Good-by to Seattle

Thursday, May 7th

Boarded "The Empire Builder" at 4:30 pm. For this leg, we had a family bedroom. It was very nice to have the additional space. It was the whole width of the car so we could see in both directions. Also had a bench seat that was great for mid-afternoon napping!

As we left Seattle, we travelled north along Puget Sound through Edmonds and Everett then began the assent into the Cascades and back into the snow! Overnight we passed through Spokane and then Utah, waking up in Whitefish, Montana. This route took us along the northern portion of the US. At one point we were only about 30 miles from the Canadian border.

If you are following on a map, the stops across Montana were:

Glacier Park Station, built in 1913 is near 50 "living" glaciers and 9,000-10,000 foot mountains.

Browning headquarters of the Blackfeet Indian nation and language learning center; host of the largest native American pow-wow in North America each July.

Cut Bank often noted for the coldest mid-winter temperatures in the country. A monument to early explorer Meriwether Lewis memorializes his search for a pass through the Rockies.

Shelby named after Peter Shelby, General Manager of the Montana Central Railroad and site of the 1923 World Heavyweight Champioship fight between Jack Dempsey andTom Gibbons.

Havre, Malta, Glasgow and Wolf Point

Then we crossed into North Dakota and back into Central Time. Major stop here was Minot, still known as "Magic City" because it grew overnight -- like magic -- the moment th Great Northern announced its route.

Rugby, ND the geographical center of the North American continent.

Devils Lake the Indians call this remnant of a glacial sea the "Evil Spirit Lake" because they believed its shattered walls and loose rocks were the result of a mammoth struggle between thunderbirds and water monsters.

Overnight we passed through Fargo. Opted NOT to get up to have our pictures taken under the sign.

We were up early; 5:30 am in order to gather our belongings, have breakfast and arrive Minneapolis at 7:30. Will be here, staying with sister-in-law Dee until Wednesday when we climb back on the train for Milwaukee, reclaim our car, attend Keri's graduation from Nursing School on the 16th and then start back to Georgia.