07-21-09

I woke on the floor, rolled over and immediately grabbed my laptop. I wanted to charge it and -especially wanted take advantage of the internet signal to download some big pod casts. I let it download all morning.
We went on a drive with Jeffery to Manhattan Montana and then he took us to the hot springs spa. It has an indoor and outdoor pool, seven different Jacuzzis of varying temperature from way too cold to way too hot, plus two saunas, one wet and one dry. It all sits atop a hot spring and uses the water and heat naturally from it. It was an amazingly relaxing and cleansing experience.
Before we left Jeremy bought us lunch at Café Fresco, a delightful Italian deli with outdoor seating.
Well rested, relaxed and fed we headed for Billings to pick up Trinity’s car.
It was a long but pleasant drive. We were getting close when we did a way overdue time check. It was 5:30. They close at 6:00. We were about 30 miles away and surprised to find out that we’re cutting it close. I sped up to about 80mph. It had to put my foot into it. That’s about all I could get out of my Jeep going into a strong wind in the heat, on the hills. If we didn’t get the car, then we would most likely have to drive back to Red lodge tonight, an hour away, and then back again another hour tomorrow. This trip had been way longer that we had anticipated and we were all (Sebastian too) getting tired of riding in the car.
Time check; 5:43, 21 miles to go, it was still going to be tight. I pushed the Jeep to as fast as it would go up and down the big hills. She called to try to let them know we’re coming, but no one answered.
We hit the Exit 446 at about 5 minutes to 6:00. Archie Cochrane Ford was only a couple of blocks off of the interstate. As we rounded the corner the place looked baron, but then noticed the garage doors weren’t totally closed, they were 6 inches off of the ground. I stopped and she ran over. We made it. Just in time.
We took a break, and then headed back to Red Lodge, Finally everything would be together.
It was great to be back home on the mountain. We had a great sense of accomplishment and unwound before bed listening to Trinity’s band, “Sister Gin”. I was very impressed and glad she shared it with me. I was relieved that it was good, so I could be sincere with my compliments. Between meeting her brother and cousin, getting lost in the car and hearing music and lyrics she wrote I was quickly learning what made her tick.