Days 2 and 3

Written on July 26, 2005
2:45 PM

Days 2 and 3:

As I write this (offline), we are near the SE tip of Montana, just past Billings, on our way South into Montana. Today’s destination (hopefully): Mt. Rushmore.

Last night in Bozeman I didn’t have a chance to write up a blog entry. We had a rough night with some internet complications etc. Today is a gorgeous day and we’re continuing happily.

So yesterday was all about driving through gorgeous Montana which we both love. We did this before on the way back from Yellowstone 3 years ago. There’s nothing like the rolling hills, fields as vast as oceans and stunning sunsets. Mostly the weather has been bright and beautiful with blue skies and white clouds. The exception was a patch yesterday of stormy weather that pelted hail onto our car beneath one big black cloud. (The third grade teacher in me has been educating my husband on the different types of clouds, and that was a rocking cumulonimbus cloud if ever I saw one. We got one awesome view of a lightning bolt. Sadly, there’s no way in hell I could have caught that on my camera.



Incidentally, please forgive the smashed bugs on the windshield.

We stayed last night at a very-well placed hotel in Bozeman, home to Monstana State University. Across the street was a Safeway and next door was a food co-op. I don’t usually enjoy routine grocery shopping all that much, but it was like coming home to be in this place. All the organic stuff you see in my old “Wild Oats” in Portland, including my favorite “Seeds of Change” salsa, Morningstar Farm soyburgers and more. A lot of that stuff could not be found in Vancouver so, again, this was a homecoming for me. (Naturally I wonder how easy it will be to find that stuff in New Jersey. At least I know they have Tillamood kosher cheese at Trader Joe’s in New York.

A. is holding up. Once again she got out of the car yesterday evening with shaky legs, but she has been doing fine without any meds. I feel sorry to put her through this, but am impressed by her resiliency at the end of each day. It’s a lesson in parenthood, really, to accept that someone you care for and love is having a rough time, but to just help them manage it without worrying over them. I think this is okay for her.



So right now, as I write this, we are approaching exit 510 to the Little Bighorn Battlefield Little Bighorn Battlefield. We are really gunning it today to try to make up for some lost time in getting to Mt. Rushmore, but the signs along the road have been p;ointing us to this historical site for the last hour. How can we resist.As we drive towards it, there’s a Little Bignorn Casino to our left. Weird.