Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton, AB, Can

A drive through big sky country today. Beautiful vistas of the front range of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and lots of waiting in road construction for pilot cars. A friend from from Montana used to say there were 2 seasons, winter and road construction and he was right!

We stopped at the Montana Dinosaur Center in Bynum. Bossy was napping so her new friend Ducky, the Crested Duck-billed Dinosaur showed us around. This part of Montana has one of the six locations in the world where Dinosaur nests have been found. The nesting dinosaurs here were hydrosaurs or duck-billed types. Phil and I stopped here 5 years ago when the baby first went on display. The baby changed how we think of dinosaurs as more bird like instead of lizard like. This location has active dinosaur digs you can participate in and a big lab to watch the preservation work.

We fought the wind all day but finally made it to the Canadian border. We saw a red fox while eating a sandwich lunch near the Belly River Trailhead. About 13 years ago, Phil and I did a back country hike into the Belly River for 5 days, so it all felt familiar.

At the border, we were quizzed on guns, tobacco, alcohol and pepper spray. We told the agent about our summer plans and she gave us some tips on more road construction for tomorrow. Seems Montana and Alberta have a lot of similar thinking.

Tonight, we are at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton National Park. That's the Canadian side of Glacier National Park. We didn't realize that there is a whole town of AirBNB's and other lodging, but it is still fun to be in the historic hotel. We are in a "budget" room, which means the 5th floor where the workers used to stay. Elevator goes only to the 4th floor. The room is still nice and spacious, but with views of the parking lot. Great bathroom and killer shower.

Tomorrow we are heading to Banff for 2 nights.Read more