Home Again

Well I’ve been out of the loop for a bit, mostly because I’ve been driving, and driving, and driving! I just moved back to Montana from Memphis, and yup, that’s right, I drove. I drove a car packed to the hilt with a cat crammed into the passenger seat, almost 2000 miles to get here. That’s about four days of constant driving at 70-80 miles per hour, at least 8 hours a day. That’s a lot of driving and though I complain, I have to admit, flying doesn’t do justice to the vastness of this country. In one day the temperature dropped 20˚F from St. Louis, MO, to Sioux City, SD. I drove from deciduous, steaming forests, through wet flat lands, through dry, golden planes, into the black hills, skirting the Wind River mountain range, across the Crow reservation, into the bluffs and, finally, climbing into the Rocky Mountains. In four days everything changed. I moved from magnolia trees to pine, from crawfish and catfish, to buffalo burgers and rainbow trout. I left the stinking, muddy deltas for the artic blue clear mountain waters. These waters, by the way, are very, very cold. We went out on the boat today, and I decided to knee-board a little since I haven’t in awhile. Ok, water so freezing you can’t catch your breath, but once you’re numb, it’s not too bad. Oh, and I can still jump the wake and turn a 360, good times were had by all. I have pictures of the Gates to the Mountains, (where the boat is docked) but I can’t find the connector to the computer, so I’ll have to work on unpacking the car tomorrow since I know it’s in there…somewhere! Well, I’m going to join my dad on the deck and listen to the last innings of the A’s vs Marlins baseball game. Maybe I’ll have a homemade cookie (my mom’s recipe) and some milk too. Ah, yes, it’s good to be home.