"Moving to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon..."
great song by Frank Zappa. And, western Montana would be on my short list, if we were to depart western NC. But, so would western WY and southwest CO. Fabulous country in those areas.
We rolled across the MT border back into the USA, and drove down to Glacier National Park. Somehow, in 5 cross country m'cycle trips, I had never gotten to Glacier Nat Park. So we made it a point to this time, hoping to drive the famous Going to The Sun Road through the park. Alas, like several routes earlier in the trip, the Road was closed due to 20+ feet deep snow: they were woikin on it, but other than a few miles of road in, from the West Glacier entrance, and a few miles in from East Glacier entrance, it was no entry. So, we drove in as far as we could, took a few pics and spent an afternoon wandering around.
Note the knuckleheads on the cliff edge above the roaring Flathead River; they managed not to fall in. If they had, it is almost a certain death. More people are killed each year by drowning in the cold rapid waters, in all the Nat Parks, than by any other cause...no one is gonna swim out of 45 deg water going 10-20 mph. Be careful, esp when fishing from the banks.
Nice mounted trophy specimens were in a Best Western lobby in west Glacier. The owner had nabbed them all...
We wandered out of Glacier the next day, down some fabulous 2 lane Montana roads, (speed limit of 70! on almost all these narrow, rural roads), had lunch in a cowboy joint across from the Triceratops, and then jumped on I-15 hauling azz south from Great Falls to Butte, then east on I-80 to Billings, MT. The MT interstates, like many in the western states, have an 80+ speed limit, that is sort of a suggestion.
Those interstates are smooth, fabulous curves in spots, wide open, great scenery and very fun. The couple cops we saw could not have cared less.
Got to Laurel, MT outside of Billings and cooped. Got the Vette an oil/filter, air filter and new vent blower motor the next day at Fitchner Chevrolet in Laurel. Less than 2 hrs and only $200...great to have a 'chevy' that the Chevy dlr can fix in a NY Minute!
Big Sky Country Montana is fabulous, but the fabulous list is getting long, I realize.
Next day, south out of Montana into northwest Wyoming.