1920 Mile
First off, thanks to everyone (and most of you did it in person) who responded to my post last Wednesday…thanks for your collective insight and support. I feel more at ease with myself than I have in a long time, which is a good thing.
I did a lot of driving over fall break…nearly 2000 miles in a span from Friday evening to this afternoon. I made my first forays into Wyoming and Montana, and added 14 counties along the way…only 2,774 to go! If you want a full retelling of my trip, you’ll have to ask me; also, pictures should be available sometime in the next week. For your convenience, here’s the good, bad and ugly of my trip, in bulleted form:
Good:
- The forested areas in the Black Hills, parts of Montana, and the northern edge of Wyoming
- The sampler tray at the Montana Brewing Co. in Billings (7 beers - 28 ounces total - $4.50)
- Devils Tower at dusk
- There’s a place in Billings near the airport where you can sit in your car and look out over the entire city…just as TV and movies demand that every city must have
- The colors of the tree leaves in river valleys
Bad:
- I-90 between Buffalo and Gillette, WY…60 miles without towns, houses, people, or anything, for that matter
- Swerving around incredibly large and numerous roadkill in the Black Hills
- $4/hr Internet access at a Holiday Inn Express (it’s free at some, but not all locations)
- Clouds and fog obscuring your view of mountain ranges
Ugly:
- The living conditions on Indian reservations
- Driving past approximately 73,497,168 signs for Wall Drug and other tourist traps in South Dakota