On my way to Yellow Stone......

I am sort of going to Yellow Stone National Park but I am definitely taking the long route, in fact it could be the long and slow route!

I have a very good guide book called “Road Trip USA” - Cross country adventures on America’s two-lane highways! This book has some really good road trips with lots of really quirky stuff to see, so I decide to take highway 93 through Montana as far as “The Big Hole National Battlefield” then head east to Virginia City (which I think must have something to do with Bonanza!) This is cowboy and Indian country with Big Stetson’s, cowboy boots, long jeans with big and beautiful silver buckle belts, some guys even have spurs!

I start off with snow and rain in the Blackfoot Reservation. I have to say this is the poorest area I have seen so far. Everywhere looks sad and dilapidated; I am crossing the plains or prairies which were once filled with 100’s of thousand’s of Buffalo, that must have been an awesome sight and dotted with Indian Tipi villages. Now it is just a sad place.

Once out of the reservation the houses improve and I go through some really nice old style towns. I stopped at one that had a farmers market I think the farmer's were Mennonites. I got some corn which I have to say was the most delicious I have ever tasted. I only got 2 which I regretted after eating one, I wish I had moreJ

The road climbs back into the Rockies with lots of fresh snow on the tops and it is snowing quite hard.

Once the snow stops the weather is ok, cold at night but sunny throughout the day. The mountains look beautiful in the sun with lots of fresh snow. The roads in the reservation are pretty poor, with the rain and snow I got covered in mud so am now on the hunt for a decent supermarket and a car wash!

I have a slow and beautiful ride, passing beautiful lakes, some with lovely pretty little islands, the mountains in the back ground are snow covered, the towns are quaint with log homes and shops, some clapboard (I thinks that right) or shingle and really cute old style motels (like we see in old films).

My first fair size port of call is Kalispell where there is a museum of the “Conrad Mansion” this was built by Pioneer and Trader Charles Conrad, very interesting, very well presented with an excellent guide, well worth the visit.

As I drive onwards I pass Flathead river and lake, Swan lake and Clearwater, I also, once again, see Ospreys nesting at the top of the specially built poles along the side of the road this time there are babies too!! Wonderful!

My next stop will be “Miracle of America Museum” which both of my guide books say is a must. On the way I stop in a very small town for lunch which proved to be delicious, I had Huckleberry Cheese cake for pud, this was a vanilla cheesecake with a good size portion of Huckleberries on the side. Yum! I have never had Huckleberries before they are delicious. I believe they only grow here in the Rockies wild, they cannot be cultivated, have to be picked from the wild AND they are a favourite of the bears! Consequently they are expensive I have a jar to bring home which I hope will survive the trip!

The Miracle of America Museum may have been wonderful once upon a time but now! I have never seen such a collection of junk in my life. In and among there are some very interesting pieces but there is to much of it, each display is so over crowded its difficult to appreciate what they are trying to display, there is no order and the explanations are very hard to read and long and tedious!

A short way further along the road I stopped at a “Flathead Indian” museum and culture centre, what a difference every thing is well displayed, labelled with easy and comprehensive descriptions I enjoyed that little visit very much