Jaunt ’24 h

This follows on part g, and takes me from the Missouri river at Fort Benton MO to the Missouri River at Chamberlain SD, which would be about 700 miles flying straight, and the Missouri certainly is not straight.  And since I call this a water blog, there’s certainly water here implied at least.

But first, recognize this face?

This may be mid-continent, but here’s certainly a reminder of the coasts, as seen from the train in Malta Montana.  The ship registry is a different Malta.

I have an evolving understanding of buildings though unused left standing.  I believe this church in Poplar MT is unused.  The school in Vandalia-I saw it but did not snap a photo fast enough–is certainly unused.  They’re monuments to time past.  

The same is true, I think, of this truck in Saco MT, and many others I saw.  It takes up space, but there plenty more wide open country, so keep your grandparent’s house and truck.

Beef cattle climb the land in Bainville, no problem.

Once I got to Williston ND, center of the Bakken industry, I got off the train, rented a “compact” car which turned out to be a Jeep and headed south.

This is the national park, and yes that is snow, driven by 20 to 30 mph wind.

The Little Missouri runs through it.  Don’t let the name mislead you.

US 85 blends ND into SD, although the wind stayed constant on my right side.

Eventually, this sign coaxed me into Wyoming. There are other “centers” of the US–more on that later–but it didn’t escape me that the center of a continent implies the farthest points from the coasts.

You’ve seen this formation before, one that 

I’d prefer to call Grizzly Bear Lodge.  See below.

I saw these skittish guys now in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming.  This was taken at 500′ with a zoom before he ran off.

 

This water-formed  park was truly spectacular.  I drove through the north side only.  Next time, I’ll take much longer and do the south unit also. 

I exited the park about midway between Wasta and Belvidere, and saw the fences off area before.  Recognize it?

It’s decommissioned and empty now, but once it was part of the +/- 1000 Minutemen Missile siloes in the Upper Great Plains, an absolute must-stop.

And Lt. Col. Petrov is someone we should all know, and be grateful for.

More driving took me to Chamberlain SD and this statue.  Note her size relative to the folks near the base. Behind her is the Missouri River, a thousand miles downstream from Fort Benton MT.

All photos, any errors, WVD, currently in eastern Nebraska.

And that image at the top of this post, it’s here.