F. Ed Knutson Blogopolis

EdUpdate 09-18-2006

Journey summary part I

I left the 31^st of August, Thursday morning at 4:35am for the first leg of my 3,186 mile drive of vacation. Driving well over 800 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada to Dillon, Montana for groceries, and then over a mountain pass to set up camp before nightfall in Bannack, which was the first Territorial Capital of Montana. Here is an interesting site that tells about this famous �ghost town�. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/MT-Bannack.html

I purchased some firewood when I paid the fee for my campsite, set up the tent my friend Jerry loaned me, cooked up some vittles on the camp stove my friend Ron loaned me, stoked up a fire, and just got into the whole outdoors thing!

While waiting for the food to cook, I decided to walk through the trees and bushes at the edge of camp and see if there was anything worth taking a picture of along the creek. Woe is me. I see just in front of me across the crik, a mother doe and her fawn looking at me somewhat fearlessly, yet aware. But nooooo, I came to see if there was anything worth taking a picture of, WITHOUT A CAMERA!! So I just watched them for several minutes as they slowly grazed on through the area and disappeared up the creek.

Later after dark, with my iPod playing Sounds of Nature with light blues music in my earphones, I read a few chapters of a novel then, I set it aside to look at that big ol� BIG SKY view of spilt milk up above me � the Milky Way! Whoa! I forgot how literally THICK the Milky Way is. Living in the neon shadows of Las Vegas is no way comparable to God�s treasure above which is only viewable away from mans� lights!

Praising and Thanking the LORD for this time in His creation, and for His creation, I took a stroll again through the trees to watch the waxing fat crescent moon rise above the hills behind Bannack. Stars bright, moonlight, and hands raised in praise, from the corner of my eyes I caught the most wonderful movement of a meteorite. Centering my eyes in on this spectral phenomenon, the �shooting star� didn�t seem to hurry, and could be renamed �gliding star� as it made its way across the starry realm toward the rising moon. Then, maybe it was just me, but it seemed to change course as if it had bounced off of a more dense part of the atmosphere and finally disappeared into the horizon behind the mountains. Since I was in the act of praising Heavens� Creator Himself, I felt it was sort of what we would call a �thumbs up� to me from Him!

The next morning after cooking up some breakfast, I broke camp, and loaded my Geo Metro Bentley. Now with a very refreshed outlook, I pointed the car toward Great Falls, slapped it on the rear and away we went!

I headed into Dillon across the mountain pass and refueled before heading up the State Hiway instead of the Interstate. I got to see Beaver Rock on my way through the beautiful mountain beef ranch country. http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_281875.aspx & http://montanakids.com/db_engine/presentations/presentation.asp?pid=33&sub=Beaverhead+Rock

Driving the back way to Montana�s state capital to get back onto the Interstate 15, I was soaking in all of the wonderful little towns like �Twin Bridges�, �Silver Star�, �Whitehall�, �Sunlight�, and �Boulder�, Montana.

After getting back onto the I-15 south of Helena, it was smooth up and over the mountain range. As I drive through Montana City, I see that it has become an upscale �burb of Helena. �Big Sky� definitely describes the feeling I get as the drive over this grade. To my right over the next 40 � 50 miles is where the mighty Missouri River gets its start, along with some of the best trout fishing in the world. South and East of that is Yellowstone Park. What a view!

Continuing North and Easterly, leaving Helena It�s back into some more mountains and finally meeting up with the Missouri River as it takes its last north-west bound tour of the mountains before heading out across the Great Plains. That is where I find the little town of Ulm where I exit the freeway, just before Great Falls. About a mile up the frontage road and I arrive at my sister Lois and her husband Bob�s place.

Supper was ready when I arrived, so we ate, I showered, and we visited into the evening. I was happy to be visiting with them in their home, for the first time in about 19 years!

The next morning we had a little breakfast before heading down Gore Hill and into Great Falls proper. Bob�s big pick-up truck with the extra cab was our touring vehicle to re-acquaint me with the hometown of my youth. Gibson Park, named after the founder of Gt. Falls, lies along the Missouri as it lazily curves through town. Then there�s the old core street of town, Central Avenue with still a few historic buildings left to see. Close by is the historic home and art studio of the legendary cowboy artist Charles Marion Russell � �Charley Russell, American Painter and Sculptor�. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_6_208/ai_87105329

Malmstrom US Air Force base is still just east of town, although nearly lifeless compared to it�s business in the 50�s and 60�s. Malmstrom is home of the 341^st Space Wing. http://www.malmstrom.af.mil/

Along the edge of the Missouri as it leaves town on the Northeast side is Giant Springs, the largest fresh water spring in America. Some sites on this: http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_282690.aspx  http://www.greaterfalls.com/?p=13

Also there is a fish hatchery there with some trout for viewing that are gargantuan! Plenty of albino trout too.

Giant Springs also is the beginnings of the Roe River, officially measured at 201 feet in length and noted by Guinness World Book of Records as the shortest river in the world. Some Grade School kids got to name the river back in the late 1980�s. Roe is of course the eggs or egg-laden ovary of a fish.  A path nearby leads to the nearby Rainbow Falls, one of the five waterfalls that had originally stood in the way of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.