montana

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Day 14 – I survived the night!!!

Shortly after crashing last night I was abruptly awoken by a tree limb crashing into the tent. Well…. maybe it was more like a twig. Still you know how it is when a little noise sounds HUGE when you are asleep. The wind was crazy all night and stuff was going everywhere. I was waiting for my chance to describe what the tornado sounded like on the news.

I finally got back to sleep when a car door slammed and woke me back up. No big deal, I’ll roll over and continue sleeping. WRONG!!! Apparently my wonderful neighbors down the way must have spilled an entire bag of M&M’s in their vehicle. Then proceeded to remove them one by one while closing the door in between sessions of removal. About 276 door slams later it ceased. Maybe the door finally broke off the hinge. Fingers crossed.

Waking up again to actually start the day wasn’t that bad. I showered and found a quarter in the gravel beside my car. Maybe that’s what my neighbors were looking for. I hit Denny’s for breakfast. While there I utilized the time to eat and catch up on work.

The first stop on the agenda was Pictograph State Park in Montana. It was just a few minutes down the road. Apparently rattlesnakes are bad there but all I saw was two rabbits and a frog. HA!

 

Back on the road again for me. I headed out towards South Dakota on 212 east. On the way I saw some interesting things on the side of the road. Enjoy the pics of that mess…

 

I ended up tonight at a KOA in Deadwood, SD. I’m going to explore this little “gold mine” of a town some tomorrow before moving on out towards Mt. Rushmore. While here I’ve ran into some really nice people. A biker from Kansas chatted with me for a bit and also a guy from Tennessee. Funny thing is the gentleman from Tennessee used to live in Lexington, KY with his wife.

marmot

Day 13 – Montana Feels Like Home

Yesterday after an amazing day around Mt. Rainier I drove on to my next stop. That landed me in Missoula, MT. I figured I deserved a comfy bed for a night and a long hot shower with some privacy. Always feels weird taking a shower with a dude next to me doing the same thing.

Anyway, on to today. I woke up at the hotel this morning to dig in to their “hot breakfast” that was all over the place. I would have preferred eating a frozen dinner over this hot breakfast. I opted for a couple prepackaged muffins they had sitting out and some nasty coffee. I’m certainly not a coffee snob but this stuff was nasty.

I returned to the room to finish up some work. Yeah I’m working while on this road trip. I knew I was going to prior to leaving so it’s no big deal. As weird as it sounds it doesn’t feel normal not to check email and respond to client requests.

After putting in a couple hours I was on the road. First stop of the day CITY BREW! From there I got on Interstate 90 and headed east. Nothing special really today.

Mid-afternoon I arrived at my destination for the night, Yellowstone River RV Resort & Campground. I was going to stay at the KOA that is literally across the street but once again they were full. Starting to get let down by these KOA’s. In their defense I am attempting to book my stay the day of. I like to fly by the seat of my pants obviously. I’m actually surprised so much has came together for me considering each day I wake up with no real agenda.

I searched for some things in the area that were close. I found one place that looks interesting but just my luck they closed in 30 minutes from the time I was looking. Oh and it was 22 minutes away. I’ll keep it under wraps for now because I’ll probably hit it tomorrow morning on my way out.

Now on to why Montana feels like home… Nothing special or interesting has took place in Montana, I’ve been working this morning and this afternoon, I’ve cleaned the car out some, ran to Walgreens to restock on water/etc and I’ve done laundry. Today was a productive day but not in terms of adventure. I have met some nice people today though. This morning at the hotel a guy was telling me about Glacier National Park in Montana. It looks amazing but it was a little out of my way. That’s the worst part about this trip, passing up so many good things. Hmmmmm….. maybe there needs to be a sequel? While doing laundry I did have a nice chat with a lady from Texas. The topic for conversation was you guessed it…. website stuff. I’m a nerd. UGG!!

Tomorrow I’ll shower and hit the road early. I want to go check a place out real quick before I leave Montana then it’s off to South Dakota. It’s crazy that it’s day 13 already. In about 2 hours it will be day fourteen.

Mileage update: I’ve driven 5,200 miles so far and used 122.64 gallons of diesel for an average of 42.4 MPG. I personally think those number are amazing considering this includes tons of stop/go traffic, highway and city driving, driving up big mountains including Pikes Peak and not always obeying the “suggested” speed limit on the highway. Diesel has been cheap everywhere I have filled up. By cheap I mean it is the same out here as it has been back in Kentucky for the most part. I filled up today and it was $2.56/gallon. To make it easy math if I average $3/gal (way high number) I would only spent $367 in fuel or $28 a day. I think I could panhandle $28. Now there is an idea…