From Great Falls to St. Mary Montana
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2011
1
38
42
Trip End
Aug 25, 2011
Where I stayed
What I did
Traveled Hwy 89 West
Saint Mary, Montana
Friday, August 19, 2011
There was little traffic so we were able to take our time as we traveled through a number of small rural communities clustered around elevators along the railway. Although the communities might consist of a community store and a few houses, we were amazed at the number and size of the 'grain bins' - much more modern than the traditional elevators dotting the Canadian west.
In Coteau we did a double-take and pulled into the first spot where we could park off the road - the joys of traveling in a motor coach. This small rural town is doing a wonderful job of tourism promotion. Not only do they offer a great community museum and a visitor's centre, but they also link it to a small plaza offering ice-cream cones and haircuts! Not only do the buildings of the museum (in addition to the main building, several log buildings have been moved to the site and are used for interpretive displays), visitor center and plaza site in a park-like area along the highway. But that's not all! Scattered throughout the buildings are a number of large dinosaurs! We couldn't resist! As a result of our stop we learned about the Metis history of the area, the building of the first bear trap by a local man, and 'the dinosaur trail'. Apparently there have been some very important fossils found in this area. Just a little further down the road at Bynum is a dinosaur interpretation center which we decided to leave for another visit to the area. We did enjoy the very professional exhibit of dinosaur bones and fossils found in this museum and our bucket list continues to grow. Now we want to explore taking one of the courses offered in this area and to take part in an archaeological dig!
Thanks to our stop in Coteau, we decided not to visit the Museum of the Plains Indians near Browning, another place added to the list for a future visit. We decided to heed the recommendation on the web site of the Johnson's Campground, our destination for the weekend. It It was suggested that if you were traveling by car to continue up Hwy 89 but if arriving by RV to use Rd 464 and the Duck Lake Rd. Checking our Montana Gazateer, it was easy to see why. There are just a few switchbacks on Hwy 89 north of Hwy 2!
As we settled in for the night we enjoyed a wonderful view of Lower St. Mary Lake and the Mountains from our hill top site. What a sunset! The roads through the campground were narrow but they gave us a spot near the end of a row so we didn't have any maneuvering problems.
