North Dakota…Montana…Yaa
Yesterday we came through North Dakota and into the lowlands of Montana. I have looked forward to this part of our journey since we started planning this trip last winter. Wee have entered the West. Yesterday we explored the Badlands in South Dakota, where Tedward Roosevelt himself killed his first buffalo. I experience with Buffalo was just a bit less romanitc, as we spent our time dodging piles of dark and musty poop. We walked (I crawled at one point after falling on my hands and knees) through the mud out to a small plateau where we could get a 360 view of the surroundings. We took in the surroundings a bit, Jess, Meredith, and I froze just a little bit, and William McBroon went running into the wilderness like a gazalle.
We had planned to stay at a small trout farm in Big Timber, MT. Although we ultimately planned to stay there, our cabin fell through and we were resigned to a hotel room. We have seen some very interesting small towns, though where we are now (Billings) is not so great. We stopped in New Salem, ND yesterday and ate lunch at a small dinner. The people had seriously thick accents. The waitress dropped a glass bowl and the manager yelled, “Eh Marg thats comin outta yer paychek, yah? To which she replied, “Ooo yaaa.” I like the people out here and we are accumulating some interesting experiences. Yesterday was the longest drive so far. We crossed halfway through the country—and the continent.
We listened to the audiobook Into the Wild, which tracks the story of that guy who went into the Alaska wilderness and never came out. Listening to the story set a pioneering mood for our trip, though the parallels between the two are admittedly small. It did pass the time though, and got us thinking about how people search for and sometimes find meaning. I also thought about fathers and sons and mothers and sons and how our families and upbringing shape who we are and how we see the world. I started reading Jack Kerouac’s On the Road at the beginning of out trip, mostly because as I was packing I saw it on my bookshelf and decided I should bring it. It was interesting reading his description of pushing West, as the landscape outside my window and the cities that we have visited mirror his imagery and my thoughts mirror some of his own musings. I also brought Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries, Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamozov, a book on British Abolitionism, and a book on Slavery in early colonial America.
Today we head further West past longitudes I have never seen before. Tonight is Spokane, tomorrow is Seattle, and then we go to Vancouver Island.
-a Britt
