THE FIRST LEG OF THE TRIANGLE

SEATTLE TO LAKE ITASCA

 

Friday, September 7, 2023

 

Normal Traffic on the Hi-line

To do the Great River Road, it was necessary that we first drive from Seattle to Lake Itasca. This has taken us the past 5 days and 1,608 miles, but here we are--tonight camped out 100 yards from the east entrance of Itaska State Park and ready to see Mile Zero of the Mississippi River first thing tomorrow.

 Our first night on the road took us to Uniontown (near Pullman) to visit our nephew Chris and his family. From there, we angled north and west to Havre, Montana, traveling a lonely stretch in Idaho (100 miles of wilderness), and then via Missoula and Great Falls. Once at Havre, we were on the Hi-line,

1890 North Dakota Cabin 

aka US 2—a TRULY lonely stretch of highway! This is Montana’s most northerly highway, and traffic consists of seeing another vehicle between you and the horizon. It is Big Sky Country at its finest.

 Along the way we did pause to see a few attractions. Pam Lowry, a native of Great Falls, encouraged us to see the National Lewis and Clark Museum and I must admit that walking through that museum made us feel much like we were members of the Expedition. In Stanley, ND, we dropped into the old-fashioned soda fountain

Waiting for her Whirla-Whip

at Dakota Drug Store, with of us each having a Whirla-Whip treat, something like a frosty, but oh so much better. And of course, we had to stop in Grand Forks to load up on Widman’s Chocolates, a North Dakota specialty we learned of from our friend, Dale Bonn.

 From here we drop the pace down to perhaps something like 200 miles a day, but increase the sightseeing stops. Next up is close look at Minnesota River life and off we go!

 Roger, Lynne, and Salty