Day 15 : July 21/22 Glacier to Shelby, Montana
Our lazy sleep in meant that we missed the excitement of two bears wandering through the campsites. Our neighbours informed us of the close encounters! Kids worked on a video tour of their fairy cabana and Amelia wrote a script for it while Ollie tested the cinematography. I made Cinnamon French toast on the cast iron grill and made mostly a mess. While Jay packed up, the kids rode bikes to the playground where I met them shortly after to video their parkour moves. Jonathan picked me up and the kids rode bikes to the lake front to meet us as we parked in the day lot (?) to go for another swim. We enjoyed the dock with the slide and the further dock with the diving board and we were back to the rig for a snack and on the road again for 12:45pm.
At 1:30pm we pulled over at Marias Pass… 5216ft elevation and the lowest point of the pass through the Mountains at the Continental Divide. Checked out the Theodore Roosevelt Monument there and enjoyed the beautiful view of the Mountains where you could see where the rock top of the mountain had sheared over the bottom part. After a break and snack we were back on the Hwy at 2:15pm headed for a town called Browning on the Blackfeet Reserve. It looked like something from a movie set with the small town western style store fronts all weathered and with unusual names.
103974km on the odometer, stopped in the reservation town, Browning, at the Conoco Gas station for diesel (19.5 gallons = $90.65) and an ice cream. Very small town gas station stop and the person serving ice cream was super sweet and friendly. She reminded us a lot of one of the main characters from Reservation Dogs. When the kids came out of the store with their “Cookie Dough” and “Montana Moose Moss” ice creams, Jonathan decided he needed one, too.
Drove past Cutbank, and a large wind farm, before pulling into Shelby around 4pm. Parked near a little park called Andy Anderson Park (Jonathan’s uncle’s name!) and a local was walking across the front and gave directions for the post office. He said most people that pull over are looking for the post office. We were looking for the Chamber of Commerce. This guy recommended a little RV park back down the hwy a bit that had a ball diamond close by and electric/water hook ups where you pay a small amount. He also told us to check out the Veggie Market around the corner. We tried the little Visitors Centre, but it was closed and walked around it to the little shady patch of grass where the small farm market was happening. About a dozen tables or so of vendors selling local handmade soaps, fresh farm produce and eggs from Amish Farms in the vicinity. Had some nice chats with an Amish family and bought beets, carrots and a massive zucchini loaf from them. I walked to the post office and got stamps for mailing postcards back home, and Amelia and Jonathan picked out a hand made “gummy bear” soap from a little girl selling her wares.
We decided that instead of driving ahead and hoping to luck out on somewhere to stay, we’d go back a few minutes on the highway and look for this little RV site the local had recommended. After a few missed turns, we found the place “Lake Shel-oole Campground” beside a ball diamond complex for $25/night and chose spot to camp. We played ball with our newly acquired bat, and met a super nice lady who appeared to be living in the RV site with her two adorable dogs - Obi, the 7mo brindle Irish wolfhound puppy, and Brandy, the sweet boxer cross. Obi was super shy be VERY curious to say hi and kept sneaking up to give sniffs and licks but wouldn’t stay close enough to pet. He was massive already and super adorable.
Ate a skillet dinner of potatoes/beans/peppers/onions and a huge side of fresh delicious beets. Kids did some sewing with our little kit to make pockets and clothing for their stuffies, followed by a game of Uno. We were plugged in, so we could run the A/C to cool the rig down for night time… it’s HOT here, and windy!
A treat this evening was an episode of Obi-Wan on Jonathan’s phone set up on the tripod, with the Monster speaker set up in the back bed. The kids set up the “theatre” in the back and pulled the curtain across. It was pretty fun snuggled back there and felt like a real mini theatre.
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