Miles City, MontanaSep 6, 2007
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"'cross the wide Missouri" near Willisdon, ND
Badlands near Fairview, MT
The 600 Cafe - Miles City, MT
We got underway early today, at 8:30am!
The goal is to get from North Dakota to Miles City Montana, our next destination, by noon, so that we can organize a FAX machine to complete the real estate transaction for our home in Oliver BC (see our June '07 journal for that story). One of the first sights on the road was the crossing of the Missouri River. It's wide and slow and has big sand bars. You can imagine freight and people using this river in the 1800's.
Highways in North Dakota and Montana are much better than in Saskatchewan. We followed state highway 85 to 200 to 16, before joining interstate 94 at Glendive. The scenery reminds us very much of the Longview area of Alberta, with rolling hills, lots of cattle, etc. We got into Miles City at 11:45, only to find out that the KOA does not have a FAX machine... who doesn't have a FAX these days? But the KOA staff were helpful and pointed us to the Star Printing and Supply Company, who have both a FAX machine and a very helpful staff member by the name of Kelly. She even volunteered to stay open a little late if our FAX was delayed! 'Atta girl Kelly.
We went for a walk downtown after talking with Kelly. We were hungry and found the 600 Cafe along Main Street. The place was wonderful, looking just like it did in the 1950's. Lots of staff and a family menu of home cooking! The burgers and the patty melt's are highly recommended, as was the people watching. Definitely worth stopping for a meal. The other noticeable things about Miles City was the friendliness of the people. You can't walk anywhere without folks waving from cars, saying hello on foot and generally being small town good neighbors. Very refreshing after coming from a big city.
It's laundry day today, so Elaine took on that job. While there, she was reading about improving the horsepower of the Bus... whoda thunk she was getting into motor home mechanics? And it's much cheaper than buying a diesel pusher!
On Friday after taking care of the real estate deal, we went golfing at the Golf and Country Club. A very well groomed 9 hole course and a perfect day to golf. The golf wasn't bad, although Elaine won by two strokes and I had to buy beer. Tomorrow, it's down the road towards Butte Montana.
