Great Falls, Montana, staging for the run across the border. . .

100% rain was the forecast today for Columbus, Montana, and every place between there and Great Falls, Montana. And that is exactly what it did. . . RAIN! But it wasn't a real hard rain, just a good soaking rain. It wasn't difficult driving through it, but it did require reduced speed.

We traveled along the interstate for about 35 miles, then turned north onto a good two-lane road. Can you believe the speed limit on certain two-lane roads is 70 mph? Certain areas of the roads are straight for several miles and that would lend itself to those speeds, so I'm glad it was raining because it gave me an excuse to drive a bit slower.

We got in to Great Falls at about 12:30 p.m. and fixed our lunch. Then it was off to Walmart to stock our cupboards again. We have heard about the high prices for goods in Canada and Alaska, so we wanted to be able to eat in a lot.

We have been finalizing our plans for tomorrow. It looks like we will be crossing the border at Sweetgrass/Coutts in Alberta. We will drive up to the Ft. MacLeod area near Lethbridge. Then it is on to Banff.

Once we cross the border tomorrow, we will not be using our cell phones or internet services. We may purchase a Canadian phone card to use at pay phones and will use internet when we have it at various venues. I will try to blog every day, but I may not be able to publish on a daily basis.

Our son Brandon has emergency contact information if there is a need. Everyone else in the immediate family knows how to contact him. Once in Alaska, we will be back on line.

Till next time. . .

Dale