Although no rush to get up early but still got up at 6 am.
Took it easy and got ready to check out by 8:30 am. Breakfast was okay – had a
waffle! Today, if everything goes well
then I may have a bit of driving and good scenery. Got on I-90-W to get on 287-N to see the Bleu Horses on 287. Right about 4 miles from the I-90 were the
horses on the left. The only problem was that there was no place to stop to
take pics and no exit in sight. I had to pull into a ranch entrance to come
around. If there was no car behind me, I would have stopped to take a photo but
I had to take it while driving. The horses were interesting sculptors. I wish
there had been a place to pull over and admire them.
Got back on I-90-W to Butte. I am
not comfortable with the 80mph speed limit. The cars are whizzing by too fast.
I am okay with 70-75 but I cannot keep it to 80 for a long time. Drive was
nice, lots of ups and downs and pretty views. Got on I-15-N before Butte. I
could see a huge mining operation from the highway. Interesting. I am looking
forward to seeing it on my way back. I-15-N was interesting highway and now I
know why AAA has decorated it with dots (scenic route). About 15-20 miles north of I-90 the
topography changed drastically. There were these strange looking rocks. It
seems I was on the continental divide. The drive also had more curves. It was
kind of tough for me to drive this part since I wasn’t sure whether I should
drive or look at the beautiful mountains. And yet again, there was no stopping
point to admire the view. I tried to
take pictures while driving but it was hard. Oh well….
And there was no restroom! So I
stopped at Boulder gas station to use the restroom. It was about 11 am so I had
some coffee too. It was a nice break. I sat outside and had my coffee. It is
was a pleasant sunny day. Then on to Helena. And lo, 3 miles down there was a
rest area. But it seemed small, and of course did not have coffee. I was going
to go north of Helena to see the Gateway of the Mountains. There was also Lake
Helena and Hauser before that but I decided to see that on the way back.
Gateway to the Mountains was right
off I-15. It was a few miles east and I could see Lake Holter before I got
there. It is a huge lake within Missouri River. I have seen Missouri River in
MO, NE and now here. This is more towards the tail end. There was more here
than what I was expecting. There was a restaurant (limited menu), boat tours,
restrooms and a wonderful picnic area.
It was about 12:15 pm. The next boat tour was at 1 pm, so I decided to stay,
have lunch and then take the 2 hr tour. (Good decision in hindsight). I had
some puris left, so had those.
The boat came at 12:55 pm and we
were off at 1 pm. The tour guide, captain and comedian was Jake. It was a
beautiful day for a boat ride. Part of the boat was covered and part was
outside. I sat by the window. The river was not so wide but it was flowing and
once we got out of the lake and into the canyon, it was just beautiful scenery.
We saw a bald eagle sitting and a pelican flying over. Not too much more of wildlife.
The limestone ridges and rocks were mesmerizing to look at. I am also always
amazed that so many Americans come out to enjoy the outdoors. There were so
many people boating and fishing and camping.
Two hours went by nicely. Came
back and had some huckleberry ice cream. It was sort of pink-lavender color and
tasty. I had never had it before and apparently huckleberries are a Montana
thing. I enjoyed my scoop by the lake and drove off to go to Lake Helena and
Hauser. This was a disappointment. Lake Helena was okay – not as big and no
picnic area or anything. People were just parked around and fishing. To go on
to Hauser Lake I would have to drive on dirt road – again! I am still not
willing to do that. So a few hundred meters in I found a way to come back. Well
that was a bust. But I guess it would not be much of a miss as it might just
look like Helena Lake.
I checked into my hotel,
Jorgensens Inn, around 4:30 pm. The guy was nice enough to give me ground floor
instead of second floor – I did not feel like hauling my suitcase up the
stairs. The room is nice.
 |
| Reeder's Alley |
Helena is a small capital city.
Not much going on here. I had my coffee and decided to explore Reeder’s Alley.
It turned out to be such a small street of historical buildings….not that
interesting but okay. Historic here means about 100-150 years old. And since it
is Saturday evening, everything is closed. Sleepy town! I parked at the library
and walked the downtown. It was a nice walking area of about 2 blocks. No cars
allowed, only walking. There as a touring trolley though. Very cool! It is a
really old town so they do have some history to talk about – especially mining
(gold). I saw Taco Del Sol – a place with great burritos. I think I know what I
want for dinner today (since it is closed on Sundays).
I decided to check out the
Cathedral. It turns out that it is open only during the mass times, which is
tomorrow. So change of plans, I will do that first and then go to see the
sculpture garden. I feel it will be a sort of a free day tomorrow also.
I came back to “The Last Gulch”,
yes that is the street name of the walkable downtown. Got my burrito and came
back to the hotel to have dinner. Despite the good weather and live music
playing in downtown, there was not much crowd.
Good day! I think I gave too much
time for driving when I was planning this trip.
