On our way to somewhere else

Today was a "we're on our way somewhere else" day. That somewhere else is Glacier National Park.  We hope to be there tomorrow.

This morning we got up, hooked up the tow car, dumped the tanks and took off west on US 2, the northernmost US highway in the United States and the road we've been following almost the entire time since we left Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Today's destination:  Havre, Montana, a town of about 10,000 people, and Montana's eighth largest city, says the city web site.  It was an180 mile drive from Fort Peck Dam and Lake Downstream Campground, where we stayed for two nights.

Following along with us on Route 2 were the Milk River, a tributary of the Missouri River (named by Meriwether Lewis who said it was the color of tea with milk), and the BSNF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) Railroad.

We got a camping spot at the Great Northern Fairgrounds campground.  Wedged between currently unused county fair buildings and US 2, it's not the most scenic campgrounds.  But this is a one-night stop and like I said, we're on our way to somewhere else.  After we got settled in we had dinner at a good pub just down the road called Murphys, and explored Havre.

Havre was settled as a railroad town, and is a nice surprise, especially in contrast to other eastern Montana towns we've seen.  Lots of big trees, well-kept homes, and a seemingly stable community not getting blown away by the prairie winds.   We kind of like it.

This display of dinosaurs can be see along US 2 as we left Fort Peck, Montana. Fort Peck, Havre and 12 other Montana towns have dinosaur-themed museums and other attractions along what's called The Montana Dinosaur Trail.

On our way to Havre we saw more amber waves of baled straw, lots of farms, and yes, lots of big sky.

One of the pretty buildings in downtown Havre.

Havre is only 45 miles south of Canada.

The not-so-scenic view out the back of our rig looking right at US 2 over a chain link fence.  To the left and behind a shopping mall is the "Too Close for Comfort" buffalo jump site, also known as Wahkpa Chu'gn.  It's an archaeological site on the National Register of Historic Places.  A buffalo jump is  place where Native Americans drove buffalo over a cliff as a way to hunt them.   Per Wikipedia "Buffalo jump sites yield significant archaeological evidence because processing sites and camps were always nearby."  (The site was closed today, so I have no pics.)