We spent the two days of Thursday 8th and Friday 9th June travelling from Arco via Butte to Whitefish (our base for visiting Glacier National Park)

Butte is of some significance to Les. Back in 1997/98 he spent a whole year on Jury Service on what was then the longest fraud trial in British history. The case centred around the listing on the UK Stock Exchange of a company that would mine for gold in Butte.

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Thursday 8th June – Arco to Butte

Up around 7.30am. When we went to start breakfast we discovered that the pot of fresh fruit that we’d bought had actually frozen and we had to resort to putting it in the microwave for a few seconds before we could get it up to a temperature where we could eat it. One odd thing. Immediately we’d got up we remembered that we hadn’t programmed the satnav for the day so Les went outside our door to get the satnav from the car. In the car next to ours there was a woman sitting in the driving seat doing something on her mobile phone. When we were ready to leave about an hour and a half later she was still sitting in the driving seat doing something on her mobile phone. We wondered whether for some reason she’d actually spent the night in the car!!

Set off about 9.15am straight eastwards along the 22. It’s strange driving because the roads are quite good and flat. You are going along the Snake River Plain but there are snow-capped mountains on the horizon in each direction. However far you go you never seem to reach them.

Essentially this was a day of straightforward driving. The first thing of note was that the satnav didn’t take us on the route we’d presumed which was straight along the 33 to the I-15. Instead we turned north along the 22 to go northeast, cutting the corner. On the map this is shown as a more minor road than the 33 but strangely the speed limit is 10 mile an hour higher, 75mph rather than 65mph. Despite being a minor road it was actually quite good and we maintained a steady 65 virtually non-stop all the way to the I-15. We did make one stop when we spotted a deer (mule deer?) which came across the road in front of us.

When we met the I-15 at Dubois we went in to the gas station to fill up. Instead of the normal small store however it had a really good shop (virtually a mini Walmart, selling everything including hot food). We had coffee and donuts and took the chance to buy some fresh milk before going north on the I-15. The speed limit on this is 80mph and on a virtually empty road we were able to sit comfortably at 70 and get through lots of miles.

Just after Monida Pass (at the State line between Idaho and Montana) we stopped at a Visitor Centre/rest area and then carried on stopping again at Clark Canyon Reservoir. Immediately after that we’d imagined that we’d take the 41 to Butte but the satnav kept us on the I-15. We stopped at Dillon and went into a grocery store where we bought salads and cheese for Anne together with more water and beer and some other bits and pieces. This was an IGA store - a chain of independently owned grocery stores (a bit like Spar) but in fact inside it was almost indistinguishable in layout and decor from a Walmart or Safeway.

We saw a Dairy Queen opposite and thought we might have lunch there but when we went in and looked at the menu there was not a single thing that Anne could eat. We got back in the car to drive through town. It’s worth noting that in the IGA car park was an oversized garden shed which is in fact a drive-through coffee shop. Since we were last in the USA these seem to have sprung up absolutely everywhere. They range from ones like this which look like garden sheds to some very smart bright blue ones which are a chain called the Dutch Brothers (with of course a windmill motif). An odd example of how quickly a phenomenon can sweep across a nation.

We stopped at the first cafe/diner we saw. It was called Sparky’s Garage and it has a 1950s car/garage decor including a full sized old car inside the restaurant as well as another one outside together with a petrol pump. Very slickly run and it took no time at all to get our drinks and food. The food was pretty much the standard fare so Anne had a toasted cheese sandwich and Les had potato skins. Neither of us could finish our meal. Just as we were leaving we got into a lengthy conversation with three ladies at the adjacent table. They were extolling the virtues of Glacier NP and the drives. We got onto politics and it was clear that they were definitely not supporters of President Trump. In fact they were saying that they would happily pay more in taxes to have a health service like ours and decently maintained infrastructure.

Back in the car and back on the road we carried on to Butte and found the Comfort Inn easily despite the satnav’s attempts to take us somewhere else. We’re on the 3rd floor - out of choice- no problem as they have a lift and luggage trolleys.

We sorted ourselves out in the room and then went down for a nice swim in the pool. Coming back up we downloaded photos and started typing this while at the same time tuning into the BBC radio coverage of the UK General Election. As we write, a few hours after the polls closed, it look as though Theresa May’s decision to call the election wasn’t exactly the brightest thing that she’s done. Forecasts are saying that the Tories will be the largest party but without an overall majority.

And that’s how it turned out. Tories will have a majority of two if the DUP vote with them. We tried to ignore it all, and after dinner in the room we watched an old episode of Lewis via the ITV hub.

Make-up remover. An odd note that this is another thing that has changed since our last visit. Every motel now gives you two sachets containing some sort of wipe to remove make-up. Why has this become an essential?

Friday 9th June – Butte to Whitefish

Up at 7.15, breakfasted and packed. When we went down to breakfast we noticed that the lift was out of order. This worried us a little but when Les took the first case down he bumped into a member of staff who insisted on coming back up and carrying the second case down to our car.  On the road by 9.15, ready for a long day of driving. The weather wasn’t quite as bad as forecast. It was about 58F when we started, and there had been no rain, even though it was cloudy.

We set straight off north on the I-90. Like yesterday we seemed to be on a plain with mountains all round. The valley did get narrower and the road more interesting as the road, river and railway were all together. We passed a freight train carrying some strange green tubes. Anne thought they looked like rockets, but Les thought that they were probably oil or gas containers. Later on, while we were stopped for coffee in St Ignatius the train went past on the opposite side of the street. It was clear that these things were aeroplane bodies wrapped in green protective coating. The trains don’t go very fast and later we were able to pass it again and take some photos and then draw ahead of it and get more photos by parking at a level crossing on a side road. Obviously, these were on their way to the Boeing factory in Seattle.

Stopped for lunch in Drummond after filling up. Another typical small-town cafe/diner. Fortunately, this one served the breakfast menu all day and Anne was able to have a fried egg and hash browns. After lunch we went into the carwash next to the diner. This is quite sophisticated where there are three different hoses and a choice of about 10 different processes. The good thing was that you can pay by swiping your credit card, so we didn’t have to worry about finding coins or feeding notes into the machine. Very efficient at $4 the car ending up looking really smart with the windows being particularly good, which helps with photos.

Carried on along the I-90 to Missoula where we turned off on the US-93 which runs north through the Flathead Indian Reservation up to Polson at the south end of Flathead Lake.

Unfortunately access to the lake shore along most of the southern end of the lake is very difficult as the housing runs right down to the water’s edge. Eventually we went into West Shore State Park about half way along the lake where we watched a small boat being launched. There was more access towards the northern end particularly at Lakeside and Somers where we stopped for a few photos.

From there it was back onto Kalispell, which looks quite nice and then finally up into Whitefish itself. The Best Western is on the US-93 so it wasn’t very difficult to find. We’re on the 2nd (UK 1st) floor with a nice room with two queen beds. We’ve taken up the offer of not having the room serviced daily, in return for 1000 extra loyalty points.

We decided to eat in the room again and found that there was a Safeway very close by. In fact it’s so close we could probably have walked and we may well do if we eat in another night. A quick trip there provided us with salad, smoked salmon and chicken. We put the washing on first and downloaded photos and did some paperwork for the 30 mins that that took. We then put in the dryer while we had dinner. Got talking to another guest in the laundry room and he gave us some good advice about conditions in Glacier NP, in particular the state (which is very bad) of some of the roads. This is presumably damage from the snow and ice.