adventures beneath the blue sky

My family traveled to Montana this weekend for my sister-in-law’s sister’s wedding. Here are some scribbles about my trip.

Oh yay, four am. That lovely hour to depart for regions unknown. Actually it wasn’t too bad. (Besides the fact that I babysat my niece and cousin the night before while the adults went fishing, so my packing went slowly).

So my bed, that I hadn’t seen in a week due to all our previous reunion company, was only occupied for three hours. And I have a question, why is it so much easier to awaken for travel than work? I had no problem getting up a bit after three and having a full conversation : D

Brenda, Aunt Keturah, and I wedged ourselves into the Volkswagen Toureg with eucalyptus, lettuce, and gifts for the wedding.

I managed to sleep for an hour and a half and awoke in Reno when we stopped at Maverick. I got a clif bar and vanilla cappuccino and shared a brisket burrito, which reminded me of bbq potato chips, with Brenda.

At eight o’clock I took the wheel. Me, a freshly licensed driver with okay skills.

Miles and miles of sagebrush covered hills passed our sights. I usually dread driving to Montana because I thought Nevada, Utah, and Idaho were the ugliest states in the country. But turns out my eyes weren’t disappointed. The green grass, snow capped mountains, and sagebrush were ruggedly beautiful.

Soon, the little dial was telling me that we should get some gas. Since we’re in the west, it’s not unusual to see a sign that says “next services 95 miles “ so when you find a station, you better fill up. Better safe than stranded.

We pulled into a gas station in Carlin. The pump I chose didn’t accept the card so I went inside as it instructed me. Then apparently I told the guy the wrong pump number, and we had to move the car so we could get the prepaid gas 🤦🏻‍♀️

Oh my, I almost forgot about the plague of insects. When we got to the station, I was slightly frightened by the thousands of red grasshoppers covering the ground. Had I been teleported to Egypt in Moses’ day?

The cashier told me, “There’s nothing we can do, they come every year. They even cause accidents because cars squish them and the juice becomes slippery. So be careful out there.” Nearly all my positive thoughts about Nevada vanished. After we left town, the grasshoppers were scarcely seen. They probably decided to stay off the road because of the sad mortality rate for their families.

I continued to drive, and well let’s just say I need some practice.

I was talking with the ladies and kept forgetting to look at my phone’s gps; henceforth, I missed two exits. Google maps assured me that it would be ok, so I kept trucking. All the while wishing my passengers were asleep so they couldn’t witness this.
I turned onto a rough little backroad and thought, “Well, this doesn’t look familiar.” But on I sped.
Not far into this road, we came upon construction; in the middle of no man’s land. How? I stopped and got out of the car to stretch. The 75 degree sun made me forget for a second that I was on the wrong road.

Finally, the pilot car and his train crawled in. We crept behind it for several miles. It turns out they do fix roads in the middle of Nevada.

I looked at my gps ( I switched to Apple Maps because suddenly I have way more faith in it) One hundred more miles on this two lane highway? Yawn.

Yes, I yawned- no, I didn’t fall asleep. Well I don’t think I did because, praise God, we are still breathing.

Somewhere along the way we crossed the line into Utah. Very few inhabitants did we see, but to my delight: an elk, antelope, pheasant, and more creatures.

At the end of this road, I turned left onto another one that I had to stay in for forty seven miles.

After driving in Idaho for about twenty minutes, we stopped in Malta for gas, food, and restrooms. There was a super cute little cafe across from the gas station, so we dashed over for lunch. I ate a whole six inch turkey sandwich and was it great to eat something “real.”

Brenda drove from then on and I read, found shapes in the clouds, talked, slept, and stared out the window. We arrived in Butte Montana at 7:30 to drop off Keturah, so she could go see her new granddaughter.

I knew Shana was coming to pick her up, but I didn’t tell her I was along. I assumed that she found out on one of her phone calls with her mom, but I guess not.

I ran into the gas station to use the restroom and buy a charger, and was innocently walking out- there was Shana. This happened so quickly that I screamed. Loud. I’m sure the cashiers will be talking about it at dinner tonight.
So I guess she surprised me just as much as I did 🤗🤗 But wow, it was awesome to be able to see and hug her. Even though it was like a whole sixty seconds.

From Butte it was only two and a half hours to our final destination. We saw wildlife grazing on the rolling hills, and gorgeous scenery.

The sunset was absolutely beautiful. The mountains and the orange and pink were so perfect.

By this time we were growing hungry. We assumed that Fairfield would have plenty of options of places to eat.
But when we arrived at ten o’clock, the little this town had to offer was closed. So Gina let us fix some egg sandwiches to satisfy our appetite☺️

They got a cute Airbnb apartment over a little old store on a downtown street. The room I slept in even had a four poster bed!
I’ve always dreamt of living above my own bookstore/coffee shop in a historic downtown with string lights and friendly neighbors. One day 🤞🏼😃

Praise the Lord, we made it here safe and healthy. Even with wrong turns, sleepiness, grasshoppers, and road construction in the midst.
I mean the story would have been boring if everything had been perfect.

Thanks for riding along,