Day 81, 2018, Friday June 22, 2018. Shelby Montana, crossing the border, (CAN/USA), grass and wheat.

Shelby Montana.  We arrived at about 1:30 this afternoon, and it was sunny, some clouds and of course ...windy! That is because it is only a few dozen miles from the Rocky Mountains and this town is on the  "Rocky Front" that brings those winds daily.  Right now as I compose this blog the wind is blowing at about 18-25 m[h , and of course from the west. Shelby has four seasons, but it is a dry climate and very erratic. Some years the snow comes in October and stays. Other years it is 80  degrees (F) until November. But it almost always dry. Tonight even with that wind it is 77F ,. (7:00PM)

Shelby is a "Port"city having a very large RR yard and switching station . The old Great Northern RR ran through here on its way to Seattle and the Pacific coast. I remember riding that from Detroit all the way to Kalispell Montana where my brother in law Ray was working, helping to build  the Hungry Horse Dam. At that time it was the 2nd tallest dam in the United States. (1948). It's"Morning Glory " hole is the highest it the USA.  But that's another story. You will be asking me "Where did the name Hungry Horse  come from"?

Shelby has a stable population with about 3,200 at present. The RR yards is a main activity as well as the surrounding farming and construction activity.   The highest paid jobs are in Construction, Forestry  and some farm related activities.

Passing through Lethbridge we did see the World's Longest iron bridge.
 

The world's longest Iron Bridge at Lethbridge, Alberta

A side view cannot get the entire bridge!

 But let's get back to Canada and the Border Crossing.  The trip from Fort McCleod included some stopping at some of  the many ponds along the way, which usually garner a few species of birds and that was the case today. South of  the border crossing, there had been about 4 days of rain this past week,so the fields had many small ponds. We did pick up 22 bird specie today, and for traveling with the trailer that was a good count. We did see two hawks that we could not ID.

Looking at the USA from Canada at Coutts Alberta

Not too bad, that wait at the border was 45 minutes.

The BORDER CROSSING !!!   Sometimes they are a breeze and at first this one started out that way.  The BCP agent asked us about fruits and veggies We had none that  we bought in Canada but had some that we carried all the way from the USA in Oregon.. Hmm. As the agent came out of the booth and looked in the back seat as is their custom. "You will have to park in the parking lot, there, (pointing to the spot) and come inside as we will do an inspection. After a few minutes (5) of waiting ,a very energetic gal (50 year sold) came out  with us as we all entered the trailer.  She was using a lot of humor and that helped ease the tension. She ended up talking about the tomatoes that had a Canada label on them and knew they had been grown in Ontario and sold in west coast USA.  She curiously took the little sticker off from them. The comment about Ruth's two apples was ..."They must be USA apples as Canadians, you know,...well they would be firmer". (These were quite past eating) " She did not take any of the fruit or veggies and began to give us information about that water in Montana and some good places to watch for birds. It was fun!
 

Much rape seed (Canola) is grown throughout S. Alberta. It is paired with rutabagas, in alternating years.

A field that lays fallow after wheat was harvested last fall.

The town of Milk River, Alberta has three of these granaries.

 There was much grass land (Sweetgrass) and summer wheat coming up nicely  in the miles of fields.  (** We did see a sign on the way that said "BARE LAND FOR SALE". WE CHUCKLED OVER THAT ONE.) To find the campground (attached to a large Hotel)  we did have difficulty as they had recently been upgrading it and it was now called a "Comfort Inn". The original name I made the reservation for was the "Shelby RV and Resort" .  That created a poser. Which one of the four hotels with campgrounds was it?  We drove the main drag and could not find that name. A clerk on a Chevron station told me where she thought it was. And she was right.  (See,Jim does asks questions when lost) We pulled in , checked at the desk in the hotel and got our campground site for 4 days. It is the last one at the top of the hill, so our view is marvelous.  We are parked  on the west end of the park and the first to get the wind. But at this time it is pleasant. The overhead wires above us will make music most of the night as long as the wind blows at 25-30.

So that was 'pretty much' the day. We ended with our choice of leftovers as I had a huge amount of Chinese shrimp left from last night, and Ruth still had some tuna casserole left.

The internet works very good so that is a plus and we have our Verizon phones working again and there is sufficient "bars".

Tomorrow will be "get the chores done" day. Starting with you know what...the laundry. 

P.S. There is a Casino here attached to the Hotel.