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Montana's Missouri River Country & Fort Peck Lake & Dam!Sep 3, 2009
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Definitely east of the Rocky Mountains!
The town of Sleeping Buffalo is famous for the world's largest hamburger...
Amelia (Earhart), treasured gift from "Happy Meals" fans, thinks she's flying!
| We are heading for the sunrise and leaving the abrupt wall of the northern Rocky Mountains behind, driving through an enormous sprawling canopy of prairie lands; rolling fields of wheat dotted with farm houses, silos and combines! The big Montana sky opens up with a feeling of no borders or confinement. There is very little traffic along US Highway 2, which is mostly two-lanes, large semis noticeably and gratefully absent. Small towns are the essence of this territory with agro-economics their life line. We overnighted in the town of Harve next to a very active train track with a casino next door and fronting the main road. $34 seemed like "highway robbery" for a sleepless night compounded by the heat and need for air conditioning. We paid a brief visit to the village of Sleeping Buffalo where the "pavement ends" precluded a drive out to Nelson Reservoir. We started to meander around and Howard was immediately attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. At Glasgow we are determined to see the Fort Peck Dam & Lake and, following the signs, encountered an overhead bridge with a height clearance of 12' 3"! Sorry folks, but we won't fit and still have AC units and satellite dome intact. Here goes the "fire drill" that a lot of you can appreciate and already announced to the world on Facebook! We are stopped at a busy intersection with emergency flashers blinking and traffic from all directions trying to get around us. We try to tell our dilemma in hand signals, first pointing to the bridge and then to the top of the motorhome. People come out of the nearby Dairy Queen to help stop traffic while we unhook the jeep and move it out of the way so Howard can back up and start the process of making a U-turn. We are welcomed to Glasgow! A few blocks down we find the appropriate "truck route" to Fort Peck Dam & Lake, located about 15 miles south of town. We say a collective "wow" when we encounter this huge reservoir/lake with its numerous campgrounds developed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the absolute cream of the "national" crop! We find a site with electricity and magnificent views for $8 per night and decide to stay through the Labor Day weekend. Fort Peck Dam is the largest hydraulic earth-filled dam in the world. Construction started in 1933 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression. A very impressive museum and interpretative center is located near the dam and power house. The facilities showcase the Upper Missouri River and Fort Peck area, charted by Lewis and Clark in 1804. Exhibits include dam construction, dinosaurs and fossils, wildlife, history and a fresh water aquarium containing the different species of fish living in the river and lake. The landscape bordering the lake's southern shores is considered one of the richest fossil beds in the world. The campground has filled up for the last big weekend of the summer! The weather is hot with temps in the mid to high 90's, and 0 humidity. Wonder what the weather is like in Roatan? |
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