the journey to Montana began mid day tuesday. my adrenaline
was rushing, and i felt like i could drive for hours. we drove all the way to Illinois that night. the first days drive was great. we went through some major
cities, and the mountains. that made the drive really easy. we found a La Quinta Inn that was pet
friendly. i expected this place to be a dump, mostly because it was pet
friendly. how clean could it really be if people are coming in and out with
their pets? well, it was like any other hotel, so i was really impressed. we
were so glad to sleep in a bed because we had been sleeping on an air mattress
at our place for two nights. it was the kind of air mattress that you wake up on the floor in
the morning. Ugh.
the
next morning we got up at 4:30am. just in time to take care of the pets, load
up the car, and catch the 5:00am complimentary breakfast. the drive started out
great passing through St. Louis and seeing the arch that is “the gateway to the
west”. we pulled off a lot at first because i got traveler’s stomach, and MM’s
truck engine light came on. after much debate and many phone calls to local
dealer ships we decided to drive on. i felt better, and MM’s engine light
finally went off (praises). we had a steady pace coming into Kansas, and then
the boredom set in. first, all of the prairie land is beautiful. you wonder how
people live in a place that’s so secluded. before we knew it we were bored out
of our minds, and fighting to stay awake. we finally made it to Colorado where
we found another La Quinta Inn that was gorgeous. we had our bags for the
night, both of the pets, and opened the door to find someone in the bed!!! AH! i was so exhausted i plopped down on the floor right there in front of the
wrong door, and let MM go down stairs to sort things out. my body ached from
sitting all day, so i was thankful for a hot bath and a bed.
we were
still about 11 hours away. we needed rest, so we didn’t get such an early start
this morning. MM wanted to break up the rest of the trip into two more days because
he didn’t think i could make one more long day of driving. after living in an
empty house in Atlanta, being in Florida for four days, going back to the empty
house in Atlanta, packing up the car, driving for two days, and eating fast
food for all of that time (for every meal)-i was ready to be at the Big Sky house with a bed, a
place to call home, and a real meal without the possibility of driving for one
more day (attitude and finger snap *). so, we went on our way through the 2nd most boring state
of Wyoming. the closer we got to that Montana state line the more excited i
got that we were almost there. crossing that line meant we only had four more
hours of driving. i could do that!
so, we did it! we made it to the
house with plenty of day light. on the drive up the mountain we saw elk, mule
deer, and a moose cow with her baby. it was so refreshing. not to mention, the
mountain air is unbelievable. we didn’t even bother unpacking. we showered and
got right into the hot tub. MM was so impressed that i pressed on and made the
drive from Atlanta to Montana in 3 days. i was impressed too, and so glad to be
here in this wild country.
