Beautiful Drive and Ride

Tuesday, June 9, 2015
This morning our caravan drove to Helena, Montana - just an 80 mile drive but what an awesome one.  We could see the Missouri River first on one side of the road and then on the other as it twisted and turned through the hills.  Here are just a few pictures to show some of the scenery we saw along the way as taken out of the window of the motorhome while we traveled.

Unfortunately the further we went the more bugs that smashed against the windshield thus spots in the pictures and the color balance is messed up by the glass.  But even with those problems the beauty was spectacular.

We arrived at Lincoln RV Park at lunch time.  So we quickly set up and enjoyed a meal so we could be ready for another boat ride on the Missouri in the early afternoon.  This ride took us through the area that Lewis named the Gates of the Mountains as we are now drawing near to the Rockies and are seeing taller and taller "hills".  We spent a couple of hours in this boat cruising that special area

Our pilot and guide obviously has a passion for this area - its history and wildlife and geology.  Tim Crawford could weave stories about things we were passing that had you on the edge of your seat. And he could quote by heart entries from the journals of those in the Corps of Discovery that fit certain areas.

This area is where there was a very serious fire a few years ago that resulted in the burning of 40,000 acres of land and killing 13 fire fighters some of which were overtaken by fire moving 25 miles an hour!

The cliffs made up primarily by limestone and are full of "holes" and caves one of which has pictographs painted on the walls.

Tim also pointed out this plant that grows on the walls.  This is about the only place it can still be found.  It looks like broccoli but is called kelseia.

I wish I could have captured the two eagles that swooped and flew back and forth in front of our boat attacking a tern.  It was an amazing sight! But here is one of them that Larry Basden, a member of our group,  caught in flight.

As we were finishing up the trip the skies began to get dark and the winds picked up so we quickly drove back to the campground keeping an eye on the rains we could see sweeping into the area.  We made it back just as drops began to fall.  It then rained off and on for the evening and into the night with some thunder and lightning adding to the show.  

Bette and I enjoyed a good game of Qwirkle after supper.  I just recently got the game so we were helping each other play it as we'd keep checking out the rules.  It is a bit challenging but fun.  Bette was the big winner.

Shortly after she left the skies opened up and we went to bed listening to rain drops on the roof.