Great Falls, Montana – Tuesday to Thursday, October 4 to 6, 2011
Spent most of the Tuesday running around doing errands, scoping out propane locations and dump stations. Went to the Visitor’s Center and got some information about Great Falls and used their computer to catch up on weather reports.
We had wanted to go to Yellowstone National Park, but snow is in the forecast as well as freezing temperatures. So that knocks it off the list as well as the Grand Tetons. It’s still too hot to go east. Rain is forecast for the next 3 or 4 days so we think we’re just going to stay put.
We decided to move BG to the Westgate Casino for a little more peace and quiet. Plus it’s upwind of the oil storage tanks. We topped off Big Guy’s fuel as part of the move. It sure is nice to have diesel available for less than $4 a gallon.
Wednesday we worked on the blog and EJ went out to get a haircut. Frank started playing with the satellite dish. We hadn’t used it the whole time we were in Canada and Alaska. We went to the Fair Grounds to check out a campground we had seen and to see if they had a dump station. They wanted $35 a night for full hookups. That is why we’re boondocking as much as possible. But they do have a dump station and fresh water available.
Then it was back to the RV for the evening and we made it just in time. The heavy rain started just after we got back.
Thursday Frank fooled around with the satellite dish some more. He forgot he had made some wiring changes and had to reverse those. But now the Dish is back. Then he had to call Dish Network. It had been so long since we had used the satellite receiver it had forgotten what channels we subscribe to. He talked to a Dish representative named “Steve” in Puerto Rico and he got us straightened out.
While looking out our window over the grassy area next to the RV, we had seen a lone prairie dog and watched him forage around. A little later, we saw a prairie hawk checking out the same field. He stayed a long time, but had no dinner that we saw.
We took off for the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. The Center had wonderful displays and a film recounting Lewis and Clark’s Corp of Discovery, the people they met along the way and the hardships they endured. The portage around the Great Falls here was a main feature. An estimated half day portage ended up taking 30 days and covered 18 miles. Talk about a journey to write home about. EJ also got her lifetime Interagency pass at the Center. Best $10 you can ever spend.
Then we decided to go check out the five falls that Great Falls is famous for. There is Black Eagle Falls, Colter Falls, Rainbow Falls, Crooked Falls, and the Great Falls. Colter Falls was submerged when they built Rainbow Dam in 1910. Black Eagle, Rainbow and Great Falls have hydroelectric dams sitting on top of them. Only Crooked Falls is still unchanged. And just for good measure, they have another dam that is not associated with the falls. They should rename the city Great Dams, Montana.
They call Great Falls the “Electric City” because of the power that is supplied these dams. Total output from the 5 dams is 220,000 KW. We heard on the news that the City runs the electric system and is trying to privatize it. They feel that running an electric company does not fall under the purview of governing a city!
Still raining, but on our way back from the last falls/dam, we saw several mule deer out for dinner.
We decide to treat ourselves this evening and have a Pizza Hut Supreme Pan pizza for dinner. We drank the last of the Canadian beer with our dinner.
We’re still undecided on which direction to go. The weather is playing a major factor in our choice (rain, snow, cold, hot…). We decide to look at it again tomorrow morning and choose a route.
| BG Miles Today | 186 | BG Total Miles | 9702 |
| Eat Out total $ | 1363.97 | BG Total Fuel $ | 5653.12 |
| Entertainment total $ | 1401.63 | Total Camping $ | 1162.03 |
| E Miles Today | 74 | E Total Miles | 2939.31 |
| E Total Fuel $ | 604,42 | Day # of Trip | 126 to 128 |
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