Flathead Lake and Onward…

We left Wilbur with very full tummies.  Even the owner’s fresh warm cinnamon rolls did not sound tempting.  We breezed through Spokane and stopped in Coeur d’Alene for gas and propane.  Thanks to our Gas Buddy app we were able to find the cheapest diesel at $3.87 per gallon.  Propane was $2.50.  Now we’re good to go!

Nice weekend getaway

Heading east on I-90 toward Missoula we thought we might possibly make West Glacier for a couple of nights, do some laundry and get in a hike.  The drive was slow and mountainous and by the time we reached Lakeside at the northwestern end of Flathead Lake it was 5:30 PM, way past the “rule of 3s”, and the driver called it quits.  I had  already located Edgewater RV Resort, a Passport America half price park, called ahead to be sure, then plugged their address into the GPS for a hassle-free navigation.  One less task for a tired brain.

Lakeside by our park

There was a multitude of chores to do after our 10 days in Canada; loads of laundry, grocery shopping, defrosting the freezer, and general cleaning.  Kalispell, 15 miles away, is the closest city and they have all the Big Box stores so was worth the trip.  Glacier NP would have been a 100 mile round-trip drive, leaving little time to get in the Avalanche Lake hike suggested by friends, Marilyn and Bob on Facebook.

Marina across the street

We did fit it in some time at the lake for photos and to glean a few facts and a myth or two.  Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River in the lower US.  The lake is approx. 15 miles wide, 28 miles long and 380’ deep, just slightly larger than Lake Tahoe.

I'm pretty sure that's the monster

Local legend has it that there is a Flathead Monster, similar to Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Some people claim that they have seen a huge serpent-type fish, others believe it to be a school of fish that swim close together that appears to look like one huge fish, and yet others believe it is just a big Sturgeon.  The fact is we may have seen it and the lake was very clear about that!

From the Mountains

Though on a schedule of sorts…we hope to be in Vermont and Maine by the first part of October, we decided to drive the motorhome and spend a couple of days at Glacier’s Apgar Campground and enjoy some hiking and the always beautiful scenery.  Maybe a drive up the Going to the Sun Road. This was not to be.  We headed out the next morning with a thunderstorm threatening and did not want to spend our time at Glacier cooped up inside. 


So we kept on driving along Highway 2, the most northerly US highway, running parallel to the Canadian border.  We crossed the Continental Divide at Marias Pass, and headed into the Great Plains.  Next stop Havre, MT where we overnighter at Evergreen RV Park, about 5 miles south of town in a beautiful setting of grass and trees.  The sites were spacious and quiet, unlike in town by the RR track, and $30 per night.  They even accepted our Canadian dollars!

The Prairies...

I'm pretty sure there's a sign here

Here are more shots of America through the windshield:

Windmill blades on a passing train

It took many tries with traffic stopped

And on it goes....