We arrived in Great Falls Thursday 5/20 and stayed at Dick’s RV. Great Falls is full of history, most notably Lewis and Clark and Charles M Russell the artist. Of course there are the “Great Falls”, which I didn’t realize are a series of falls, most of them now dammed for electric power, in fact Great Falls is called the “electric city” due to all the hydro-electric plants. Below are pictures of Rainbow Falls.
and more:
We did not have the correct lighting for a full rainbow, but above you see some effect. Imagine the words Lewis and Clark’s crew had when they saw these insurmountable hurdles, to them it meant days of super hard portage labor.
And just below Rainbow Falls is Crooked Falls, one of the few falls that remains today pretty much as it was when the expedition came through.
Above looking down the Missouri, Crooked Falls in about the middle of the picture. Did you know, or realize; the Missouri River is the longest river in the United States?
Here is Black Eagle Falls, the uppermost of the Great Falls.
Interestingly, right in Great Falls, the shortest river/stream in the United States flows into the Missouri. It is a river/stream that results from a pure springs, forms a little pool and then flows 200 feet to the Missouri. Beautiful little springs, some pics below:
At this site is also a fish hatchery where rainbow trout are raised. They keep a few old timers around just for display. I couldn’t resist showing these to some of the fisher people, wow these were some mega trout!
Right by our camp site was a river that fed the Missouri. The town has beautiful parks and walk way paths, well maintained and very clean. Here is Roxy checking out the river.
And one more shot of the day dwindling by the river.
Had to check out Charles Russell’s house and museum, what a great artist. Here is his house, right in town.
And this gorgeous lilac (the town was full of rich, wonderfully colored lilac).
And immediately next to the house, his studio (I mean how cool is that! Bet his wife didn’t yell at him for playing the ukulele in the house! :-) )
Lots of stuff to see inside the museum, but if you are even a casual fan you have seen at least copies. One exhibit that caught my eye was about black and white photos of women in ranching, very informative, artistic and mind capturing. Included, and further capturing my hat loving eye, were these old authentic cowboy hats:
and I had to fix this one up a little:
(Oh, did I mention I had to buy a new cowboy hat in Great Falls, shoot fire, how could you not buy a cowboy hat in Montana!)
Next, the small town of Shelby, where our rowdy crew finally gather as one. Nice little camp right below a small reservoir, very enjoyable gathering. This is our last U.S. stop for quite some time.
We arrived first and set up camp. This shot was taken from the earthen dam forming the reservoir behind it.
Roxy getting some fresh air.
Some shots around the little reservoir:
And there must be a “before” picture so here is our rowdy little band of gypsies, ready to tackle the Alcan highway and go north to Alaska.
From left to right; Joan and Rich Walter, Murray and Shelle McDole, Jeff and Susan Collingwood, and Mike and Sally Theroux. Oh, and of course Ms. Roxy front center!
Tomorrow we cross the border into Alberta Canada.
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