve posted my initial attempt in the Footprints and Trails section. While ideally I would like the freedom to linger in a place as long as I like, the Summer Olympics in 2004 is dictating my schedule at this point which forces me to travel at a certain pace. I’m anticipating that after the Olympics and the air ticket are over (1 year from start) I can start traveling in a more spontaneous manner. Africa, the rest of South America, and parts of the Middle East aren’t on the 1 year leg which I will be using the air ticket.
The next few days will see me traveling through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park before heading to Mt.Rushmore, then down toward Texas.
