After a really stormy night with lots of rain and lightning that lit up the sky like daylight we set out early to cover the last stretch of prairie. We had gotten used to being accompanied by dozens of freight trains running parallel to Hwy 2 and the many grain elevators along the way.

Vast dry prairies were only interrupted by oasises near rivers and creeks. The small towns we drove past looked almost forgotten with a number of abandoned houses. We crossed several native reservations and learned that it was here that the natives lost their fights over their land.

The only long stop we made was in Havre. We had lunch at Joe’s Steakhouse and our waitress Meagan gave us lots of information about the area around the west side of Glacier National Park.

The most exciting part of Havre was the historical underground tour. Havre was a rough and tough railway town. In 1904, a large fire started by four vagrants who had had a dispute with the saloon, burned down most of the business district. The respectable businesses had no choice but to move into the basement underground with some of the less respectable establishments. Glass tiles in the sidewalks provided some daylight in the underground. On our tour we saw lawyer’s and accountant’s offices alongside a bar and brothel.

From Havre we continued along Hwy 2 to Browning and then Hwy 89 to St. Mary, our gateway to the Going to the Sun highway that goes through Glacier International Park. This section of the trip was a difficult drive with very high and gusty winds.

In St. Mary we stayed at Johnson’s of St. Mary Campground and RV park where we had a sheltered campsite.