Day 20

Starting Point: Billings, MT
Ending Point: Lethbridge, AB
Mileage: 653 KM
Weather: Sunny and Warm - Thunderstorms rolling into Lethbridge in the evening.
Accommodations: Howard Johnson's

After leaving the Motel 6 in Billings, we made our first attempt to find a good cup of coffee. McDonald's normally provides a quite decent cup, but we were disappointed this time. Neither of us could actually drink it as it was far too strong. We decided to continue on our way though, and promised to find a better cup en route. We made the decision last night that we would skip the longer route via I-90 and I-15 through Butte and Helena, and instead take a two lane highway directly through to Great Falls, taking off about 2 hours of our drive, but unfortunately only viewing the mountains from the west windows of the car. We figured a second trip to Montana will likely happen some day, when we haven't just completed 19 days of traveling already. We soaked in enough great scenery yesterday to last us a while. As it turns out though, the drive through the foot hills and plains to Great Falls was absolutely stunning, so even though the mountains were not on our route, we enjoyed the drive immensely.

One of the nice things about this particular route was the occasional small town to drive through. We made a stop about halfway through the drive to find a restroom, and a second attempt at the coffee. The cashier was upset that she didn't have a fresh pot ready, but there was enough to fill our two mugs, and the price for two cups was $0.75, so how could we go wrong. Well, turns out, the coffee was worse than the first, so we were 0-2 for coffee, and feeling slightly weak from the lack of a good cup of joe.

We made it through Great Falls, and made a third attempt at a good cup of coffee, only to be again disappointed by our findings. Having gone 0-3 for coffee, we gave up, and settled for water for the rest of today's trip.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. A quick stop at the duty free to pick up a couple of cheap tax-free bottles, and then quickly through the border and arriving in Lethbridge just after noon, thanks to an early start, and a quick and easy short cut through Montana. We found a very close local golf course and snuck in a quick 18 holes before dinner. Actually, only 16 holes as we were chased off the course due to a threatening thunderstorm, which turned out to be more bark than bite. Then a comforting meal at Boston Pizza with REAL BEER (sorry USA, but your beer leaves much to be desired), and we are now watching extra innings of the Jays game, and settling in for our last night away from home!

Looking forward to our Tim Hortons' coffee tomorrow morning, and to being home within the next 24 hours!