The Drive to-Bozeman-August 5, 2016

Leaving early when driving west has been our habit for a few years now. Back in 2009, our first trip out to Astoria, OR. to see Caitlin, we drove straight through to Yakima, WA.But we were driving our car, easier that an RV.  Driving the Rialta enables us to pull over in a Wayside rest, pull shades and tuck ourselves into the bed in about 10 minutes, if we need to. Pat loves to drive, so we started on the road at 4am. arriving in Fargo/Moorhead at 7am. Traveling west, this stretch of North Dakota enables passengers views of fields of sunflowers. The heads of the sunflowers are facing east. And as the sun rises, so do the faces of the sunflowers. Beautiful really. There was a hint of fall in the air and this was confirmed with pelicans  flying low and in formation over the wetlands and prairie lakes. The grasslands are beautiful along this stretch of I94, sky touching the slight sloping greenery.

Its always interesting to view the local towns' sculptures attempting to entice travelers into their towns. It never works for drivers like Pat. He is an animal when he drives this road, hyper focused to make it across North Dakota in the shortest time possible, faster than his last trip. It will be a feat to convince him to relax and let the Rialta determine its optimum speed. Let the pavement and the whine of the tires set our pace. Clearly the irony of this time frame is determined by traveling west. As soon as you pass Beach, North Dakota, time changes from Central to Mountain Time zone. So then you get to relive the previous hour! Tick Tock.
Our first gas stop in Montana usually ends up in Miles City. It's not scenic at all, unless you like deserty foothills, but it marks the beginning of the Montana lifestyle. I choose to scan for Pronghorn sheep speeding across the crevices from one shade patch to a hillside for some scruffy vegetation.If only I could obtain one of their black horns, confirming I really saw one! What an artifact that would be.  I also look forward to crossing the Yellowstone River, replaying imagery of what it would be like to kayak the waterway for a day.

I remember clearly listening to Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose on a cassette tape and reading the book aloud as we drove this path for the first time back in 1997. It's the adventure of Lewis and Clark's exhibition west, Sacajawea guiding them along the river. A journal and mapping of their adventure. How fascinating it would be to chart a map by waterway landmarks.

Little did I know the significance of this first trip west in 1997 would have on my family.