May 11, 2018

The Roadhouse Diner "Roadhouse" burger was great!  http://www.roadhousegf.com

(Editor's Note: See addendum at end of narrative.) We've had great weather so far until today, Friday, May 11th.  It started raining around midnight and it's been raining most all day, sometimes heavily.  We left the Sluice Boxes area about 9:30 AM and worried about the gravel road back to US 89.  It turned out to be OK but we did the steep downhill stretches in low gear riding the brakes and keeping our speed below 10 MPH.  Wet unpaved roads aren't too much to worry about unless you're towing a trailer.

Visibility was perhaps no more thann a mile all the way into Great Falls.  We were happy to get off the highway about 10:30 AM Friday.

Our first stop was at the Roadhouse Diner, 613 15th St. North in Great Falls.  We were standing at the door when they unlocked it at 11 AM.  Several other people were also waiting for the doors to be unlocked.  IN practically a blink of an eye, the parking lot filled up and all the inside tables were taken well before 11:30.

The Roadhouse Diner is said to have the best burger in Great Falls and at least one credible reviewer says it serves the best buger in all of Montana.  Since this is  Cattle State, that's saying a lot.

We split a Classic Roadhouse Burger and both of us agreed it's quality equaled or exceeded that of a Haunted Hamburger from the famous Jerome, Arizona restaurant.  Thank goodness we split one!  A whole burger would be way too much to eat.

We then went to the Charles Russell Museum.  It was half price admission today so our total "in-the-door" fee was $7  covering both of us.

Russell was arguably the finest Western artist ever to pick up a paint brush, pen, pencil or piece of modeling clay.  His work is so amazing when seen from the pages of a book.  But to see some of his work up close annd personal was doubly amazing.

After leaving the museum, we went down by the riverside and watched over 20,000 cubic feet per second of water flow over the Black Eagle diversion dam and the bedrock ledges below.

Later it was Laundry time and that's where we had time to compose these notes.

Before we leave Great Falls, we have to restock our coffee supply, ice-up the cooler and top off some other supplies as well.

Then it's on to Choteau, a mere 55 miles away.  At the rate we're going today, we'll probably pull into Choteau City Park around 4 PM.

The weather is supposed to begin clearing up later today.  Chances are we will stay in Choteaufor two nights because we really, really want a good view of The Front Range while driving the final leg of the trip up to Saint Mary.  If the mountains are obscured, we will simply wait until they reappear.

Monday is looking like the day we complete this Mexico to Canada adventure.  After that it's time to head home and start our Idaho Spring and Summer Season.

We don't know how long we're going to take to return home.  It might be a quick trip annd it might not.  It just all depends on how we feel during the next few days.

We've collected enough photos and videos to keep us busy for months processing files and writing stories.

Even though The Drive might soon be finished, we envision perhaps a year's worth of effort to really tell the stories we've learned along US 89.  Who knows?  We might never be able tell those stories the way we want to.

Yes, there's truly that much stuff to talk about when it comes to US 89.

If you ever want to take a unique and forever memorable journey, put US 89 on your bucket list.

(Update as of 4 PM.  Well, we made it to Choteau (pronounced SHOW DOUGH). It rained all the way here and we drove into such a stiff headwind that it knocked our MPG down to NINE.  YIKES.  We routinely average 13-14 MPG so it was a heck of a wind.  Got a real nice little camp spot on wet grass beside a tiny flowing canal in Choteau City Park for $8 a night.  We're at the Choteau Library now enjoying free heat and WIFI.  It's cold outside, probably low to maybe mid 40's and wet, which always makes it seem colder.)