FRIDAY, SEPT 26

FRIDAY, SEPT 26:

     What a beautiful morning!  And a leisurely morning to enjoy it! 
                                                                          

Took our time and enjoyed breakfast outside in the mountain sunshine.  This really is a lovely RV park – surrounded by beautiful views of mountains.  In fact, Bozeman itself is a beautiful town, surrounded by beautiful country!   If we were to live in Montana, Bozeman certainly would seem a prime spot.

      After we cleaned up, we drove around 25 miles west of town to Missouri River Headwaters State Park.  This is exactly what its name indicates – a state park built around the site of where the Missouri River begins.  It’s actually at the confluence of 3 smaller rivers.  Lewis & Clark arrived here in July 1805 and determined this to be the headwaters of the mighty river they had been travelling upstream for so long.  They named the three tributary rivers the Jefferson, the Madison, and the Gallatin, after the 3 men in Washington DC who promoted the expedition.

                                                              

                                                     

 

It was here that they realized the urgency of obtaining horses for the trek over the mountains, as it was obvious that they could no longer use the river route.  Soon after they left here,  they met up with the Shoshones, who did in fact provide them with the needed horses, and also where Sacagewea was reunited with her brother.

     I hope that while they were camped here Lewis& Clark took in the beauty of this place!

                                                                                

        

      So in a sense we’ve truly come full circle on this trip.  Saw so much of Lewis & Clark’s journey in Washington & Oregon, as they triumphantly reached their destination, and now being at this spot here in Montana where they’d explored and camped months earlier, not yet knowing the end of their historic story.  And of course, in St. Charles, as we bike the Katy Trail, we frequently see where they began.

     It seems a very appropriate “last stop” on our trip, only sort of in reverse.  As L & C began a new phase of their journey, going westward, we’re also heading toward a new phase . . . called home.  J   Our 14+ week adventure is coming to an end.  We have 2-3 days of hard driving ahead of us, but then will transition from the travelers’/adventurers’/explorers’ life on the road to life at home.  We’re ready!    

     After an afternoon of relaxing around the RV, we met my 2^nd cousin Leslie for dinner in town at Applebee’s.  She’s recently moved here from Pasadena to join her eldest son, DJ, who’s attending Montana State Univ here.   We had a great time catching up on the excitement of her new job and reliving some family history.  Her father (my cousin) is the custodian of much of our maternal family history, and Leslie will continue that, thankfully.