Day 7 - Leaving Canada

Canada in my rear view mirror

I am glad that I stopped where I did last night, 100 miles south of Edmonton even though it was earlier than I wanted.  This morning the low pressure system still had a lot of fog and smog, especially around Calgary down at ground level.  Normally the prairie has clean air.  The highways into and just out of Edmonton were also bumpy; I would say worse than the Alcan plus at highway speeds so the constant bumps were tiring.  But from there to the border the road surface was really good; have cruise control, will travel.  At the border, the US customs had a line of a dozen cars but it moved pretty quickly and I was through it is about 20 minutes.  I15 through Montana was pretty good going so I kept on past Great Falls and stopped in Helena late.  I had dinner in Great Falls so it was night as I wound through some mountain passes that would have been a great view.  I could see out the drivers window the constellations Orion and Cains Major (not just Sirius but the main stars of the constellation) almost all the way.  I stopped at a scenic view pull out that had no street lights and was awestruck by the clear sky and number of faint stars.  I could see all the stars of the little dipper and more stars than I usually see in Alaska with its arctic haze.  I did plan to write at least the paragraph but by the time I got into my room it was late and I was getting easily frustrated.  I have about 500 more miles to go, yippee!