We drove to Glacier National Park on Wednesday the 15th. stayed in the Apgar Campground with four other Lazy Daze couples we met at the Northwest GTG. The weather was decent so we walked to the Apgar Village/Visitor Center. There is a new, paved trail from the campground to the Village. Very nice for Carols scooter. As the day went on, the weather got worse. It turned into a rainy, cloudy, cold day. There was snow above about 5,000'. The campground was at 3,200' so we just got a cold rain. The weather forecast was for more of the same for the next two days. Rather then just sit inside looking at the rain, we decided to move on. Friday morning we headed south to Choteau, MT. The snow on the mountains was beautiful. When we got to Marias Pass, there was several inches of snow on the ground. Some cowboys were rounding up stray cattle from around the pass.
The drive from West Glacier to Choteau was beautiful. We passed through the Blackfoot Reservation around Browning,MT. When we were out here in 2006, we passed
through Browning on the way to Glacier NP, Waterton then the Canadian Rockies.
Browning is the major city in the Blackfoot Reservation. I'll never understand why, but Browning has the same look as all the other reservation towns we've been through. Doesn't seem to matter if it's in the Southwest, North Dakota, Upstate New York, or Montana. Trash is strewn everywhere, houses are unkept, guys just hanging out on the street corners. I really wonder what is the commonality between all these Native American tribes that leads to such a lack of pride in their community & person?
At Choteau, we "camped" in the parking lot for the city public works compound. Us and five other RV's. :-)
Gopher & I took a few walks around the City Park. I often just watch people, wondering what they do for a living, why they live where they do, what are they up to at this moment. A lady drove by in her old truck. Her dog Molly was running alongside. Wonder if she & Molly do this every day? Just watching life in Couteau, MT on September 17,2010. I was wondering the same about the four cowboys we saw rounding up cattle earlier today. What's their day like? Any family? What do you do after a life as a cowboy? In campgrounds, we often see people our age traveling in very truck campers or simply a collection of tents. Did they earn their living as a cowboy, or the equivalent? What do people do when they can no longer live off their hard labor? Get by as best they can, I suppose.
Today turned out to be very enjoyable. When we started this trip, we encountered snow on April 24th on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here it is, September 17th, and once again it's snowing.
Tomorrow we continue our trek to Suzanne's.
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