Missoula, Montana

     It was a shorter drive today by about 50 miles so we got to Missoula with time to disconnect the truck from the trailer and do a little grocery shopping and have dinner out.  It is nice to have some extra  time for relaxation and sightseeing. 
     We followed the Yellowstone River again until it turned south to Yellowstone Park.  Then we went over our first pass -  Bozeman Pass.  In 1806, Sacagawea guided the Lewis and Clark Expedition over an old buffalo road through this pass on their journey home.  The road was fairly steep and we were only going 40 for a short while, but beautiful scenery with rugged rocks and lots of pine trees.  Further on I90 we followed the Clark Fork River - Another Lewis and Clark expedition route.  
     We drove through Bozeman, Butte, and now we are in Missoula.  There has been a lot of copper mining and logging in the area.  In World War I copper was used in every single rifle bullet (much of which came from Butte).   However, the Anaconda Mining company (once the 4th largest company in the world) made such a mess of the environment with its copper mines that it was the largest area which needed to be cleaned up in the Superfund Act of 1983.  I still wouldn't spend time in the river water around here.
     We are camping tonight in a KOA located right in Missoula.  It has big shade trees, a nice pool and a good view of the mountains.  I spent some time in the pool and hot tub before working on my blog. Life on the road is pretty good.