September 19, 2024 Morning

Pilot Truck Stop ($0)

Shelby, Montana

September 19, 2024. 7 AM

Shelby is a hardscrabble town. Work trucks everywhere — the heavy duty kind — with baked on dirt. A good size rail yard with trains passing through frequently. Lots of “casinos” (keno) and bars. Roads, buildings — everything — looks well used. I15 runs just outside town (heck, it might be in town), and intersects with US 2. This appears to be a major gateway for Glacier National Park, although Google Maps tells me Glacier is 88 miles west. I think there is reservation between here and there where no camping is allowed. I could be wrong.No one would mistake this for Paradise.

I was last in Glacier in 1992. Lots of memories of that trip with one year old Courtney Virginia.

Now to Albertson’s to get food for the day.

Before I hit the road, I have reminded myself again that everyone and everyplace has a fascinating story if we only have the time to ask to hear it. We default to our mind’s ancient mode of drawing first impressions whose purpose was to protect us but now is primarily used to judge people and places by their appearance. And how much we lose by doing that.