Roadtrip from NH to MT - Day 4

Farmland and plains give way to the mountains of Montana.

Saturday morning and it is the final leg of the drive to Kalispell, MT. We leave Rapid City relatively early after walking Jack through the park for a final time. We gas up and hit Route 212 to connect with Interstate 90 once more. Within a short period of time we are in Montana. There is still a good 11 hour drive in front of us, though -- we are in the southeast corner of Montana, and Kalispell is in the northwest corner. Time to move.

One of the first things we come across in Montana is worth turning around to get a picture. Good old Stoneville Saloon. Their slogan is "Cheap drinks, lousy food". And they have "Topless Tuesdays", where there is a wet t-shirt contest each week. Unfortunately it is only 9:30am and they are not open. I would at least like a souvenir. Bummer.

Cheap drinks and lousy food at the Stoneville Saloon, Aldaza, MT., population 40.

Since I can't get a t-shirt or a cheap drink, we continue along the highway.  We pass several notable sites: Devil's Tower National Monument, Custer National Forest (the battle of Little Big Horn was fought in southern Montana).  We leave the National Forest and enter the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, then the Crow Indian Reservation, home of the Little Big Horn battlefield.  The first big city we come across is Billings.  We are still 7 hours from Kalispell.

Homestretch - 7 hours left! Route 212 somewhere in southern Montana.

After Billings comes Bozeman, MT, a great town along the Gallatin River, home to Montana State University and just north of Big Sky Ski Resort. Our thought is to find a place to have lunch/dinner, which will set us back an hour, but one needs to eat, right?  We pass through Bozeman.  Need to put more highway behind us.  We travel through Butte, and finally stop in Missoula around 5:00pm or so for a quick bite.

Tamarack Brewing Company has two locations in Montana, serving great food and a variety of beer and ales.

Tamarack Brewing Company received rave reviews on Yelp, so we thought we would give it a try.  Totally worth it!  Bob ordered some meaty pizza and a Yard Sale Ale,  and I ordered the fish tacos with a glass of white wine.  All of it was great and we got to watch the football games at the same time.  Time for the FINAL final leg.  A little over 2 hours to go.

We press on through twilight past the National Bison Range and eventually reach Polson, MT, located at the southernmost tip of Flathead Lake.   Flathead  is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, measuring some 57 miles long, 19 miles wide, and with a surface area of a little over 190 square miles.  It's big.  It takes about an hour or so to travel from the southern point in Polson to the northernmost point in Bigfork.  Once we reach Bigfork, we are a mere 20 minutes from our final destination.

We finally reach Kalispell, located in the Flathead Valley,  It is considered the gateway to Glacier National Park, some 35 miles northeast of town.  We are happy to have arrived.  Jack is happy to have arrived.  We plan to spend the next week or so with family here, celebrating Christmas and enjoying the great north west.  Hopefully I can keep out of the car tomorrow.  Pray for me.  And thanks for following along.

Jack in the car. Front paws on the seat, ass-end on the ski bag. Don't ask me why. He rode this way sporadically and seemed to like it. Note the safety harness. Worked well, kept him safe and kept him out of the front seat any time we left the car. If anyone can shed some intelligence on this pose, please do!