Great Falls

We had a wonderful time driving through Canada for six days. The vibe was cool, the spaces wide and vast, the people friendly, and the hockey rinks plentiful. But if we wanted to get to Yellowstone we needed to head south. From Swift Current it was pretty much a straight shot south to Montana. This was down an almost completely untraveled road through farm country. There was certainly no wait at the border, where I got the feeling that a car crossing was a pleasant break in the monotony for the border patrol agents there.

Our route took us past the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, so we stopped there to check it out. There was a small visitor center (with nice bathrooms), but the walk along the river was rather underwhelming. The view was nice, but the trail was very short.

Liz had found a Mexican restaurant called Xochitl in Great Falls, so we headed there for "linner." This turned out to be an excellent stop. Kind of new-age Mexican, and very good. We did have to get quarters to feed the parking meter, which felt rather retro.

We then proceeded to our hotel, the Crystal Inn & Suites. We had time to get some laundry done, which was nice (more quarters!). And that was about it for the day.Read more