Old West Vibes

Our very next load took us down a path through Nebraska where we hadn't been before. I'll call it rugged serenity. I could feel a sense of calm out on some of those highways surrounded by jagged mountains, towering pines, and low clouds that were bringing in a storm. This was a very different feeling from O Street in Lincoln where we'd begun this trip. 

So, finally out on the open road out of city limits, we rode on. 

These would become some of my favorite photos. 

We drove in a hushed reverence for what the Lord created and we now got to witness. I must admit, I didn't even know Nebraska had a national forest. We'd gone through a sudden burst of icy wind and pebbles of hail in Alliance a few miles back. Now it seemed more like summer storms brewing just above the trees. Close your eyes and you can almost smell the fresh, piney air. I remarked to Hubs that if I could bottle it up, throw in the smells of hot tar and fresh cut grass, I'd call the perfume Fronteir Woman. 

We eventually pulled into a quaint little town named Chadron, with a very western feel. We drove through part of the area before stopping for the night. The homes were varied in different eras of architecture, but they all seemed to fit together like a pretty painting. Closer to our stop, we watched as a few deer trotted across a Main Street. The remainder of the herd had halted, as if to wave on the waiting vehicles. Instead, all the cars stopped until the timid crew followed one after another, leaping across the road. 

The town was created during days of fur trade, and they depict that in a hand painted scene on their water tank. 

We parked on a slight hill where we could see much of the main highway through town, and just "people watched"  for awhile. Jax played in a stretch of grass next to us until we called him in for supper. As he stretched out on the tank in the bed of the truck, we watched a movie and went to sleep listening to the rain. 

Early the next morning, you guessed it! Before the sun could have a chance to wake us, we had coffee, fuel, and the GPS leading us to our drop in Crawford. 
We meandered through that little town and found the rail yard, where we were unloaded. A little rest area at the edge of town would suffice for us to wait on orders from dispatch for the day. We took a few photos to remember. 

Before too long, we learned of a load to go pick up in Denver. That would require a 4 hour drive with an empty trailer. Off we went. 

At the crossroads of I-80 and I-25, you’ll find Little America Cheyenne. We'd already been in one of the establishments in a more western point of Wyoming. This one also had a nice hotel and resort. That day we just needed fuel, Scooby snacks and ice cream for the little ways left to Denver. Plus we knew we'd be stopping at our beloved Buc-ee's in Johnstown down the road. 

Sometimes Denver traffic is a real Bear. Today was no different. We barely got to the pick up location before they were closing. Thankfully, we loaded up a large pipe, got a tarp on it, and got back out of town much quicker than we'd arrived. We were now making the road trip to Great Falls, Montana. 

We ran into Buc-ee's to grab my usual chunk of pecan fudge, a Scooby snack of lamb chew sticks for Jax, and chips to go with the sandwiches I'd fix in the truck. 

Not to be outdone, Hubs also stopped later to get me a wonderful surprise from A&W. 👇🏻

It's safe to say we don't starve out here on the road! 😆 

Our destination would be Great Falls. We had a lot of gorgeous country to enjoy on our way. By the time we got to town, we were ready for our reset. As luck would have it, we had enough points with our Choice rewards to have a free night. In a suite! So, we spent the weekend admiring Great Falls from our balcony while meal prepping and laundering. 

Jax particularly liked the extra space. 🐶 It felt really good to get stretched out for a couple of days.

With Monday morning came a cool rain. We dropped the load at a gardening shop, and then took a few minutes to grab a few groceries while waiting for our marching orders. Before we could finish our coffee, we were told to head to Missoula, Montana. 

On the outskirts of town, I was humming the song, Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down. Even as I continued the tune in my head,  a sweet sight lured me into a daydream. What was off to my side, I noticed, was a little 2 story house at the end of a tree lined path in the middle of a grazing pasture with several heads of cattle. What a peaceful looking scene, I thought to myself. Then, as if part of the dream, the rain turned to snow flurries as we got closer to the mountain pass we would have to climb. I texted my mom and told her if anyone could find snow in May it would be us!  

On and on we drove through lucious green mountains and fields that leapt right off the landscape into my mind filled with all the things I imagined had happened there.  The lives that had been played out on such a lovely stage.  I even saw some old abandoned homes with little out buildings.  What had these people lived through?  If only we could visit them and hear their stories  

The whole day wrote itself into  the most intoxicating story. We picked up a load of building supplies in Missoula, and ventured on with our journey through these magical places. We looked for wildlife. We talked about the little tourist towns. We saw more abandoned homes. All of this on into Priest River, Idaho. 

I was ready to unpack and never leave. 

In Priest River we had talked to a little shop owner and received permission to pull in behind his store to park overnight.  This was a blessing, because the further into the mountains we got, the fewer options for us and our 40' trailer. We piled out of the truck to roam around a bit, and let Jax have some off leash time. Not far into a thicket of trees, I found the most beautiful rock. I could tell it was a treasure, but Hubs needed some convincing. Even so, he dug around the base of it, revealing a much bigger rock than I'd thought. He lugged it onto the trailer and washed it off. I decided to use it as a canvas for a painted woodsy scene once we got it home. It was my sweet Hubs who then actually said I should start collecting specimens of flowers, grasses, pine cones, any tid bit of nature. This would be the start of my collection. It would be able to tell its own story. 

After we pulled something out of the cooler and had a quick supper, we decided to go inside the shop up front. I was tickled to see huckleberry ice cream, and we got a couple of cones filled with the creamy concoction.  The man behind the counter was more than happy to fill us with all kinds of huckleberry trivia, including giving us a map of when and where to pick our own. His deep freeze was full of bags of these little jewels. What a delightful way to end the day.