If only every day could be like this one…

Virginia City — My expectations for today were admittedly low as I just knew I was in for a lot of boring interstate driving.   I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I’m predicting that today will end up ranking near the top of great driving days on this trip.

It’s probably been twenty years  since I’ve been east of CDA on I-90;  it was like seeing this scenery for the first time, and it was nothing short of spectacular!  As the trip progressed from rugged mountains to open forests and valleys, not once did I find that there wasn’t something interesting to look at (well, except for the gas stop at Costco in Missoula).    If I didn’t have a more distant destination in mind  I think I could have played around in Western Montana for quite some time.

Click on the pictures for a larger image.  Even enlarged, it’s hard to capture the scale of the scenery in a picture.

 

From I-90 West of Missoula
From I-90 West of Missoula
I90WMissoula_b
Road (It’s a road trip!) I-90 west of Missoula

The Garmin provided me with the icing on the cake.  It routed me off of I-90 in Butte and  put me on Montana Highway 2, which is a twisty two lane road more suited to a motorcycle or sports car than an RV.

The truck did great.  It really doesn’t seem to roll much in the twisties.   I’m just glad I wasn’t towing something or I’d been cursing the Garmin!   I’m also glad that I had the road to myself; it was a steep climb, which at the peak approached 6800 feet according to my altimeter.   This next picture was taken on that road.  The early fall colors are typical of what I witnessed all day long.

 

Montana Highway 2
Montana Highway 2 near Butte

From HW 2  I turned onto HW 41.   These last two pictures were taken as I drove along this valley.  I could probably see 100 miles.

Montana Highway 41
Montana Highway 41
Montana Highway 41
View to East from Highway 41

I arrived too late to do, or see anything in Virginia City,  an gold-rush ghost town.  Tomorrow I’ll explore town.  Though not the most famous one, this town also has a cemetery named Boot Hill.

As for the check-engine light.  It finally went out only to come back on again when the engine was under a bit more strain.  Lee could be right about the transmission.  It might also be the EGR valve — I’m sure I’m blowing out a bit of carbon 8-).

 

Miles Today: 372
Total Miles: 712
Avg Miles/Day: 354

3 thoughts on “If only every day could be like this one…”

  1. What great scenery. What great fun. Love those empty two lane highways. And, you know the drill if the light is tranny temp, slow down, gear down and chug along…you’ll be out of the mountains in a little bit. The slower you go the easier it is to take pictures….LM

  2. Yes, this area of Montana is indeed a gem. I drove through there a year ago and took a slightly different route south of I-90 through Anaconda, the Pioneer Scenic Highway, Dillon and up to Twin Bridges and then down to Yellowstone. Loved the area!

  3. I especially like “view to east from highway 41.” The scenery is wonderful and the photo composition is really good. I’m reading your entries in chron. order and about to go to the next one. I sent Allison a link so she can see this too.

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