Day 22

Glacier National Park was our turn around point. G3 and I would have kept traveling west to the Pacific, but Kati, the responsible adult, said no. If we went further and stretched our trip longer we would run out of money and find ourselves stranded, possibly in North Dakota — and what the hell would one do trapped in the middle of nowhere. So alas, we now are driving toward the rising sun instead of the setting one.

G3 was very groggy this morning from the Benadryl he took before bed. We woke him up and told him to get in the car and go back to sleep. Kati and I then broke camp. G3 conked out for a good two hours while Kati drove and when he woke up he announced his hunger and need for food. But we were surrounded by nothing but grassy fields and way too many cows. No sign of a civilization selling food anywhere in sight.

Conrad was the first town — if you can call something that tiny a town — we came to this morning and by then G3 was famished. We passed a gun shop advertising “Buy Sell Trade Pawn.” I wanted to stop in out of curiosity to see how easy it was to get a gun but they were closed. We ate in a cafe down the street from the gun shop. It was run down and the booths were in dire need of an upgrade. I sat down and fell into a hole. At least the food was decent and cheap. And now that G3 is full he is in a happier mood.

Lewis and Clark traveled on the Missouri River as they made their way west. When they reached what is now Great Falls, Montana they were dismayed to discover five large waterfalls obstructing their path. In order to bypass them, they had to take their canoes and supplies out of the water and lug them across 18 miles dry land. Initially, they thought this would take a day or two but it ended up taking quite a bit longer. In all, they spent more than a month in this area, longer than they spent anywhere else on their journey.

Today, Great Falls is home to an interpretive center — museum — that tells the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition. This is where we detoured today as we began our return to the East Coast. The museum was interesting and informative. We walked through the exhibits and watched two films about Lewis’s and Clark’s trials, but what we all enjoyed and appreciated the most was the talk about the Spanish. Apparently, the Spanish Government sent at least four expeditions in search of Lewis and Clark. The Spanish were displeased with Napoleon for selling us Louisiana and they wanted to prevent America’s westward expansion. The best way to do this — in their opinion— would have been to arrest Lewis and Clark. The first three missions — all led by the same man (sorry, I forgot his name) — failed. Finally, the Spanish got smart and hired someone else to lead the charge against Lewis and Clark. But he turned around and hired the first guy as a assistant. In the end, he too failed. But you have to wonder, if the Spanish had succeeded, would it have made a difference?

The woman who gave the talk was fantastic. She knew how to tell a story to keep her audience engaged. And I can say this because even Kati enjoyed the talk and Kati is a hard sell when it comes to history. As for me, I always like learning something new.

While in Great Falls, we wanted to see the waterfalls. Unfortunately, due to the dams which have been built, the river looks much different than it did in the time of Lewis and Clark. The woman at the city’s visitor center told us they are absolutely beautiful but we would have to take her word for it. With the dams in place they were nothing but a trickle. I did, however take a short walk beside the river traversing only a tiny fraction of what Lewis and Clark covered. I would have walked further but we still had quite a bit of driving to do for the day. I didn’t want to hold up G3 and Kati who had no desire to walk. They both think I’m insane for all the hiking I’ve made them do since we left home. Besides, it was 98 degrees and neither one of them wanted to melt.

The big laugh of our road trip has been Kati’s inability to park straight and in the lines. Needless to say, “straight jokes” have been endless.