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Direct Link To This Post Topic: big road trip
    Posted: April/28/08 at 8:20am

So my grandparents' 45th anniversary was this weekend in the middle of Montana.. and I decided to go!  So my daughter & I climbed in Blue and headed out on Friday.

Passes were pretty decent - snowing so hard I could barely see the lines but it wasn't sticking, 29 degrees on Snoqualmie, same for Lookout, same for McDonald!  But in Spokane it was 71 degrees..  ran the gamut of weather, that's for sure.  I only saw one MINI in MT, it was east of Missoula on I90, he was west-bound, yellow with white.  He didn't see me though.

We took Saturday for the party and carousing with the relatives, then came all the way back Sunday.   Just west of George I passed a blue/white MINI, not sure if she waved - I was busy playing cat n' mouse with a white Neon & a red Explorer Big%20smile
Overall I averaged 26.6 mpg, which isn't bad considering I had the top down for about 500 miles and kept it around 90 all through Montana!!  1450 miles, roundtrip!
 
Really had some fun on the highways out there - I grew up in MT so I went out of my way to take the windiest roads.  Deep Creek Canyon between Townsend & White Sulphur Springs was a blast both ways, although I did skip around one of the corners coming back!  Sanded roads!  Also there were some big rocks in the road on one of the corners!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/28/08 at 9:19am

Sounds like a fun trip.  My wife and I are taking our boys to Colorado  in August for my parents 50th anniversary and Minis in the Mountains.  Any suggestions on routes through Montana?

Mitch & Teri
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/28/08 at 10:34am
Originally posted by hip check hip check wrote:

 Any suggestions on routes through Montana?
 
Haha!  Yeah!  Well, coming down from Lookout Pass on the Idaho/Montana border is fantastic, very windy and fast.. past that if you stay on I90 it's pretty straightforward - although Butte Pass can be fun.  It's all beautiful driving; mountains and rivers and such, but for curvy roads you might want to get onto Hwy 12 at Garrison Junction east of Missoula and go up over McDonald Pass into Helena.  Helena's a great town to check out, downtown has an old walking (outdoor) mall that's been there since the 1800's.  Then go east on 12 to Townsend, then through Deep Creek Canyon.  You'll have to turn left in Townsend to stay on Hwy 12.  Deep Creek is fantastic driving!  When you come out of the canyon you can either head south back to I90 or follow 12 all the way to Billings, not a super road or anything but it's more fun than the interstate.  Two-lane highway is always more fun, right? 
Then from Billings head south into Wyoming...
By the way, this is the route everyone takes to Sturgis instead of the interstate, so depending on when you go in August you may have 800 motorcycles on the road too!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/28/08 at 12:11pm
I agree that Hwy 12's a blast.  We've taken it from Missoula to Lewiston (Lolo Pass) - 77 miles of twisties.  Great fun!!!  You might want to think about it as part of the route back home.
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