| All of a sudden we thought we'd hit snow but no, this appeared to
be a salt mine. It covered probably a square mile and the ground was almost
pure white. There were bulldozers and loaders which contrasted sharply with
the background. |  |
 | There were also
mounds which may have been stockpiles or may have been waste tips. Just one
of the stranger bits of landscape we passed.. |
| Mostly all we saw on the prairies were grain elevators at the
side of the road and the railway which runs alongside it. This one was at
Reed Lake. Most seemed to be owned by Agricore. There was little activity in
the fields. Harvest had mostly been and gone but ploughing for next year had
not yet begun. |  |
 | You start counting
wheels just to relieve the boredom. This wheel configuration is very common.
This size of truck readily overtakes you, fully loaded. It can be fairly
scary. |
| It isn't just aggregates but fuel and other liquids which are
transported in this way. The truck above is a Kenworth and this one was a
Mack. And they are always so clean! |  |
 | Every place needs
something to brag about and to put it on the map. Swift Current has little
going for it including this, the largest wigwam in the world. Right down in
the bottom right hand corner is a car just to give you some scale. |
| Then it was back to more grain silos. You get no idea of the size
from a photograph. So I included the railway grain wagon just to give the
scale. What makes these silos seem so large is the flat land right out to
the horizon. You do feel that when the north wind blows the population is
going to feel it because there is nothing to stop it. |  |
 | After Medicine Hat
we left the Trans-Canada highway and headed a little further south towards
Lethbridge. We stopped overnight at Taber then turned due south for the
border at Coutts. This valley was not the border but was only a few miles
north of it. Montana is probably in sight. |
We didn't photograph anything at the border crossing which only had one
person inspecting cars and RVs and a slightly longer line for trucks. There were
only two cars in front of us. We were asked the usual questions and again our
ownership of the RV was a surprise. We were pulled over since we needed new I94
permits to go with our visas and these would cost us $6 each. However first we
were interrogated (the only word for it). The problems come from cultural
differences as much as anything. We were anxious not to assume that they would
let us back in, particularly in view of what previous officials had told us.
This led the official to wonder if we had some undisclosed reason why we should
not be admitted. Culturally we should have assumed entry would be a right. An
American would have. They are deeply worried that we might be trying to
illegally live in the USA permanently and take an American's job. We had to
assure them we did not want to work and we had enough money to support
ourselves. They seemed to feel that our ownership of the RV was illegal but we
pointed out the Ohio plates and that a different set of officials thought it was
OK. Eventually, and we sensed reluctantly, they allowed us in, but advised us
not to attempt to stay more than another six months and to remain in the UK for
a significant period.
| So we moved on and south through the 400 miles of Montana. There
were a few more wheels on this wagon. |  |
 | The weather was
pretty miserable with fairly constant drizzle. This was one of the odder
loads which we passed. This is a small harvester on a trolley being towed by
a pickup truck down the Interstate. I hope he wasn't going too far. |
| About 100 miles south of the border we ran into canyon country.
Gone were the flat lands and it was back to the up and down and threading
through the canyons. This was very attractive and colourful country . |  |
 | Canyons are usually
cut by rivers I think this was Marias River which goes through Marias Pass
at the south end of Glacier National Park some 50 miles west of here. We had
passed through there back in July.. |
| Further south we left the mountains through the Gate of the
Mountains and set off across the plain. However mountains were ever present
to the west of us. These are the foothills of the Rockies. |  |
 | We had a few ups and
downs but most of the mountains are running north-south just to the west of
us. It just gives you interesting views. |
| Eventually we came over the hill and had the town of Helena laid
out in front of us. This was our next stopping point and is about 200 miles
south of the border. The valley bottom is quite flat and was probably the
result of glaciation in ancient times. |  |
|