Big Belt Mountains

Last night when I sat down to turn on the MiFi (personal internet hot spot, which is how we connect to the internet) and post the blog, we got the unwelcome news on the MiFi that there was "no battery". How could this be? How could we get a message on a battery operated device when there was no battery? After trouble-shooting with tech support people at Verizon last night and again this morning, it was determined that the battery had failed and we would have to have a new battery shipped to us or get a new, updated MiFi from a Verizon store. 

Since hearing the words - "shipped to you " - sends chills up our spine, we were thrilled to learn that there was a Verizon store in Great Falls (where we were camping overnight) since there are only 24 stores in this huge state. We got the store address from Verizon and planned on stopping there on our way out of town.  But, not being familiar with the street layout, we stopped, put the flashers on the trailer and car, and tried to puzzle out the map that we had. Fortunately, Great Falls is a beautiful city and they have some wonderful, helpful people. A man in a pick-up stopped to see if we needed help and we told him we were trying to find the Verizon store. He knew where it was and said, "Follow me, I'll take you there." Imagine how welcome that offer was to us, towing the Airstream through busy downtown streets can be a little nerve wracking. 

Meet Bobby King, the man with the pick-up. He is the Pastor at the Crossroads Memorial Church in Great Falls. His cards says that the Church is "Serving those who are serving". He certainly is a fine example of someone leading the Christian life. Thank you, Pastor King!

With our new MiFi, we headed out of Great Falls across the Missouri River and pointed the car south  towards Butte, MT.

More Missouri River. We recently re-watched the Ken Burns film on the Lewis & Clark 1804-06 expedition and remembered the difficulties the expedition had portaging around the falls at Great Falls. Instead of taking half a day, as they planned, it took them almost a month of arduous work.

Following are some landscape pictures that Frederick took out of the car window today. This is the first time we have ever travelled this highway, Interstate #15, and the scenery was a knock-out!

Just south of Great Falls.

The following pictures are of a mountain range called the Big Belt Mountains. We thought the scenery was spectacular and unlike what we have been seeing for the past four months. Part of the Rocky Mountains, the Missouri River runs through the range and we could just imagine Lewis & Clark seeing this landscape for the first time.

How about this location for a home?

All along the Missouri we saw lots of boats but they were all being rowed. We later read that the Missouri River in the Great Falls area is closed to power-boats. If you click on the picture above and enlarge it, you will see that the white dot on the river is a row boat.

A hill all furry with pine trees.