On the Road Again

We got an early drive out this morning and the skies were clear. This was interesting. I crossed the Missouri River at Bismarck, North Dakota and the landscapes on each side of the river were completely different. Before crossing the river the grass was green and pretty, and the air smelled fresh and clean. On the other side, though, the grass was brown. It was like crossing into a different world. I crossed over into what is known as the Bad Lands. I took some of the back roads, which were horrible. The feeling in the air was not welcoming. The buttes were interesting though, and as the sun set they glowed yellow, brown and red.

 I was glad I didn’t rush out of there. I parked for the night and the looked at the skies. It was all lit up by the silver stars. It was very cold, though. I looked at my map and decided tomorrow I would go to Montana.

I liked Montana. It had a real slow easy-going feel to it. I drove slowly through the towns. The scenery was spectacular. There were big mountains, acres of grass and lots of colors. The people seemed to move slowly, too. No one was ever in a hurry. I stopped in various towns to pick up supplies. I went to Billings, Livingston, Butte, and Custer. In Custer I took a little side trip to where General Custer and Sitting Bull had memorials.

   

My next big stop was in Yellowstone National Park. A Park Ranger warned me of the bears and said I should keep Charley on a leash or in the truck. As we drove through the Park we saw a bear pretty quickly. Charley went crazy and started showing his fangs. I freaked out that he was acting like that and we left as quickly as we could, not seeing much at all, and then we spent the night at a motel.

My next big event was crossing the Great Divide.

I drove on through Idaho’s thumb and saw the first real big mountains of this trip. The grass was still very green from the summer. It started snowing but there were not many people on the road.

I decided to stop for the night and found a small gas station with a small restaurant attached to it, as well as a few cabins for rent.  Charley and I were hungry and he needed to rest more than I did.  We will get an early start in the morning so I can get him to a vet.

Charley is definitely sick.  Forget the countryside. I need to get to Spokane, Washington as soon as possible. That thought that would be the closest place to find a decent vet. We got pills for Charley and hit the road headed for the Pacific coast. I passed by the Columbia River, traveled by Lewis and Clark. As I got closer to the coast I could small the sea air and marine animals. I love that smell. 

My destination was Seattle. When I got there I saw 8-lane highways with traffic rushing everywhere. Tomorrow I want to go to an older part of Seattle where maybe the pace is a little slower. Charley and I stayed a little while in Seattle, then made our way down the coast. Charley was getting better. We stayed at motels each night we stopped.

In Oregon one of my tires blew out. Of course it was raining. I changed one tire, was covered in mud and realized another would blow out soon.

Traveling slowly and carefully for miles I pulled into a small service station. It did not have my size tire. Being Sunday, all the other ones that may have a tire for me were closed. It took several phone calls and about four hours, but I was finally on my way with two new heavy-duty tires.

Southern Oregon was the home of the big Redwood trees.