Km 1,582 - Tower City, North Dakota

We rolled away from home Sunday morning at 7am. As there is not a great deal to stop and see across Montana and North Dakota, our intent is to make it to Minneapolis in 2 days. First day was good. The border crossing went far smoother than I expected. I was fully expecting an intense questioning and investigation once they uncovered the Yemen stamps in my passport. The last time I went through the US a few years ago, I had every piece of my luggage disassembled and was questioned for 15 minutes what business I had in Yemen. For some reason, the border guards didn't see me as any sort of national security risk and we were admitted straight away.

The scenery of Northern Montana (the route we took) is not a whole lot different from Southern Alberta. There isn't much more than a whole lot of cows and fenceposts (and cheap gas...about 83 cents/litre). The drive went well enough and we did pass though some interesting landscapes before landing in Glendive, MT for the night. We set up our tent and BBQ'd supper as the sun went down on my new BBQ. Earlier in the day, we stopped in Great Falls (home of the CFL's Dave Dickinson) and went to the Walmart Supercenter to do some shopping. Funny thing about the store is that the city's population is about 65,000 yet the store is significantly bigger than any Walmart in Calgary. It is amazing that they can support such a store, but it was surprisingly busy. Anyways, I bought a little hibachi style BBQ for 6 bucks. In fact, the steak I grilled on it cost more than the BBQ.

This morning, we were up, packed and on the road in 35 minutes from waking up. I was impressed. This morning saw us pass into North Dakota. It seemed as though the scenery changed instantly. We stopped at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park for an amazing view of the Badlands. Since then, the grassy hills have turned into sprawling. farmland. We are still an hour from Minnesota, but I expect the landscape to change dramatically again before rolling into Minneapolis tonight.