Tales of Montana

We entered Montana as we left Yellowstone via the west gate on Thursday, September 27. Neither Sharon nor I have been in the state before so we had no clear idea what to expect. But my first impressions were favorable. Sharon claims that part of the reason I like Texas is because of their barbecue and that Texans drive like I do. My first impression of Montana did come from the highway, specifically highway 287 which led us from Yellowstone through Bozeman and Helena to Glacier National Park where we are today, Friday. The scenery, as I noted in my previous entry, is gorgeous. But one incident will stay with me always.

I drive fast on the highways and I love to drive reasonably fast on curvy mountain roads. 287 has plenty of those, but also plenty of trucks and RVs and they go slow. So, where indicated as being legal and safe, I pass slower vehicles, and the safest way to pass is to do it quickly. That means speed. But I try not to be irresponsible, so when passing a tractor trailer and then an RV, I sped up, a lot, and then slowed back down. And then a white pick up truck came up on me from behind, fast, as a cop would do in pursuit. I waited for the lights, there were none. Instead just a thumbs up from the driver behind me, who then fell back. Strange. Then it all became clear two miles later when I saw a marked patrol truck parked in the opposite direction with his lights flashing. I looked back to see my friend in the white truck cross the highway to park beside his colleague. The Montana State Patrol likes the way I drive. Cool!!

But that’s not the only reason I am fond of the state. A stop in Bozeman later that day netted us a great coffee shop and got me a cool new knife and left us wondering what life might be like there, or if I had accepted the job that I was offered at the University in Missoula in 1985.

Today the scenery was grand and we had a fine lunch in Choteau, swapping tales of The Doctor (Who) with a café owner’s husband, a real nerdfest. Down the road a after some miles on dirt highway, we stopped in Browning on the Blackfeet Reservation where we did some curio shopping, and then on to Essex, just outside Glacier, where we will be staying for the next three days.