GLACIER to BILLINGS – bears & flashing lights
Saturday – the day is fine – no clouds and we wake to a lovely view from our room so everything is positive so far. In the day light this place is not too bad. Our fears of Norman and his mother disappeared when our heads hit the pillows.
This really is a great place to stay. The room clean, the bathroom huge and the beds extremely comfortable. Now we have to start to get everything ready for the day’s travel. We start to pack our bags and then head on over to the breakfast area. It is a get your own buffet style – that’s fine by us.
There is a range of cereals, breads, juice, coffee or tea so I decide on my trusty juice, Vegemite toast and coffee. What a lovely place. It is definitely a No Frills type of establishment but as we sit and enjoy breakfast while looking at the stunning views of Glacier Park I think I would love to live in this type of environment of fresh air. Fully fed and refreshed we check out and thank Mary for a wonderful night. Apparently she is renovating all the insides of the rooms and then starting on the outsides.
Our day’s journey leads us to Billings Montana. I had a pen-pal in Billings ages ago in my childhood. What a shame I don’t remember her address.
Anyway down the highway we go and we see a dirty big carved bald eagle atop an entrance to something. It is on the other side of the road so coming to a hurried halt we pull into the place and have a look. This is the Flying Eagle Ranch and out we get for some happy snaps. This thing is huge and we wonder at the ability to carve something with such detail.
Back on the road we see something else of interest ‘The Great Bear Adventure’. OK so this may be our only chance to see bears – we head on in to discover that the only bears they have here are black bears due to the fact that the grizzly bear had attacked someone (who was most probably being stupid) and they had to relocate him. The bear – not the stupid person.
Driving in – there are only four black bears here. Well, that’s disappointing to say the least. We must stay in the car (your car is your cage) with the windows up, surely that is common sense – but I forget where we are.
We take lots of photos and video as we drive around – but these bears seem to be missing character. They just sit down for most of the time we were there. When the ‘handlers’ start putting food around it seems to be such an effort for them to get up and amble over to eat. Certainly not what I expected to see after seeing the Bear and Wolf Discover Centre at Yellowstone in our 2007 Road Trip.
The bears in that centre had life written all over them – these bears seem to have no soul. Sad to see.
We have about an eight hour drive today – so we better get moving. This brings us to another stop – the Montana Fur Company. We promised Stuart that we would bring him back a fur. Obviously he wanted a bear or a buffalo or a wolf. These things are not easily carried – or afforded after we see the prices. Kylie decides on a skunk skin – which does not smell. I buy myself a CD of native American Chants and Dances – Sacred Spirit 2. I already have Sacred Spirit 1 from the 2007 trip. But I digress.
On this day there is not really that much to see just the odd spot here and there so the day is spent mostly driving.
Through rain and sun and hail we travel – the landscape changes from one minute to the next but the storms remind us of driving to Monument Valley two years ago.
We nearly get to Billings when Kylie sees flashing lights in her rear vision mirror. Crap. She definitely was not speeding and memories of being pulled over by Mr Utahrian Officer come to mind. Kylie is seething and Tyler and I have ducked for cover.
Kylie is gripping the wheel like a vice and mumbles under her breath. Mr Officer comes up to the car and Kylie rolls down the window. Surprise, surprise he is really nice and it is not for speeding that she was pulled over – it is because we have no headlights. That explains why we thought the road was so dark. Mr Officer goes through the routine and Kylie tells him that when she put the lights on earlier they were working. He then asks if we have anything illegal in the car. What is this with the question? Do people really say yeah, we have drugs and firearms and explosives? Our inquisitive nature gets the better of us and we ask ‘why do you ask such a question? Do people really say yes?’ He says that they ask the question to see what sort of response they get from peoples faces. OK – good reason I suppose.
Kylie gets out of the car to see the headlights and of course we don’t have any. She says that the fuse must have blown the globes – he smiles and we later find out she used the wrong choice of word as globe over here means a woman’s bosom. She should have said bulbs. Kylie also tells him we are staying in Billings overnight so we will get them checked tomorrow. He is really nice, checks our papers and tells us to take it easy and lets us go.
The drive to our Hotel – The Best Western Clock Tower Inn – is done in silence and of course it has started to rain. We arrive in one piece, get to our room and collapse. We are hungry but exhausted from the afternoon activities and we go to sleep with the thought that tomorrow we have to get the lights fixed.
Highlight of the day: Breakfast at the Vista Motel and those views.