Thursday, May 10, 2012

Welcome to the Capital of Montana and Say Goodbye USA

We can smell Canada!  Helena, as a state capital, is not as big as we expected but it is quite sprawling.  We ended up in a small RV park just North of the city, called Lincoln RV Park.  Nothing fancy but very clean and friendly.  We are going to stay an extra day so that we can go and see the state museum.  It has been recommended by many.  The weather is just perfect for us (75F).


The signs in the city are not very friendly towards dogs.  Short leash only, no expanding leashes, keep off the grass, etc.  We stopped into the local Chamber of Commerce which does double duty as the information bureau.  I inquired about the 'dog' issue and one of the ladies gave us direction to a mountain trail, very close by, that was leash less.  Kyle was in heaven, Dave and Kaye were tuckered out after an hour of up hill hoofing.


Of note, there are casinos everywhere.  Not the Vegas style, just "Old Bucks Bar and Casino" repeated over and over, street after street.  We did not bother.  The museum was really worth it. Allow two hours min, four if you like to read the fine print.


We treated ourselves to homemade stuffed Portabella Mushrooms using Corizzo sausage,  hamburger and other stuff.  Yummmmm.  We have cleaned out the fridge of fresh food as we are not sure how sticky they will be at the border and we have enough left overs for our last night in Canada tomorrow.


We only travelled from Helena to Selby on Wed.   Very, very windy, right on the nose/left.  Pain in the ass driving and hard on the gas mileage.  The wind had been generated by the flash heat.  Temp went up to over 80F.  We stayed in the Lewis and Clark RV Park, the last RV park before the border (32 miles South). A really cute old husband and wife team run it.  A great way to finish our camping, staying in a place that reminded us of our first two nights with the trailer in Barstow.  We used the afternoon and evening to get all our paperwork and receipts ready for the border.  No WiFi at the trailer but a usable signal at the office.


On Thurs we headed for the border and arrived at 0810.  We were out by 0840, the only ones in line.  A lovely gun totting young lady border guard quickly filled out our 'Form 1'  and we spent the most time waiting for the cashier to count her till and officially open up so we could pay our GST.  No one even bothered to walk out and inspect either the trailer or the truck.  I guess we just don't look like crooks.


So ends this chapter of our Southern Adventure.  This sign says it all !


We are planning on visiting our family and friends over the next three weeks while travelling from MB back to BC via SK and AB.  I may post some photo albums but I expect the blog will be put to rest for awhile.


Thanks for reading.

All the best; Dave and Kaye

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