Crossed the border today!

As we were preparing to leave this morning the Manager (I can’t remember his name) dropped over and asked if Woody would like to come with him as he has many hides and he would give him one, excitedly Woody accepted his offer and off they went. A short time later he came home with beautiful fully tanned Elk and Deer hides, Deer was a gift and the Elk he purchased for a very reasonable price. We were invited to stop here again in the fall and pick up more hides; we will take him up on his offer for sure. Experiences like that are so cool and part of the fun of travelling. We left a little later than planned but knew we would still make Milk River, AB in decent time.
The drive to Great Falls via Hwy 87 is pretty, winding around hills through grassy valleys, alongside the Little Belt Mountains and Judith Mountains, there are some awesome views as we crested hills, some fairly steep climbs where the view is nothing but sky until we crest the hill (small mountain) and then drop down into a valley. There is one I really love, as we come atop the mountain we see mountains spread out before us across a long valley like a painting, the camera just cannot capture the scene the way the eye views the picture, lacks the depth and breadth. This is Ranch country; the hills and valleys are dotted with cattle, horses and antelope lazily grazing on the new green sprouts of grass we also see the odd house but mostly you just see rows of mailboxes on the roadside indicating there are more people living in this area than one expect until of course we get close to Great Falls, then we see many acreages. As we approach Great Falls the road becomes 4 lane which makes driving a bit more relaxing, even if it is busy and we connect with I 15 after driving through Great Falls, they do not have a good bypass going north, driving through the city is the easiest way to connect to I 15, we tried the so called bypass route last spring and it is terrible, through Industrial areas, along the Missouri River and actually longer, going south is not a problem but north is a little more challenging. The remainder of the trip to the border is clear sailing, the border crossing was busy but we moved along quickly, had our paper work ready and had no issues crossing back into Alberta, whew, we are always somewhat relieved once across the border. We arrived a short time later in Milk River, pulled into our favourite spot at Under Eight Flags Campground and settled down for the evening, another safe day of travel!

The campground was named Under Eight Flags and flies all eight flags beside the office as the Milk River area has been governed by different countries through history. Below is the history if you are interested.

In 1803 President Jefferson of the United States authorized the Louisiana Purchase, the land on which the town of Milk River was later to rise became American territory. But this was not the first claim to the yet unexplored region; in fact lying north of the 49th Parallel and within the area of the Mississippi-Missouri river systems, Milk River is unique in Canada. There could have flown over this land at various times no less than eight flags representing six governments and one great company.

In 1682 the French explorer La Salle claimed the whole Mississippi system and the land which it drained for King Louis XIV of France and named the area Louisiana.

In 1762 by the secret Treaty of San Ildefenso France abandoned the still largely unexplored region to the Spanish Empire.

In 1800 Spain ceded the region to Napoleon who intended to establish French rule firmly but was unable to do so.

In 1803 the territory was acquired by the United States for a payment which eventually totaled $27 million.

In 1818 a Convention signed between the United Kingdom and the United States established the boundary of British North America as far as the Rocky Mountains along the 49th Parallel, cutting of the extreme northern area of the Mississippi-Missouri system. By previously granted license the newly-acquired territory came under the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1869, following the formation of the new Dominion of Canada in 1867, jurisdiction over the western territories previously administered by the Hudson's Bay Company was transferred to the government in Ottawa.

In 1945 by Order-in-Council the Canadian government declared the Red Ensign to be the distinctive Canadian flag.

In 1965, by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Maple Leaf flag was declared the official flag of the Dominion of Canada.