Great Falls: History...and great falls

It was nice to wake up to a second straight day of sunshine...but, also another day of chilly temperatures. I spent an enjoyable day in Great Falls, MT, relaxing and doing some sightseeing...and eating. Since neither of the two museums I was planning to see opened till 10:00 am, I decided to take a little stroll along the Missouri River. Yes, the Missouri River actually originates in Montana! Just outside of town, I walked 1.5 miles along the paved Rivers Edge Trail, taking photos of Rainbow Falls, Rainbow Dam and Crooked Falls.

Rainbow Falls is not that big this time of the year. After taking some pics from the viewpoint at the parking lot, I started walking down the trail. Suddenly, the roar of the falls became even louder as they started releasing more water down the spillway. You can see a hint of a rainbow in the below pic.

Further down the trail was the much more impressive Crooked Falls. Although not very tall, the horseshoe shaped falls are pretty long.

As I was walking back to the parking lot, a brownish furry animal suddenly ran across the trail about 50 yards ahead of me. At first, I thought it was a cat, but it was too big to be that. I got a good look at it as it ran over the bluff...grey fox! Too bad it was moving too fast for me to get a pic! My next destination was the Malmstrom Air Force Base Museum. I reported to the visitor center and had to undergo a quick background check, plus I had my picture and fingerprints taken. All done for the sake of security...after all, it IS a working Air Force Base!

Once inside the gates, I walked about 200 yards to the museum site. I snapped pics of the static aircraft outside, then entered the museum building.

Once inside, I was greeted by the museum's director. I don't think they get many visitors on a weekday this time of the year. Malmstrom AFB is one of three U.S. Air Force Bases that supports, maintains and operates the Minuteman III missile sites...the other two being Warren AFB in Wyoming and Minot AFB in North Dakota. I learned a lot watching the information videos and looking over the museum displays. They also had a very large collection of model aircraft.

After a very tasty BBQ lunch at Smoked. American Barbeque, I visited The History Museum in downtown Great Falls. The museum focused mainly on local stuff with historical artifacts like old phones and old items from long closed stores. Can the arch EVER be controlled?

Well, it looks like the clouds are returning tomorrow, with maybe some rain in the afternoon. I'm planning to see as much of Glacier National Park that's possible this time of the year. Of course, the recent storm that came through didn't help matters, since it dumped more snow on the park. I'll just play it by ear and hope for the best!