07-20-09

It was Monday, so we could finally get more LP gas. While in town we took advantage of the cell/internet signal and spent about an hour taking care of business. With life caught up by noon, we decided to go visit Trinity’s brother in Bozeman Montana and pick up her car in Billings a day early.
We packed our back packs, locked up the bus, left it under the watchful eye of Jack and headed to Bozeman.
We took a different road back to the Interstate that went more towards Bozeman.
Highway 78 was a fun drive, hilly, banked curves, and 70mph 2-lanes. Nice small towns. “Like that double-wide?” I said and pointed at a somewhat rundown Crayola blue trailer. It had two hitches, one on each half of the front. It was deliciously tacky. Trinity replied, “I could be happy in a double wide” and we laughed and laughed.
We found the small road, 420 that we were looking for and turned left. The scenery got exquisite; hilly ranch land, with towering rock walls framing a clear flowing mountain stream. Old rickety steel bridges often spanned the gap. As the road went on and on the extremes seemed to grow. The pavement turned to gravel which made us question our route, but we forged on. I said, “At least there are still a lot of homes and cabins around, we know were close to civilization. The road got really bumpy, so we had to go slow. It was hot, dusty and dry. Now there were no buildings around and no cell signal. The road was unbearably bumpy, but we had no choice but to keep going. We came to a fork in the road and decided to scrap the 420 plan and just get to the interstate. We found a roadhouse bar standing all by itself in the middle of nowhere. There was a car or two and a bunch of Harleys were parked in the gravel lot. It was dark inside when we came out from the afternoon sun. There were eight to ten bikers scattered about and one woman behind the bar. All eyes locked on us as we entered and crossed across the floor. The bar tender was very helpful with directions. She asked, “Do you want gravel, or pavement?” The gravel route went back exactly the way we had come. We said, “Pavement” in unison without hesitation.
The pavement route brought us back to Highway 78, full circle back to where we had been almost an hour ago. Neither of us cared. In fact we were thankful. The drive had been so beautiful. It was a blessing we got lost.
We headed to Highway 78 and had a 3 to 4 mile dejavue moment as we re-drove part of it for a second time. “Like that double-wide”, I said and pointed at a somewhat rundown trailer. It had two hitches, one on each half of the front. It was deliciously tacky. Trinity replied, “I could be happy in a double wide” and we laughed and laughed.
It was a long ride to Bozeman. We’d logged 200 miles, 40 extra for getting lost. We easily found Trinity’s brother Jeremy’s house. Their cousin, Jeff lived there too. They were very welcoming. Jeremy is 31, recently divorced, moving out of his house and unemployed, so we had instant insight into each other’s potential mental climate.
They were good guys. We hung out in the back yard. The view was spectacular, mountains surround the town in all directions. They had a perfect view of Sacajawea. The mountain peaks look like her lying on her back. Jeremy had built a mound to stand on and ponder. So we did and the afternoon slipped away.
Jeremy and Jeff had the oldies channel on the radio while they cooked in the kitchen. It was obvious that they listened to it often. At certain points in certain songs they would burst into full on dance moves at the exact same time. They cooked a fabulous meal for us on the neighbors grill. The back yard scene was communal. Neighbors wandered in and out very casually and shared hospitality all day long. We had a raging fire and stayed up late. It was fun to hear all of the childhood stories from the siblings and cousin. I showed Trinity Sacajawea and Bartholamule while we sat by the fire. Sacajawea was real, but Bartholamule I made up.
Before we crashed early in the morning Jeremy sang and played his guitar. I was the only other person in the room. It was like it was my own personal concert. The music truly added to a great vibe.
I slept like a princess that night, even though I was on the floor. The window was open above my head, but there were no bugs so there was no screen. The mountain air was cool and fresh.