Saturday, February 19, 2011

Wide Montana Skies

We set out in August for Montana with the intent on visiting Yellowstone, the oldest National Park in the United States. Our first stop: Squaw Valley, home of the 1956 Winter Olympics Photobucket We stayed on Lake Tahoe near the largest casinos Photobucket Photobucket I think it is interesting to note which side of the street is California and which side is Nevada. The next day, we headed for Reno to get on the freeway. But, we were sidetracked with Hot August Nights, Photobucket a classic car show held on Virginia Street. Photobucket Just off Virginia near the largest casinos is the Bowling Hall Of Fame Photobucket After a few hours in the hot Nevada sun, we set off, once again, for Yellowstone. We passed Beverly Hills Photobucket and a whole lot of nothing before arriving at Twin Falls, Idaho Photobucket BASE jumping is legal with permits and authorities notice. We were a few minutes late from seeing the BASE jumping show. As we pushed north past Pocatello and Idaho Falls, we could see the Tetons in the distance Photobucket West Yellowstone is a nice stop before going into the park. They have a quaint airport, too Photobucket There are so many things to see in Yellowstone. I can not possibly put every single picture in this post because I missed so much, even though we drove the entire park. Wild buffalo (or bison; I can't tell the difference) roaming the park Photobucket Warm pools of water Photobucket So warm they cause severe burns if a person falls in. All in various colors Photobucket Steaming and overflowing lakes Photobucket And, of course, the most famous gyser in the country Photobucket Old Faithful. It starts up slow. Every time a little spritz would come out, everyone would get excited and the cameras would start going off and oohing and aahing would start. There are also some beautiful canyons and waterfalls Photobucket Photobucket At the North Entrance to the park is the Roosevelt Gate Photobucket It took us three days to see all we saw and we still did not see everything. Going down from the summit at West Yellowstone, we followed the Gallitan River into Bozeman Photobucket We managed to make a couple of side trips from there. The first took us a short distance to the capital of Montana, Helena. We drove across the headwaters of the Missouri River Photobucket Helena is a small town in the mountains of Montana. The capital building sits on a hill overlooking the town Photobucket They have a Senate Photobucket and a House of Representatives Photobucket like most other states. We also drove past the new Governor's Mansion Photobucket and found out Helena used to process lime from the rocks around town Photobucket The lime kilns are not in use anymore, but they still stand outside of town. The other side trip we made took us north, through Plentywood, Montana Photobucket and through some rough weather. A tornado had touched down near the border crossing we used only a few hours before we arrived there. But, we did drive through the night to the capital of Saskatchewan, Regina Photobucket The Canadian League Football Team based in Regina was celebrating 100 years. The Roughriders even made it to Grey Cup. Sometimes, art can be found in the most strange places. Like this alley near downtown Regina Photobucket On the grounds of the legislature sits a statue honoring Queen Elizabeth II Photobucket The legislative building itself is on beautifully manicured grounds Photobucket The legislature in Saskatchewan has only one chamber. Those elected to it are called "Members of the Legislative Assembly" or "MLAs" Photobucket When this picture was taken in the summer of 2010, there were two parties: The Saskatchewan Party (the majority seated on the left) and the New Democratic Party (seated on the right). The NDP had expelled one of it's members, so, there was one Independant member who sat on the side of the Saskatchewan Party. To signify the royalty of the name "Regina" the carpet is red. The legislative chamber in Victoria, British Columbia is also red. All other legislative chambers in the Canadian provinces are green except Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is blue. We left Regina headed back south because our goal in visiting Saskatchewan was not the lack of hills Photobucket Now you see why the call it "The Land Where No Man Can Fall To His Death." Our main goal for visiting Regina was not the legislative buildings either. Our main goal was Photobucket DOG RIVER!!!! The set of the Canadian series "Corner Gas" was the town of Rouleau, Saskatchewan. For the filming of the series, the town name was changed to Dog River. We saw everything Dog River had to offer. Including the Dog River hotel Photobucket Oscar and Emma's house Photobucket The water tower (Grad '68 is no longer written on it) Photobucket and, of course, the FooMar Photobucket The weather driving back to Bozeman was much better. Photobucket We could see the border before we got to it. Of course, with none of those pesky hills or trees or anything to block our view, we could actually see St. Louis. LOL Since we took the return trip via the same route, there is really nothing else to show except the Walgreens in Reno Photobucket which sits right on top of I-80 at Virginia Street.