Montana and Mountains

Around midday today we saw our first snow peering through the hazy sky - we could not yet see the mountains but the white patches of snow kinda gave the idea that they really were there! Soon dusty blue shapes appeared and we both felt a whole lot better - there really still were mountains in the world! The road was great and apart from having to pass impossibly slow, impossibly large farming vehicles that looked a bit like enormous dinosaurs, the drive was really smooth. I always have my heart in my throat when we pass on such little roads. Our total length is just about 50 foot and that feels awfully long when overtaking.. I never got used to that. It is amazing just how fast the scenery changed - one minute we were in flat wheat lands with cows and horses using every bit of the shade from the billboards, and the next we had the Skilpads screaming up beautiful lush green mountain sides! We could breathe again - it was wonderful....... The trees were tall and elegant (and made me think of you, Tilda - tall and elegant! ) most and the rivers ambling alongside the roads had the most beautiful green blue color and were dotted with splashes of color from all the rafters heading downstream. We switched off the airconditioner and had the windows wide open which then got me leaning out of the window trying to catch as much as I could on the camera. Simply beautiful and we are not even in the "proper" part of the park yet. That comes tomorrow... We are going to leave here early in the morning (yes really!) and make a full day of it in there. We decided to take it easy this afternoon (code for doing nothing at all), Frank cooked our lunch while I tried to upload pictures to the website. So now we are drinking a pot of coffee and it feels like naptime is getting closer. Yup, it did - a good four hour nap........ did us both the world of good. Now we are all showered and the wind is blowing and it terribly dusty outside and we are relaxing inside with the rv gently rocking in the wind. Our site is not very level at all and we had to move the picnic bench to be able to fit us in, but we are only a few miles from the entrance of the park and on the road to the 93 north which we will take going into Canada. We camped really close to here in 2003 when we came up this way last time - and it's around here that our first little bakkie was towed while in gear and did not make it into Canada - she spat her engine pieces onto the roadside - very sad it was. And yes! we do know that this is not a good idea :-) (to say the very least) and we are really careful, chanting "bakkie out of gear" at least three times before pulling out after a camping stop these days! Just making sure........ Saturday means free online time through the cell phone! But. We had zero reception all day long......... until we got to the park just outside Glacier Park itself. There they have wireless internet! But. It does not reach our site...... We were put RIGHT at the back end of the park again. Ah well. It's so peaceful here under the pine trees and the bugs absolutely love us! Put a foot outside without bug spray and you instantly have the pleasure of being some bugs' dinner! The main culprits look a bit like little yellow jackets - they like me; the no-see-ums looove Frank! We are busy charging all the camera batteries for a full day tomorrow. I have to re-learn how to take night photos - I did have all that in my head before Steven was diagnosed - I think that info leaked out. But I do have the papers here in a file and will look at it again tonight. What a pity it would be not to be ready to get the northern lights on camera! We have done some serious driving over the past four days and it will be nice to take it a bit easier for a day or three... and we are reeeaally looking forward to those mountain views again! We do need to get the bakkie washed before going to Glacier NP in the morning - its difficult to see out of the windows with all the dust and dirt she has collected while being dragged along. I am still trying to upload photos to the RoadrunnersUSA.com site. Maybe it will work...........if not - I will do this as soon as we get high speed... Lotsalove Annie & Frank Xxx www.RoadrunnersUSA.com www.livingwithcml.blogspot.com www.PenniesforCancer.com