Eastern Wanderings 2009 - Day 2: Settling Back In

Vital Statistics:

Miles: 725.8, Just inside the Montana border to Dickinson, North Dakota

States traversed: Montana, North Dakota (Montana’s a big state!)

Sign that most made me want to stop: The hotel that advertised “jumping pillows” – sounds interesting!

American custom that needs to be explained to me: The old fellow driving his pickup truck alone with a hand-written “Just married” sign on an 8 ½ x 12 sheet of paper. I’m thinking “Just Married” means something different down here...?

Buffaloes seen: 1

After the eventful Day 1, Day 2 seemed like a breeze! The roads were straight (though Montana had some crappy roads in spots), the sun was shining, and all the stuff stayed in the truck!

By just after noon I had made it to Billings where I had hoped to stop at a small brewpub, that supposedly made a mean peppered Elk burger, for lunch. As I followed my directions I realized I was in the middle of downtown Billings (which really is not too crazy) and was immersed in narrow one way streets, which with a 24ft. Moving truck is not all that fun. After almost getting hit (how do you not see a massive U-Haul truck!) I tried to extricate myself minus the elk burger and got mildly lost. Once I found my way back to the highway, instead of elk burger, it was Arby’s and orange Powerade for me. Though it did allow me to stop at a neat rest stop where I climbed to the top of the bluff and ate lunch.

I also made a quick stop at Teddy Roosevelt National Park in the badlands of North Dakota (where I saw the buffalo) before arriving in Dickinson. I got a cheap hotel that supposedly had wi-fi (if you call 20min of spotty reception wi-fi) and relaxed with some Moose Drool.