Day 12 began at around 5:30 am with me packing and repacking the vehicle for that anticipated border search when I crossed back into the United States. It took me about 30 minutes to get the car packed the way I wanted it and then, as the sun came up, I discovered an incredible sunrise effect against the clouds. So, I rushed into the car and drove over to Lake Louise for one more attempt at a great photograph.

What I got, is what you see below. With clouds still heavy, I had to wait about 20 minutes to get the sun to break through again. I basically loaded my camera with a variety of shots until the right moment presented itself.

While I waited, three mallard ducks were swimming about in the cool waters. I love ducks, so I tried to get close to them to shoot the pictures. But they were obviously camera shy and dashed off upon the slightest hint of my approach.

At Sunrise (Lake Louise, AB)

Once I was satisfied I returned to the car and made may way toward the United States border. But first, I needed to find a Tim Hortons so I could buy a pound of coffee and get my cake donut. I succeeded in my mission in Canmore, Alberta and moved on toward my next destination - Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, in Montana.

I must say, I learned a lot about Canadian politics, SARS and Mad Cow Disease on my way down Provincial highway 22. My radio was tuned to AM 77 in Calgary. I always find Canadian news talk stations more interesting than in the U.S. It hasn't always been that way, but it seems whatever news station you hear in the United States, the same overly opinionated talk show hosts are billowing up the smoke and mirrors through a variety of voices. What you don't get, is something substantial that can fulfill your life some way.

I remember growing up, I used to love listening to Bruce Williams, on TalkNet, which I believe is an NBC owned property. He was a lawyer and gave good advice to those in need. It was like a mini-education.

Cabin (Lake Louise, AB)

Now the radio is filled with slanted opinion. Even Paul Harvey clouds his broadcasts my injecting his opinion from time to time, yet he still labels it "news". I don't have a problem with opinion, but to me it is strictly entertainment and not anything to be taken seriously. At least with Canadian talk shows I learned that our gasoline tax system is squeaky clean compared to the Canadians. Only 3% or so of their enormous gas tax actually goes to roads and highway infrastructure. And believe me, gas prices in Canada are at least 40% higher with most of the cost going to tax.

But enough politics. It was time for me to cross the border, back into the United States. I again took a less traveled road (Prov Hwy 6) for re-entry. And I found a convenience store to spend my last two Canadian bucks at.

When I reached the border, I was expecting 20 questions and a search. The first question again was, "what's with the Quebec plate". I told them about my trip to Quebec and the border guard remarked that it was unheard of to only have one legal plate on your car out west. I told her, most of the states back east only required one. They gave me the a-okay and I was on my way.

It was less than two miles down the road before I saw my first grizzly bear. It was a growing cub and he seemed content to continue eating off in the woods, even though I was snapping pictures of him from my car window. There was nobody else on the road so I continued to snap pictures, hoping he would look up. The fact that I didn't include any pictures of him here show, he never did come out to smile for the camera.

Chief Mountain (Babb, MT)

As I progressed down the road I passed Chief Mountain. For those fans of Devils Tower, WY, this was also a cone shaped mountain, but more of a silver-gray color. The picture turned out better than I expected as it was a somewhat hazy day. The haze makes it look like a painting.

Northwestern Montana is a treat for the eyes that encapsulated some of the best scenes from my entire trip. When I reached Lower St. Mary Lake, it was a feast for the eyes. The incredible blues and greens reminded me of Nova Scotia. Lower St. Mary Lake is another long, somewhat narrow lake and the mountains perched on the other side make for a majestic setting and a splendid palate of colors.

Soon it was nearing lunch time and I knew, I had to gas up and get some grub before heading into Glacier National Park, or I would be out of luck. Unfortunately, St. Marys, Montana does not hold bountiful choices for food (at least as far as I could see). I stopped at a gas station that had a restaurant but the prices were quite high for what they were offering. I guess I was feeling a bit guilty after my $75 dinner the night before. So, I headed to the grocery mart next door and bought two packs of thin sliced deli-meat and a bag of chips, and made my way to the park.

Lower St Mary Lake (St Mary, MT)

The road that cuts through Waterton-Glacier National Park is known at the "Going-to-the-Sun" road. It was just my luck that the Park Ranger said the road had just opened 15 minutes before I arrived. Apparently, the night before, two large boulders had cut loose from a mountain and landed in the middle of the road. Dynamite was used to blast the huge rocks into small, manageable pieces. It had taken them all night and most of the morning to clear the debris.

At the first stop I was taken aback by St. Mary Lake and the mountains that surrounded them. I was also quite attracted to the girl in the summer dress that was standing on the rock barrier overlooking the scene. She had the summer tunes blasting from her radio and seemed not to have a care in the world.

