We finally crossed into Montana and Mountain Time a little before noon (MDT). I opted to have lunch in my cabin and relished the large quantity of PEI mussels steamed in an herb, garlic, and white wine broth served with a piquant spring salad and nice crusty bread for dipping. Since lunch, for hours, the landscape mirrored that of North Dakota—farmland stretching so far and wide with occasional lonely houses dotting the picture. Being primarily from the population-heavy East Coast, it is hard to imagine such vast stretches of uninhabited land. I saw hundreds and hundreds, of fields with bundles of hay (?) and had to wonder what it is all for. Also, periodically, one would see what I believe are oil drills.

The Empire Builder Train makes many stops at towns heretofore unknown by me—Wolf Point, Glasgow, Malta, Havre, Shelby, Cut Bank—all towns in Montana where people actually got on or off. We had a 30 minute stop in Havre so were able to get off and stretch. It is okay to wander about the train and I have availed myself of that privilege but the windows don’t open so it’s refreshing to get outside. Also, the train lurches quite a lot making walking a bit of a challenge. We are now about an hour behind schedule. It doesn’t cause me a problem as I am just checking into a hotel once we reach Portland. Since the turnaround for the train’s return is about six hours, they don’t seem inclined to make up time. In fact, there are baffling times when we slow down or even stop in the middle of nowhere.

Another strange thing is seeing a bunch of rv’s randomly parked in places that make no sense. No water, no stores, no electricity, no town nearby. I saw this several times. One has to wonder what they are doing.

After Havre, the terrain is getting much hillier and you can see mountains in the distance. While outside, I heard several mention that the scenery is boring. True, it is not majestic but I do not find it boring. Instead, I am impressed that a great swath of our wonderful country is dedicated to feeding those of us who never give a thought to where the steaks or ground beef come from, where bread originates, the love given to raise corn and other vegetables that appear magically in our supermarkets. As the train whisks us through part of our heartland, I am proud to be an American and so thankful to those who choose to use our land to sustain us.

Early in the evening, we glided through Glacier Park, MT for about two hours. Even what we could see from the train was spectacular. Shortly thereafter, it was dark as we made our way through Whitefish and Libby, MT, then Sandpoint, ID.