May 8 - Canada: Vancouver, British Columbia to United States: Butte, Montana

Today was a driving day.  Since we stayed an extra day in Vancouver, we needed to get to Yellowstone as soon as possible in order to keep our self-inflicted schedule.  Unfortunately, we had to bypass Glacier National Park because of the snowstorms and blocked roads.  And for similar reasons, we had to nix the trip to Mount Rushmore.  Just too much to do in only five days.  (We have to be in Utah by May 13).

So we drove and drove and drove and drove.  We passed through Seattle and across Washington.  Then through the northern tip of Idaho until we finally got to Montana.  

An Old Farmhouse That Jon Thought Was Cool

At one point, the windshield was so covered in bugs that we had to stop just to clean it off.  We do it whenever we stop for gas (the windshields are my job), but we passed through a swarm somewhere along the way and so had to make a special stop.

Montana is sparse, spacious, and beautiful.  My little sister went to school here, and now I can see why.  It's a lovely state, and there's almost no one here.  You can drive for miles and miles and not see a soul.  We passed through different weather patterns along the way: sunny and warm to cold and snowy. 

Snow Covered Trees in Montana

But we finally ended up with a gorgeous sunset, just outside Butte, Montana.   This is where we ended up staying the night.  We're about two-three hours away from Yellowstone, but - with the time change - it was 9:00 when we checked into the Motel 6 a few miles outside Butte.

Sunset Over Montana