Billings to Bismarck

“I really like Montana” has been a frequent refrain from both Mark and me. It’s a beautiful state and we’ve been driving through views of snow capped peaks to rolling hills and farmland. The people in the small towns we’ve stopped in (Hysham & Terry) have been friendly. In fact, when we stopped to fuel up I encountered a group of men playing pinochle and a couple ventured out to check the price of our diesel and chat with Mark. Ahh, small towns. We’ve missed this general sense of hospitality and interest. We also noticed a grade school class out for recess…10 students. Maybe a little too small for me!

How do you keep from going crazy on such a long drive, you ask? We've been alternating between 2 books on mp3: Water for Elephants and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Both have been interesting and fun to listen to and chat about. The first is fiction, the second non. Animal, Vege, etc. has definately made us talk about the kind of place we want to "end up" and how we want to live our lives. Very cool!

Oh, and Murphy has been a great dog for the whole trip, sitting between us and enjoying time out of the truck chasing his ball!

We will spend tonight in Bismarck, ND and head to Minneapolis to visit friends tomorrow!