Down Hwy 89 to Choteau

I let Ruben sleep for a while, I knew he had had a very restless night. When he was mostly up around 8:30, and there was a lull in the storm, we hastily packed all our belongings into the car. There were many wet sleeping bags, and clothes, and of course the tent and tarps, but the electronics were fine, and the suitcases were dry. 

Ruben drove through the campground and we watched the other suffering campers in their rain gear either packing up or trying to make food. We parked in front of the restroom, and ate some of my provisions from the food box. We scavenged seeds, bars, and the last banana, and felt full enough to get on the road. I cleaned the garbage out of the car, and after we brushed our teeth we left Glacier. 

A word on food for the trip: Bars: boxes of granola bars, protein bars, many varieties of each, and some fig newtons. Breakfast: Instant oatmeal packets, and nuts and seeds to go in the oatmeal. Cans of soup, cup of noodles, beans and weenies, and just before we left Spokane I bought some eggs and bacon, which I sadly don't think we will finish. Ruben shared he'd rather stay in crummier places and eat in restaurants than have to eat groceries and stay in nicer rooms. I kept that in mind, but it didn't really work out that way. 

Ruben was ready to drive.  We left St. Mary and it's wind and rain, and headed for the sunshine. We took highway 89 south. This road is amazing. Speed limit is 70, and it winds through vast stretches of farmland with few side roads and fewer intersections. It has 60 mph curves and rolling hills. Always off to our right was the view of the mountains, with their dark clouds and rain covering them, but to our left was sunshine, puffy clouds, and rolling hills. 

The meadows were full of blowing grasses or wildflowers. The fields that had animals all had plenty of green grass and I imagined the cows would be pretty happy till they were dinner. Little streams flowed through each valley, and their were ponds with lush plants around them frequently. 

We put on the A-Z roadtrip playlist, and made good time. 

The song playing when I took the picture below.

The view of Glacier National Park from the outside. 

The song playing when I took the picture below.

The blue sky! 

 At just after noon we were starved, and I searched the route to find a good restaurant. Thanks to Google we ended up at Buffalo Joe's in Dupuyer, about an hour north of Choteau. It was a modern place made to look old, and kind of tourist gimmicky, but it was fantastic.

Ruben ate the entire Montana sized burger. I ate most of mine. The rest of the drive was uneventful. We arrived in Choteau and drove through town, then back through town to the Stage Stop Inn. Their room for us wasn't ready yet, so we went to the tourist info center, ate some huckleberry ice cream (huckleberries are a big deal here) and then went to the laundromat to dry our sleeping bags and wash our clothes. 

For some reason there is a dinosaur in the background of this picture. We will have to investigate why tomorrow. 

This is my "I just had ice cream" face. Giddy. 

While we waited for the clothes to wash and dry, I played some guitar, and Ruben read some Christian propaganda that had been left on the table. We had some interesting discussions about it. Choteau is windy, but warm and sunny. It's supposed to get hotter as the weekend comes. No rain! At some point we need to air out the tent so it can dry, but our tenting time for this trip is over. 

We went back to the Stage Stop Inn, got to our room and were very impressed. The whole facility seems brand new, and the room was modern, clean, comfortable, and fresh. After a break we are planning on heading down to the pool. 

Ruben commented that he liked the frame. 

A real comfortable bed...mmmm