Thanks to everyone for the comments -- Kelli, Sharon, and the latest from Mo! (If we could, we would have detoured to see Mo on our travels!) We just realized we had comments on the posts. We have internet access here in Hardin, MT -- teeny town on the edge of the Crow Reservation, but they understand the importance of wi-fi -- and we've had time to a) notice there are comments and b) figure out how to read them. We've also added more detail to the photos in our last posting.
Last night we tried to provide Connor a kind of camping experience combined with cultural learning opportunities. Connor was sorry that we were done with camping once we left Glacier -- he said it's been one of his favorite parts of the trip. So last night we stayed in a tipi on the Blackfeet Reservation, and our host, a Blackfeet artist, told us the history of the Blackfeet after dinner. Fascinating. TG and I had read J. W. Schultz's accounts from the late 1800s of the Blackfeet in Glacier, and we stayed in one of the campgrounds -- Two Medicine -- that he and the Blackfeet regularly traveled. We learned the names and the histories of sacred mountains like Rising Wolf, and while we were in Glacier we could almost feel the steps of the Blackfeet as we hiked the trails.
We're still trying to identify this bird -- let us know if you know what she is. Our hosts said she was a kind of burrowing owl, but we can't find her on the internet. She has a nest close to our tipi and circled around every time we moved in or out of the tipi to keep us away.
These guys live on the Rez, and they're part of the only remaining herd of Mustang in the US. (OK, so the pony is not a Mustang, but he wants to play with the big boys.) The Mustang were the last buffalo runners and prized by the Blackfeet. I tried to give them a graham cracker, but they snubbed me. According to our hosts, their food tastes way better than people food.
Here are a few pictures from the Rez looking back at Glacier. I hope we get another chance to visit and explore more of the park. I feel like we just scratched the surface, and between the rain and the spring snows, we didn't get outdoors as much as we'd hoped.
Saw this sign on our way to Billings, MT. Did a u-turn to get a photo!
We've settled on the name "Ophie," short for Ophelia, for Kelli's Garmin GPS. Maybe she doesn't like her name, though, because she's developing a bad habit. She takes us through the most run-down and dangerous parts of town anytime we get near civilization. In St. Louis while I was driving white-knuckled across a narrow, crumbling bridge, I looked to my left and saw the brand-new bridge sparkling in the sunshine. Why didn't she take us there? Dunno. Then in Billings she took us through the sports arena -- sounds nice, doesn't it? -- and it took us a while to realize that the debris on the road was the roof of the arena that had been ripped off during a recent tornado.
Tomorrow we do more tourist stuff (yay), Little Big Horn, the Black Hills, and the Badlands. Should be fun. Thanks again for the comments, y'all -- it's been great to keep in touch while we're on the road.
xox
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