cave, rock, fencepost

Montana is wonderful; it is Lewis & Clark country too .... I am a BIG fan of their story and trail.
Today we are in Great Falls, visiting the Missouri River and falls that L/C took 11 days to portage around.  Actually there are 5 falls, most of which have been damned up for electricity, so the actual camping spots and landmarks of the Corp of Discovery are under water.  But just to see the rolling prairies with the river winding thru is awesome.  Their dairies were so complete that we know the actual dates they passed certain points.  It was almost exactly 206 years ago this month that they passed <around> Great Falls.

We went to the see the confluence of the Three Rivers that go into the Missouri .... it was a beautiful plain with meandering streams of water everywhere.  Lewis/Clark had to decide which one to follow .... the 33 men with them all voted on a different one, but the two captains made the decision and it was right.

We went to the L/C cavern State Park and went thru the cave .... all four of us.  BUT, you don't realize the significance of that phrase "went thru the cave" ..... it was at least 9 or 10 lighthouses !
First we drove almost to the top of a hill which was 6525 feet elevation; then we hiked for 3/4 mile UP the side of the hill for another 300 feet rise in elevation.  Then we entered the cavern and hiked 3/4 mile DOWN thru the cavern ..... actually sometimes sliding down 'chutes' .... and sometimes almost crawling thru passages.  We can't figure out what possessed us to do it .... but since we survived, we feel absolutely elated that we did !!!!!!!

Back in the parking lot of the visitor center, I ran over a rock (well, actually a boulder), which lodged up under the motorhome and in front of the rear wheels. I had already called for a wrecker, when Charlotte and Charlie flagged down two young guys (one of which was our guide thru the cave). We raised the motorhome up on its jacks and the guys rolled the rock out .... wow !

So by this time it was dark and we were many miles from our campground for the nite.   Took a wrong turn (we're talking very narrow barely paved country roads) and couldn't find a place to turn around.  Finally decided to back the motorhome into a gravel side road to turn around ... Charlie backed the car down the lane first to give me some light from the cars headlights .... and backed right into a fencepost ! (the car, not the motorhome).   So, after much laughter, we got headed right.... but couldn't find our campground, so we parked in a city park parking lot right in the middle of town in Whitehall, Montana (not a very big place). The next morning we just walked across the street for breakfast at the town's main cafe.  The town had a series of Lewis and Clark murals on about a dozen of it's commercial buildings.  They were really nicely done.  So it turned into an unexpected but fun adventure.

Actually all of the events we experience we consider to be fun adventures ... expected or unexpected.

Marilyn for the Three Travelers