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Friday, 06/13/03; Butte, Montana
In the footsteps of Lewis and Clark
Keith took the lead out of Hardin, MT this morning. The road wound up and down and around the hills at near 4,000 feet. The scenery was glorious – green hills, trees and cattle grazing in the tall grass. If you have any imagination you could see buffalo by the thousands grazing this land 200 years ago when the Lewis and Clark expedition passed this way. In the far distance the snow-capped mountains blended with the blue sky and the numerous clouds that were forming along the ranges. You also can conceive of the feelings of those early explorers as they saw the towering mountains and wondered how, or if, they would ever surmount them. Then, you can almost feel their sense of relief as a broad opening appears in the mountain chain, which will allow their escape from this wonderland and into another unknown land.
Not long after our start, we topped a rise and beheld the broad valley sheltering Billings. In the distance was a high escarpment defining the northern limits of the basin. Then we found ourselves speeding down the southern wall into the valley and around the city, itself. It was only 0800 and the traffic, while heavier than before entering the valley, was not significant for residents of Los Angeles. The valley was about 50 miles long and the good, level road permitted us to maintain a speed of 55 MPH, easily.
As we approached Livingston, an old blue van passed us laying a screen of blue smoke emanating from under the car. Keith and Joanie were commenting on the amount of smog being emitted. Suddenly the van, now about 100 feet in front of the Smiths, began to weave violently and the drive shaft ejected from under the car and swiftly rolled into the right lane in front of the Smiths. Luckily there was no traffic to Keith’s left and he was able to swerve to avoid the drive shaft and warn Dennis of the hazard. Dennis surmised that the transmission was leaking fluid and became hot. The hot escaping fluid was the source of the smoke. Finally the transmission became hot enough that the front U-Joint failed, followed by the rear one when the drive shaft began beating the pavement. The noise of all this probably startled the unaware driver causing him to sashay all over the road. It startled us as well!
We were approaching Three Forks, Montana about 1130. Joann started reading about this small town in the AAA Tour Book. It is situated at the headwaters of the Missouri River and was the home area of Sacajawea, the Indian guide of Lewis and Clark. She had been kidnapped from her tribe and later was the wife of one of the Lewis and Clark guides. The Tour Guide indicated that there was a park in Three Forks commemorating Sacajawea. We thought that might be a good place to have our picnic lunch, so we turned off and found much to our interest.
Dennis wanted to change one of his rear tires, which had developed a bubble in the sidewall and was in the process of separating the tread from the carcass. He found a shady spot by the Veteran’s Park. At this little park, was a group of youngsters holding a car wash to raise funds to take them to Philadelphia for a reenactment of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Smith car was splattered with mud, so they used this opportunity to get it cleaned. We had a leisurely lunch and then went to the Sacajawea Hotel, a block away. This hotel was built in the 1880’s and is still in operation. Across the street, we visited the little park dedicated in 1914 to Sacajawea.
Car wash; Clara at Sacajawea Hotel.
After a two-hour lunch break, we were back on the road to our destination, Butte, about 50 miles away. Wending our way over the hills, we skirted a couple of thunderstorms. Then, it was a long grind uphill where we topped out at about 6,200 feet. This was the Continental Divide in this part of the country. All the while we were threatened with a real cloudburst. Near the bottom of the downgrade, it began to rain and we were glad to spy our exit for Butte and the Super 8 Motel. We signed in, found our rooms and waited a few minutes for the storm to abate. So much for a newly washed car!
Climbing the Continental Divide with storm approaching.
After we got settled in our lodgings, Dennis and Keith bought some motor oil and filters for the cars, located a quick lube garage and had the cars lubed and the oil changed. This begins the start of a series of “lasts.” This will be the last lube job for the tour. Before we turn another 3,000 miles on our cars, we will be sleeping in our own beds!
Now it is bright and sunny out and we are about to go out for a bite to eat, so it is time to end this report of our last full day in Montana. The good Lord willing, we will sleep tomorrow night in Idaho – still following the pioneer trail of Lewis and Clark.
The Adventurous Four
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