A 13 Hour Marathon Drive into Canada & Unique Museum and Curator

May 3, 2013  We bid adios to Montana and the US today, but first an interesting quick visit to an interesting Military museum right in the Southside RV park in Dillon, MT.  The owners son Derrick has been collecting interesting WWI and WWII pieces since he was a junior in high school.  He has acquired everything from uniforms to vehicles, rations, ration books and guns.  He is an amazing young man and the few minutes we spent with him, we were very impressed with his drive and commitment.  He is also on the city council and all this at just over 20.

This was a prop used in Inglorius Bastards and Saving Private Ryan

A Command Vehicle from WWII

 You never know what you'll find in an RV Park!


We left Dillon at about 7:30 am for Shelby.  Shelby is about 35 miles from the Canada border and the plan was to stay overnight there and get everything in order for the crossing.  We got to Shelby, gassed up the beast, ran the toad through the gears and looked for our planned park for the night.  It was still early in the day, about 1:30.  We drove by the park, saw it was a little different from what we planned.  OK, what to do?  I gathered up the passports, the puppies rabies certificates and the good health letter from their vet, the registration and insurance for the beast and the toad.  We ate the last two apples and and some baby carrots on the road north.  What was left was tossed.

We hit the border crossing line and had a long line to wait in.  We thought we had picked the wrong line since the one on the right was zipping right along.

We finally made it to the window.  The border agent was very nice, asking us about alcohol, pets, and the purpose and length of our time in Canada.  We answered honestly, yes we were over the 2 bottle wine limit by 4, just passing through for a couple of weeks on our way to Alaska and handed over the registrations, pet information and passports.  He gave us everything back and sent us on our way.  We were back on the highway heading north by 3:00.  They did not inspect our coach, but we saw them pull others over and go through.  I was so worried about what food and the limits we could bring in we kept everything simple and supplies low.

I called ahead to Cochrane, Spring Hill RV park and made a reservation, for 32.00 a night.  Excellent!  Below my budget!  We pulled in late (for us) at about 8:30.  I went inside to register and pay and oops! I forgot to notify my credit card that I would be traveling to Canada.  Thought I had thought of everything!  A long phone call with roaming charges and all was resolved.  Another lesson learned.

Overall it was a very long day-especially for Eric, 13 hours of wind, rain and at the end two lane roads. Exhausted and a little frustrated over the credit card, we backed into our site, reheated some steaks and salmon leftovers and hit the bed.  Our site is next to the squealing gate and Spring Hill is at a busy rural intersection.  It is a combination RV Park, Truck Stop, Convenience Store and Gas station.  We didn't hear a thing!

Saturday morning we went to the Cochrane Art Club's annual art show.  Beautiful paintings, but I think my Mom's work would win People's Choice.  Next to the art show was the Stockman's archives and library.  They had everything cowboy you could think of.  The docents were very helpful, stocking us up with information on the town and surrounding area.  Next was Safeway to restock the cupboards and I spotted Bounty Bars!  We had Bounty Bars in Tahiti after a dive once and were hooked!  But, they don't sell them in Las Vegas, which is probably a good thing!  I said "look what I found!"  Eric suggested stocking up, so we picked up four.  Hope we find more along the way!

Milk Chocolate and Coconut, perfect refrigerated

Next was play time with the Pups.  Playing fetch in the 40 feet requires lots of repeated throws...

Washing the grime off the bikes led to washing the car.  All shiny and ready for a road trip to Banff and Lake Louise tomorrow!  We'll pack a picnic lunch and I can't wait to see it!