We spent all morning and afternoon yesterday, Sunday,travelling across Montana.

The roads were empty and travelling smooth and easy up to the motorway. Then once on the freeway we sailed up to Billings. It was along way but we were not too tired. Montana is a huge state! I can see why their logo is “land of big skies”

Today we decided not to go far and rest as much as we could. We went to see a rocky outcrop on the Yellowstone River called Pompey’s Pillar. It was visited by Lewis and Clark as they found the way west across America. It has Indian petroglyphs on its sides (and  Clark has signed his name and date on it but that was boring to me)

Pomp was an 18 month old Indian child who travelled with them, with his Indian mother who acted as their guide over the Yellowstone area. They called the rock after him.

These are replicas of the wooden canoes they used to explore the rivers

Over hundreds of years buffaloes used the banks in this location for crossing the Yellowstone River. The river sides used to be full of elk in the 1800’s.

Either side of the swollen river are cliffs 200 feet high locally called The Rimstones.

The Little Big Horn Battlefield is nearby in Hardin.  The Crow and Cheyenne Tribes had a stand off and defeated General Custer and his troopers.

In the exhibition were skins of the wild animals to feel and also dinosaur bones. Ions ago the sea covered this area.

So now are chilling out at the hotel.

Hope you all had great weekends. Blandine and Matthew Louis and Alice with family down.

Alex and Trevor with Lily Otis and Xavi  at Common people Oxford

Anona at Oxon Jam.

love from me

Travelling to see Mount Rushmore tomorrow so early start again! Wyoming and South Dakota here we come!

So sad it is our last day as this park is amazing.

Grandad drove along and up a winding  dirt track for 6 miles today. to eventually reach a beautiful lake. The weather was warm and sunny and people were kayaking and paddle boarding we sat on a log in the sunshine watching them for ages. The lake reached right into the mountains as my photos show. look at the pebbles in the water and the reflections… beautiful.

My last 3 photos are of the beautiful MacDonald Lake. We called back there to see it one last time.

 

Tomorrow we travel all day to Billing Montana. We are there 2 nights.

Love to you all xxx

Did you see the Black Foot Indians horses? Can you see the difference between the wild sheep and the wild goats? The wild goats lick the rocks ere for minerals they nee.

Do you like the Montana wild flowers?

xxxxxxx enjoy your bank holiday weekend

Just a quick message tonight as I have not much time. We went out to the Pizza Hut and then watched a film on tv.

Well done Anona getting your placement!

Hope you are all enjoying the heat wave and I expect Netherlands is hot as well.

I saw the pictures of the children and Anona at the  paddling pool in Oxford and the picture of Alice. They have grown! All look so beautiful and much loved by Grandma and Grandad. Need a photo of lily and Louis next.

We toured the national park today and saw wildlife! Quite a few different birds and wild sheep and wild goats. The goats come down from the high mountains in Spring to lick certain rocks for the minerals they need. We saw about 20 goats, adults and kids. They are tall with very long coats. Some were moulting and looked a bit scraggy.

no bears or moose but they were in the area we were in. A few people told us they had seen them and asked if we had too.

I will send photos tomorrow and some of the wild flowers we saw.

it will make a change from scenery shots although we got lots more today as you might guess!

lots of love xxxx

 

So today we didn’t travel too far and slowly explored the towns of Whitefish and Kalispell and then up to Lake McDonald.

I used the tripod to take the fast flowing river and to try to capture the beautiful pebbles in the water of the river and lake.

 

This man keeps getting in my photos…Who is it Louis and Otis?

The pebbles are in all  colours. I have saved a few to bring home. I hope you can see them in my photos.

We still haven’t seen a bear or a moose, but we have seen mountain goats, wild turkeys and a heron (no camera handy to take photos)

Thank you for your lovely comments Blandine, I do feel like I  am in a kind of National Geographic territory!

Hope you are all ok and Anona are your lectures finished now I wonder.

olToday the weather changed. It was sunny and clear first thing and then the wind got up. By afternoon it was so windy it was hard to open the car door and then close it again. It was hard to walk upright in the gales.We had flurries of snow off and on all day. Now it is evening the wind has dropped and its raining. So now Ive given you the weather report I’ll tell you where we have been.

We travelled up the East side of the Glacier NP. It was quite a long journey as because the Road to the Sun is still closed at the top, you cannot do the loop and so you have to travel back the same way.

We saw the Rocky Mountains in all their glory. They are very steep and jut right up into the sky. We travelled up to about 5000 feet. the road and rail follow the valleys and raging rivers, breaking their banks in places due to all the snow melting.

We saw one mountain that has 3 sides and the water from each different side goes in 3 different directions across America.

We stopped for lunch in a famous old café and had soup and salad. it was good old fashioned homely food which we miss.

 

 

Louis and Lily this is a yellow school bus. Most children in the countryside are picked up near their homes and taken to school on it and then taken home after school. Their families wait there at the bus stop for the youngest ones the others walk home by themselves from the bus. xxx Otis you go to school when you are 4.

We woke up to another sunny day and set off as soon as we could to see Glacier National Park.

The water was so still and so we saw beautiful reflections on Lake McDonald, it couldn’t have been better for us!

This lake is famous for the tiny coloured pebbles in the clear water.

The lake had many beautiful views.

The lake is fed by a very fierce fast flowing river with white water rapids. This is because of the snow melt. We got some fabulous photos.

In the afternoon we travelled as far as Essex on the East side of the park. again we saw huge rivers and lovely mountainous views.

We stopped at the station at Essex that has a huge hotel. I sat on the veranda on a swinging chair, sipping cold diet coke while watching freight trains and hummingbirds feeding………..perfect.

We have arrived in Montana near to Glacier National Park.

The way the sat nav brought us was very scenic. We passed through valleys with snow topped mountains and loads of lakes. We have hot sunny weather at the moment and people were swimming in the lakes. I bet it was cold in the water.

 

White Fish is there for the ski season in Winter and for tourists to the National Park the rest of the year. So we have shops and cafes nearby to look round in the evening.

I haven’t many photos of the journey so Ill send some more of Alaska at the end of my letter.

PS Lily there is a casino here called “Lucky Lil’s” xxxxx

Our last afternoon yesterday (Saturday) we spent on the water front in Seattle.

Seattle is a very cosmopolitan town with many younger adults everywhere.

We visited the famous Seattle Pike Street Market which is so huge it takes ages to walk through.

Then onto the Space Needle, 605 feet tall. You can pay to go up to the top but we didn’t go up (That saved us some money hee hee!)  We were tired by all the walking we did and after leaving the cruise ship in the morning.

We went near the Pacific Space Centre nearby, The pavement stretches all along the sea front harbour and features many modern sculptures.

Today we travelled up to Spokane. We are still just in Washington State.

We saw this beautiful waterfall with its own rainbow

We passed over a huge plateau and many lakes

Did you notice the horses on the hill top are made of steel.

Otis we are now near  little town called Otis Orchard!

Alex we saw this sign in Seattle

Hi here are some more photos of Alaska.

These are from Ketchikan a native first nation town. the Indian Totem poles were very tall. I hope you like them Lily and Anona and the Indian artwork.

Lily Louis and Otis can you see the barnacles on the whales tail?

Do you like the seal peeping at us?

We travelled on this train high up into the mountains near Juneau, it was very scary Louis and Otis. Anona you would have loved it

Love to Alice and Xavi xxxx

Love to all our 6 grandchildren, granddad and grandma think of you every day xxx