road trip: part one

My rental car at the campground in Cut Bank, Montana

The river my campsite was on in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND

Bison blocking the road in TRNP

Wild horses in TRNP

Miles and miles of train on 200S N in Montana

My view for most of the 1100 miles, lots and lots of fields.

North Dakota Bad Lands. A welcome site after one day of almost 600 miles driving through farms.

I am sitting in a Mc Donalds in Cut Bank, Montana. I am about 50 or so miles from Glacier National park. It is still early here, and I am clean, and got a full night of sleep last night, so I am a happy camper!

I'm sure some of you know, but there was a little trouble with my car just west of the Twin Cites. There is a valve that needs to be replaced and will take a week to come in. I couldn't drive my car, so I had to figure out what I was going to do.

I called my friend Samara who lives in the Suburbs of Minneapolis and she was wonderful and rushed right over to pick me up and gave me a bed to sleep in that night while I figured out what to do. I needed to rent a car, but there is a little trouble with that when you don't have a credit card.

But, after about a million phone calls to my dad and after trying every possible thing to get a car, I finally got one and was on my way on Saturday about 1pm.

I drove and drove and drove about 600 miles that day and finally made to Theodore Roosevelt National Park just as the sun was setting. The scenery was just what I needed to restore my faith in the trip.

I got one of the last campsites, set up my tent, made some mac and cheese, had a beer, read, journaled, and then tried to go to bed. That did not work out so well and I was up at 5am the next morning when the sun rose.

But I didn't care, I enjoyed it. I made two batches of coffee, read my book and tore down my campsite.

A nice couple offered me breakfast and I just couldn't refuse. When i asked her what we were having she said steak, eggs, and potatoes. I thought it sounded like heaven! She told me that she was afraid I was a vegan, she said it was because of my car, my nose ring, and because i was camping alone. Crack me up I thought it was hilarious.

After breakfast I took the scenic route out and saw a ton of prairie dogs, bison, and wilds horses. I got back on the highway and headed North west. After I was on US 2, I had planned to find a campsite and call it an early day. But there weren't any campsites. I finally found a place in Cut Bank. They had showers, a TV lounge room, and lots of traffic to lull me to sleep.

This morning I am clean and ready to head out on the road!  I can't wait to get to Glacier. I will post again when i find some internet!

p.s. if you click on the pictures they should get a little bigger.

Jason has 3 new updates

www.mybrokenclock.blogspot.com

going "naked"

Being on my own these last couple of weeks has made me realize a few things about myself.

The most obvious one is that I am really messy. Seriously I'm not sure if I've always been this way or if I've just repressed the slob urges all of these years. I'm afraid of what my house will look like if I actually "let go!"  So, I'm just going to do it here and there and pick up whenever I can.

I have also realized that I am a scatter brain. Okay I'm pretty sure that I have known that for a long time, but for some reason, not having jason around has made me even more so. It's possibly because I feel lost without him, or because I feel like I'm purgatory waiting for my sentence of 3 more weeks of school to be over so I can join my husband on the road.

I've also realized about myself that I don't really enjoy wearing makeup all that much. I don't know why I decided to try and "go naked," but I did and honestly it feels great!  I think what I am trying to do is to look at myself, really look and make sure that I know that I am beautiful just the way I am. I think makeup is a great thing and I'm not giving it up entirely, but I have spent probably more than half my life trying to make myself look older, or prettier, or make my eyes sexier, or impress someone other than myself. I'm pretty sure I did a disservice to myself my never actually taking the time to look in the mirror with out the mask and think...yeah you're beautiful! So i am going naked (at least while I still have a tan...a girl's gotta have a little vanity...it's only healthy!)

The really important thing I realized though is that I really miss my husband. It took almost a week (gasp) to kinda freak out and realize that I wasn't going to see him for a month. Really a month. What was I thinking? It has been great though, I think it is always wise to take a little time out to make you realize just how much you need the other person.  Whoever said that absence makes the heart grow fonder knew what they were talking about.  Only two more weeks to go!  I can't wait to get to LA!!  California here i come! (p.s. If you do not know what I am talking about....let me know)

summer

It finally happened!  Summer finally arrived in Marquette.

The lilacs are finally blooming, and the tulips in my yard just died.

I have been keeping the doors and windows open all of the time.

I've been keeping  busy while Jason is gone.

But I can't wait to be on my way. Only a little over a week left!

I included pictures from a few things.

These first two are from the sun rise I watched the other morning when I couldn't sleep.

These are from a hike in Big Bay on the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve to see a couple of water falls.

These are from Memorial Day. We had a great cookout and a ton of kiddies around. I loved it!

oh how i love the fog

Click HERE to get an update from Jason about his train trip.