July 12th, 2006 - Montana
Western Canada Tour officially begins tomorrow in Banff!
We woke early in the middle of the Great Plains, in Valley City, North Dakota, nowhere near to Montana. We ate a hefty breakfast and hit the road.
Carl stands in front of a perfect example of the mysterious badlands.
Today we crossed the Plain’s, saw the beauty of the Badlands, and finished our trip in the hills leading to the Rocky Mountains. It was magnificent view followed by magnificent view.
Osiris, our band van, is having some serious transmission problems. He ran out of fluid just past the Montana border. Luckily, no damage was done, so we refilled him and were on our way. Again, somewhere in the foothills, we ran low on fluids. It’s a little scary knowing we are due in Banff tomorrow and have zero time to waste getting vans fixed.
13 hours of driving along Lewis & Clark's westbound trail and many bad 'Superman – Lois and Clark' jokes later, Mim, Joe and I are passing out in a small town Montana hotel. The air is too cold, and the wind too strong for tent camping.
One of dozens of signs warning of the dangers of Crystal Meth.
Carl and Cindy took the Interstate 15 across Montana, further to the south. Upon comparing notes, both highways were full of signs saying "Meth, not even once", referring to the Crystal Methanphetimine problem across North America. We saw it pretty bad last year in Kelowna, BC. The murals, we assumed, were a statewide high school project. There were paintings all across the highway showing the evil and deadly nature of the drug.
I would like to stress once again, the beautiful landscapes we saw today. It was my first time on Montana’s highway 200.