Great Falls, and then! Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jog!

Can you believe it? this is the last post in this particular segment – the end of the original “Biggest Ball of String Tour.” Not that I’m done writing. Next, we are moving on to one of our trips to Michigan.

 

Technically, we could’ve driven home from Butte, but 1) my cousin and her husband had come to visit us there, so we wanted to leave Butte leisurely, and not on a specific schedule, and 2) we didn’t want our road trip to be over! So, we meandered to Great Falls, which is only 2 1/2 hours from Butte! (By the way, this is the point where we sadly had to say "see you soon" to Brian and Taunya and crew, as they headed back towards Seattle.)

 

Besides, we’d never really spent any time in Great Falls, but aLOT of Canadians go to Great Falls to shop, especially for school supplies, etc., making a weekend getaway of it. (Great Falls is less than 2 hours from the US/Canada border, and about 5 1/2 hours from Calgary.)

 

Once upon a time, the first people who lived in the Great Falls area were, of course, Native Americans. The Lewis and Clark Expedition went through 1805/1806, but the area wasn’t “founded” until 1883, when a businessman, named Paris Gibson, was in the area and recognized the potential for building an industrial city near “the great falls” – which would provide power by hydroelectricity. (When Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) first saw it in 1805, he said the Great Falls were the grandest thing he’d ever seen!)

 

By 1887, 1200 people lived there. By October, 1887, the Great Northern Railway arrived. (The Steamboat had arrived in 1859, by way of the Missouri River, which runs through. Apparently, THE Great Falls was as far as the Steamboats could go, anyway, because it was impossible to “portage” them… “Portage”, in case it’s not a familiar term to you, means ”The carrying of a boat or its cargo between two navigable waters” as per… all on-line dictionaries.) And, by 1888, Great Falls was incorporated.

 

As hinted, Great Falls was named for THE Great Falls of the Missouri River. These are a series of 5 waterfalls, which include Black Eagle Falls, Colter Falls, Rainbow Falls, Crooked Falls (a.k.a. Horseshoe Falls), and The Great Falls. The Great Falls is the highest, at 87 feet (26.5 meters), although, apparently, most of its water is diverted to Ryan Dam, for hydroelectric power. (The Ryan Dam is 1336 feet (407 meters) long and 61 feet (19 meters) high. Because of all of the hydroelectric dams (5), the city of Great Falls has been called “Electric City.”)

Speaking of… you might be recall, we talked about Lewis and Clark in my blog of January 6, 2013, about Lewis and Clark Caverns. Interestingly, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark never actually went to the Caverns, but they DID go to Great Falls. (The Lewis & Clark Expedition was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson – see blog December 11, 2012 (Mount Rushmore) for some summarized details about Jefferson!)

The Expedition (Also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition) stretched from St. Louis, Missouri (blog Nov. 20, 2012 about St. Louis) to Fort Clatsop, where the Columbia Basin empties into the Pacific Ocean…. there ~ and back again!

 

National Geographic did a series on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_intro.html), and their on-line introduction explains: “In 1803 Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West. He believed woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and a mountain of pure salt awaited them.

 

What they found was no less mind-boggling: some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies. “ (The ”Journey Log” is REALLY interesting!!

 

On occasion, especially as we travel through and to various Montana destinations, we pass or follow the Lewis & Clark Trail.

 

Great Falls is the home of one of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, and gets 5* reviews on Tripadvisor. One review says: “I was absolutely blown away. I’ve been to other Lewis & Clark sites and this is nothing like any of them. You walk through the exhibits that take you through the entire journey and attempt to give you a feeling of what they were experiencing.”
(http://lewisandclarktrail.com/section3/montanacities/greatfalls/lcinterpretive/index.htm) (http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g45198-d103830-Reviews-Lewis_Clark_National_Historic_Trail_Interpretive_Center-Great_Falls_Montana.html)

 

Great Falls also is famous for being the home of Charles M. Russell – famous Old West artist. Born in St. Louis in 1864, he moved to Montana when he was 16, to work on a ranch. He finally settled in Great Falls, after he was married, in 1896, and stayed there, until he died in 1926. (According to Wikipedia,” On the day of Russell’s funeral in 1926, all the children in Great Falls were released from school to watch the funeral procession. Russell’s coffin was displayed in a glass sided coach, pulled by four black horses.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Marion_Russell)
Visit the CM Russell Museum at http://cmrussell.org/about/about-the-museum for more information.

 

Besides CM Russell, others who have called Great Falls “home” include (apparently) Charley Pride (best known as a country western singer), Walter Breuning (was once the oldest known man in the world – 1896-2011), a lot of professional athletes, AND the shortest river in the world – the Roe River, which is 201 feet long….(not sure if that record has been “beaten” or not – apparently Guiness Book of World Records stopped have “shortest river” as a category in 2006.)

