And into the wilds of Montana!

Tuesday – Idaho Falls, ID to Shelby, MT

Where, you are asking yourself, exactly IS Shelby, MT?  If I said really close to Back-of-Beyond, would that help any?  But to start from the beginning…

Up this morning to a lovely day!  We really do like Idaho Falls.  After not doing our normal 3+ mile walk the past couple of days, as well as spending many hours in the car, I was really missing the exercise, so I convinced R that walking along the river would be fun!  And it was!!  For at least a mile or so where the Snake River runs through town, there are parks on both sides of the river.  One of the cutest things was the various benches that were available for people to use – it seems like each one is a different design!  I had Robert take pictures of most of them – they range in design from a fish bench (Hello, Tom Soifer!) to a snake (as in River!) to a Canada Goose!  These are included here. 

 We were looking for a place to have breakfast, and the only place that was open at that hour (7 a.m.) (R wondered if we were in Australia, a very late-rising country in our experience!) was Smitty’s  Pancake and Steakhouse – an unusual combination, but it did have the benefit of actually being open, so in we went.  Turns out to be a really lovely local restaurant, owned and operated by the same family for years – with wait staff all being long-time employees; very nice!  I had pancakes with warmed maple syrup (what a nice way to serve it!)  R had scrambled eggs, hash browns and ham steak.  All yummy!

Back to the hotel to finish packing up and out (thank heaven for luggage carts!!!) by about 8:30 a.m.  On the road yet again, heading due north into the wilds of Montana!  When we started driving, the scenery was pretty flat and shrubby, but it soon moved into larger hills and beautiful conifer trees.  We passed through some lovely areas (along the upper reaches of the Missouri River – Lewis & Clark country!), heading through Helena to Great Falls and finally, to Shelby.  Arrived about 3:30 p.m.   

Our hotel is a new Best Western (opened this spring).  Nice place; very large rooms, but right across the street from a major train switching station, so there is the occasional train noise; not horrible, but certainly anything but quiet!

I took the opportunity to have a bit of a nap, up around 5 p.m. and heading out for dinner.  We had read that the best place in town was actually about 10 miles out, in Dunkirk, MT, called the Frontier Bar and Supper Club.  Headed there, arriving about 5:30 p.m. – and there wasn’t even the slightest sign of life anywhere – as R said, the door looked like no one had opened it for years!  So…don’t know if we’re too early, if they are closed for the season or forever … so turned around and backtracked the 10 miles into Shelby.

Found, instead, the Ringside Ribs restaurant and casino…approached it with more than a bit of trepidation, but turned out to be quite nice inside; at least clean, non-smoky with friendly staff.   Robert ordered their half-rack of ribs with salad, beans and French fries.  I ordered their chef salad.  I have to admit that everything was surprisingly good!  R really enjoyed his ribs, and the fries were definitely homemade; my salad was also good!  (R has determined that the absolute lowest point we have ever had for dining was last year in Mammoth Hot Springs, SD – so this was WAY better than that!!) 

 

After dinner we gassed up the car for our journey tomorrow through Glacier National Park, and headed to the local Albertson’s to find picnic supplies for tomorrow’s lunch.  Well…hmmm…to be honest, there was a real lack of interesting food to picnic with – no good cheeses, no good French bread, no good ham or salami…so, looks like we won’t be picnicking in the park, unless we can find a better source of food products!  

Back to the hotel then, and in for the night!  Want to get an early start tomorrow to hopefully beat some of the traffic through the National Park!

Lots of love,

m

xxx