West to Montana!

We wanted to get back on track with an early driving schedule. We were getting tired of pulling in to campgrounds late and quickly setting up, eating a quick meal (honestly, they were all simple & quick meals), then sleeping. We left Eastbay relatively early so we could relax a bit at Downstream Campground near Fort Peck, MT. 

Most of the drive on this section is a two-lane highway with light traffic. This made for smooth driving conditions. We stopped at the Culbertson Museum by accident, we thought we were pulling into the visitor center that the sign had announced (turned 1 drive too soon). It was an interesting place and the owner was so kind to let us use the restroom. 

More pronghorn on this drive and a lot of open prairie, farms, and cattle. A phone call came in about 10 minutes before we were to arrive at the campground (it was about 17:30) and it was the gate person at Downstream just checking in on us and getting an approximate ETA. When we pulled up, we were greeted by your stereotypical Montana guy. Big cowboy hat. Boots. He was very nice and told us about the dinosaur museum down the road (already closed for the evening, bummer). Our campsite was great. It was a nice shaded, level, roomy, pull-through site. Short walk to the shower house and close to the river. We were there early enough that we actually were able to relax, take the girls (our dogs) for a mile walk along the path by the river, cook and enjoy a beer before bed. Our signal was weak so unfortunately, we couldn’t watch “Canadian Bacon” that evening as we prepared for Canada. We had wished we had more time and could have spent another night. But we needed to keep moving on. 

The next morning, we took the girls for another walk and had some comic relief by some other campers. Then we needed to get back on the road. Water container was refilled (there was debris in it from the Eastbay fill up, yuck!), everyone in their assigned travel spots, and we were off. Today, we would cross into Canada.