 

Also, many movies have been filmed here, including The Untouchables (1987) and A River Runs Through it (1992).

 

Despite the many interesting things to do in Great Falls, and its fascinating history – we were really just concerned that it was our last chance to eat yummy (hopefully) delicious Mexican food before we crossed the border!

 

AND we did!

 

We had delicious enchiladas and chili relleno at El Comedor, and let’s not forget to mention the mmmmmmmargaritas!!!

We had a nice, peaceful drive home the next day – it was a beautiful surprise to see the flax blooming beside the canola, with seas of blue and yellow. And that’s it! Home sweet home!!

Never done – I will be talking about something-Calgary on Wednesday, and then on to Michigan!

http://www.greatfallsmt.net/

 

Lewis and Clark Caverns (near Whitehall, MT)

The pink pictures are LED lit - this is the actual color of the formations

The first time I went to Lewis & Clark Caverns was 1983. (Google map http://goo.gl/maps/e10cz). Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know. This ages me.... but I was a kid...does that count?

The next time I went was 2010, with Peter.  And then, we went again this year.

The orange-y colored pictures are electrically lit

...considering that, apparently, stalactites grow between 1/4" and 1" every century, and stalagmites pretty much get the "left over" drippings from the stalactites, not much has changed from 1983 to 2012, and certainly not between 2010 and 2012.  ( (See more information regarding stalgmites, stalactites and other cave formations, in my previous blog, December 15, 2012, regarding "Black Hills Miscellany".)

 

Still, we'll probably go again, before the next century comes around. Besides, the tour guides mix things up a bit, and have different jokes, and of course, there's the other people in on tour.

We had a really nice group this year, and were with good friends, BUT, the 2010 tour was BY FAR the most entertaining group!

We were travelling with 2 other couples (it was a great road trip, through Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota) and most of those adventures will be told later!   But, one of the people (Jim, you know who you are!) is like the bad kid in class - super funny, too much energy, makes the class giggly and then makes the entire class miss recess.  Despite the fact that we were all adults, it did cross my mind that we maybe wouldn't get to have a tour.  

Also in our group were 3 men (teenager-ish) who were so extremely hung-over that they were likely still drunk. Good natured, but happy to get into the caves and away from sunlight. (They were disappointed to find out that they couldn't take their Gatorade in the Cavern - only water allowed.)

And FINALLY (not including various other people on the tour that I don't remember), there were Clay and Jennifer, who are GREAT adventurers! (We reminisced about them many times throughout the tour this year.) We had thought that they were travelling with the Drunk Boys because, at one particularly narrow place of the tour, one of the drunk boys hid in a crevice and when Jennifer came by (in the dark), he grabbed her and "GRAAAAAR"ed.
 

I'm certain he regretted it instantly, but the rest of us were completely impressed (and in hysterics) when she beat him to a pulp. (And later, we were shocked to find out that they all did not actually know eachother.)

(Note to people who are claustrophobic - there are low and narrow places - one of the girls with us is claustrophobic, though, and she did make it, and was happy she'd gone...there were "moments" that she was ...less...happy, though)

OK! It's unlikely that such a group of characters will converge at the same time, again, and you should be able to enjoy the tour as a tour!

The Lewis & Clark State Park is the first and oldest State Park in Montana and open year-round. However, the Cavern is only open to tours from May 1 to September 30, and from 9:00-4:30 May 1 to June 14th, and August 20 to September 30, and from 9-6:30 from May 15 to August 19.  (Double check before you go, just in case anything changes - also, check the entrance fee - right now, it's listed at $10 for adults, and $5 for children.
http://visitmt.com/listing/categories_NET/MoreInfo.aspx?IDRRecordID=3088)

First, there's a walk (on a path) that is uphill for about 3/4 of a mile. GoNW.about.com (under the Top 10 things to do in Montana) calls the walk "leisurely", but take water, use the benches if you need them, and don't forget your inhaler if you need that!!!

The Cavern has stairs and paths throughout.  Bring a sweater maybe, and good walking shoes - flip flops are a bad idea.  (Also, if you do have claustrophobia, but it's minor, and you think you can do it, there are a couple of "turn around" spots along the way, so you can test yourself and see, before you totally commit.)

The tour takes about 2 hours, and at one point, 300 feet below ground, there's a marker identifying that you are 5280 feet (one even mile) above sea-level! There is some stooping (or crawling, depending on how you want to navigate), sliding, turning and twisting. (I'm only telling you this in case you have any health condition that might prevent you from going - but if you can go,

DO go! It's WORTH IT!)

On a side note, we still visit with Clay and Jenn (thank you, Facebook), but haven't had any adventures together since then - same place, same time. Soon, though, hopefully.

In the meantime, on Wednesday, we will be off to Butte!