We talked for a good 30 minutes or so about how incredible the area was. She was a resident of Montana and had not made the trip into the park very often. I noticed she was listening to the band Train, although I didn't recognize the song. She said it was the new CD and that it just came out the day before. We talked about music and then about traveling. She said she was thinking of applying for a job in the park for the summer. I wished her luck and decided I'd better press on if I was going to make Bozeman before night fall. Something inside me wanted to find out more about her, but I knew long distance relationships weren't the best, so I said goodbye and returned to the car.

I made a couple more stops on the road as I began to ascend to Logan Pass.

When I reached the pass, there was the snow again, piled up a couple feet on the sides of the road. I also noticed that the stone barriers that kept you from falling into neverland were all broken away, all the way up the mountain.

Waterton River Valley (Glacier NP, MT)

When I crested the mountain at the apex I caught a glimpse of one of the most beautiful sites. A green valley and river, and they seemed miles below me. I can remember saying "oh, wow!" about eight times. The pull-offs, with the broken stone barriers, are a little bit scary, so I made no attempt to make this a photographic memory...because it may have been in my posthumous archive! Instead, I continued down the mountain, past the place where the boulders had fallen the night before, and past many stunning views of the valley below. I also passed multiple waterfalls, including two that jetted right out of the middle of mountains.

At one stop, a man from Ohio was taking a picture of the snow that was piled up. He used my car as a reference for how high the snow really was.

All the way down I passed magnificent scenes, including the Weeping Wall, a stonewall that is a horizontally enhanced waterfall.

The drive continues along the original valley and then introduces a second valley. All the time you are descending on this two lane road that hugs the mountain side. I am happy to report that the westbound traffic had the benefit of the side of the mountain. The eastbound lane had the harrowing experience of driving on the edge of the cliff. I would say at least 70% of the travelers that were heading east were a little nervous - proven by the fact they had to get back in their lanes when I would drive by them.

Just before Lake McDonald, I was treated to a mountain glacier and a roaring river. The final stop in the park was Lake McDonald, which seemed like an anti-climax after the rest of the park.

Lake McDonald (Glacier NP, MT)

As I left the park, I headed east on US-2. This stretch of road skirts the southern end of the park and the speed limit is 70 miles per hour, although there are some places I wouldn't suggest it.

It was almost 3 pm and I was right on schedule. I hoped to be in Bozeman by 7 pm or so. When US-2 joined with US-89 in Browning, Montana, you could tell a massive difference in the scenery. Let me tell you, once you pass the Rockies, it gets to low sloping hills and absolutely no trees in central Montana. Plus, Browning is in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, so there are not a lot of familiar landmarks.

I tortured myself with the drive down US-89 through the middle of nowhere. I cursed Rand McNally more than once for suggesting that this was a "scenic route." Heck, the cattle were the most interesting aspect of the whole drive.

Once I reached Choteau, US-89 turned east toward Great Falls. But the road seemed to wind way out of the way for my drive south, so I took the "non-scenic" route, down US-287 to Holter Dam. I thought, if I went to Great Falls, it would not only be more miles, it was also going to be rush-hour.

Scenic US-287 (Milford Colony, MT)

What I discovered was a very unique drive. South of Augusta, Montana, I saw some of the most interesting mountain shapes. It looked as if someone had buried mountains under green grassy hills. The best I could describe it was, it looked like a Roger Dean painting. For those that don't know Roger Dean's work, take a gander at almost any CD by the rock group Yes. If you look to the west, you see the grand peaks of the Rockies and the Continental Divide in the distance.

It was hard to know what to take a picture of. Mountains that weren't really there, or the Rockies in the distance that were the victim of some late afternoon backlighting. I loved the drive and I think I'll write to Mr. McNally, if he is still alive, and I'll tell him to move those green scenic dots down to US-287.

Once I returned to I-15, the hills and valley's increased in intensity for a while. Then subsided as I entered the state capitol of Helena (pronounced Helen-uh for those that don't want to be embarrassed). In Helena, I topped off my gas tank and found some dinner at a buffet Chinese restaurant.

When I walked in, the owner was enjoying dinner with his wife and they yelled over to me to grab a plate and eat all I wanted. The food was good, but I had to listen to patrons argue about how lousy the service was. Some people just won't be satisfied I guess, I mean...it is a buffet after all.

I left, feeling satisfied and enjoyed my trip back to Bozeman. I arrived at almost 7 pm and made my way back to the same Motel 6 I had enjoyed a couple days earlier. No luck on getting the suite this time though. But the room was still very nice. In fact, it sounds like that won't be a Motel 6 very long. Apparently, the home office is not happy with it being so high standard.

That night, I watched "About a Boy" with Hugh Grant, which I thought was a cute film. In some ways it reminded me of me. For those of you who have seen it, that might be a scary comment!

I made it awake through the whole film and then nodded off at around 11:30 pm.

> Day 13