Getting lost in MT(and ID, ND, SD, and WY)
- Thread starter shortbus4x4
- Start date
We left Choteau headed to Fort Benton via 221, crossed I15 at Dutton. I like their elementary school yard decor.
Crossed I15 to 379 and my wife and daughter saw their first pronghorns. We saw many more before the end of the day.
Crossed I15 to 379 and my wife and daughter saw their first pronghorns. We saw many more before the end of the day.
Stopped sometime after Dutton to take the tops off as it finally cleared off enough to look like we wouldn't get wet.
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Hit pavement on highway 87 at Carter just before Fort Benton and the Missouri.
I had stopped at the Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center before, it was my lunch stop on my way back to work in the oilfields. I'd never spent more than 30 minutes there. It's not a high traffic location and is very good.
From there we spent some time in Fort Benton. Oldest town in MT and the farthest up the Missouri steamboats could come.
From Fort Benton we headed to Havre via the Virgelle Ferry. Saw some interesting country.
Got off the Ferry.
Stopped at the country store at the ferry house side of the crossing for some fresh eggs and banana bread.
Stopped at the country store at the ferry house side of the crossing for some fresh eggs and banana bread.
Went through the big burb of Virgelle and crossed under the abandoned railroad.
Picked up quite a few hitch hikers today. Some areas it sounded like hail so many were hitting the Jeep.
Crossed 87 again heading north and came out on highway 2 near Rudyard, museum there was closed so we are going to see it tomorrow. Pipeline job on the way.
Got a room for the night at the Best Western at the top of the Buffalo Jump in Havre. View from the back.
Picked up quite a few hitch hikers today. Some areas it sounded like hail so many were hitting the Jeep.
Crossed 87 again heading north and came out on highway 2 near Rudyard, museum there was closed so we are going to see it tomorrow. Pipeline job on the way.
Got a room for the night at the Best Western at the top of the Buffalo Jump in Havre. View from the back.
Bentonite mud in MT, the Dakotas, and WY is no joke. If the roads had been wet I would not have attempted the route I took. There were a few damp spots but they were few and far between.
If it rains get to pavement or good gravel roads ASAP.
If it rains get to pavement or good gravel roads ASAP.
Late start, again.........wife. Oh well I'm on vacation so just chilled while she did her thing. Signs at the hotel we stayed at last night.
Got coffee and fuel and headed west on highway 2.
Got coffee and fuel and headed west on highway 2.
Drove past the buffalo jump many times but never stopped, not this time. Paid the $40 family fee for it and the H Earl Clack Museum. Absolutely amazing site!
More pictures. The guide said test holes have been sunk there in a few areas and bones are found all over. It was used for quite a period of time.
Finished buffalo jump and headed west to Rudyard MT for our third museum, Rudyard Depot Museum. This is an absolutely amazing facility, not just for the dinosaurs but for small town America of yesteryear. Dinosaur pictures first.
And I didn't take any pictures of their multiple buildings full of items except for the shiny tractor pictures. They have hundreds of kerosene lanterns, barb wire collection, and lots of local Americana history. Absolutely awesome museum and I could have spent all day there and still not seen it all. It is a labor of love for Rudyard and the other small towns that are 6 miles apart on the railroad, old water stops in the age of steam. Had to leave far too soon.
Wife and daughter were hungry and had noticed a small diner at the junction of 2 and the road to Rudyard. We were a few miles eastbound when they finally decided that's where they wanted lunch.....
I flipped a u turn and headed west again. Place is called the Sugar Shack.
I thought it looked a little small from the outside, the reason is very cool. Talked to the cook/owner who said she had always wanted it. Her husband finally talked to the previous owner one day and it was hers a little later. She is open from around middle of May to Labor Day. Good food and even better milkshakes.
Rudyard is definitely a very cool place to visit.
I flipped a u turn and headed west again. Place is called the Sugar Shack.
I thought it looked a little small from the outside, the reason is very cool. Talked to the cook/owner who said she had always wanted it. Her husband finally talked to the previous owner one day and it was hers a little later. She is open from around middle of May to Labor Day. Good food and even better milkshakes.
Rudyard is definitely a very cool place to visit.
Finally finished lunch and headed east again. H Earl Clack museum was next. They had moved from the "mall" to downtown since I've driven the Highline and still have lots of stuff in storage waiting for remodeling on their "new" building.
