July 23, 2010

I've come 350 miles across Montana today, which was not in my plan. I rose early this morning and Jubilee was still so sleepy, I figured we'd log some miles before Montana woke up. It has been a beautiful drive through prairies and along the Yellowstone River. During my last stop for playtime, I met a very sweet teenage boy who had been swimming upstream from us. He floated down and visited with me for almost an hour. When three bikini-clad gals came by with their inner tubes, I was bemused how quickly he abandoned our conversation for an opportunity to flaunt his manhood by running barefoot across the river stones, tossing and skipping rocks, and cannon-balling into the deepest part of the river. He carried out all these activities as if he hadn't noticed the young beauties who were splashing, shrieking, and squealing in their tubes, flaunting their femininity, and equally absorbed in the game of pretending they did not notice a young buck nearby. It was the best entertainment of the day!

I had a BIZARRE experience early this morning, but it was not entertaining. As I drove head-first into a lightning storm, I was exhilarated to watch the glowing streaks across the purple sky. Perfect zig-zag formation! However, in an instant a horrendous explosion occurred right next to me, like a cannon going off, and suddenly splinters of wood rained down on the Motherload. At first I thought someone had shot a flock of birds! then I instantly realized that the lightning had struck the powerpole on the shoulder of the highway! EEEEGADS!!!!!! What a vivid illustration of the tremendous power of lightning, and what a close call! All my hair follicles stood at attention and I shivered for about 3 minutes.

I've pulled over for the night just outside Billings, having lucked into a campsite without a reservation on a Friday night! Montanans are big RV folks, and it proved to be a time-consuming task to find a vacancy.