3 PM: Talking in Wolf Point...

It's been a long time I spend on US-2 through the state of North Dakota!!!

I'm fascinated to find a town called Palermo here in the nothing-land, way up north of the United States. I have to think of my friend Jamie Rose, that I met at the GMC 2 years ago, and lives on famous Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island. This year she read a poem of hers that she wrote half Italian half in English. She has roots back in Sicily where the capitol-city is Palermo. I have to send her this pictures, just too funny.

Little Italy out here in the prairie of North Dakota...

Maybe that's a relative of hers!!!

And just on the other side of the highway is the "real" america...

Almost 400 miles on US-2 through North Dakota, it starts getting to me, I'm finally back at listening to my chinese lessons and flash-cards so maybe by the time I'm out of here I can order some food in a chinese restaurant, but more likely not... yet!!!

Views out of the driver-side window are as exciting as this...

North Dakota at 60 miles per hour... It's time for a change of scenery!!!

It's time to feel another road. Just past the town of Ross is a dirt-road that gets me to ND-1804, I turn south on it. Ahh, now that's the feeling I need right now, a good old dirt-road, a washboard at times but other than that it's just another road that is missing its final coat. Once I'm back on a paved road, the ND-1804, I cross the White Earth River that feeds into this Reservoir. It is part of the Missouri River, but here its called lake Skakawea.

A new way of directions...

Then back on paved ND-1804, where the road is curvy and fields are circular!!!

I see a sign that positively gives me a new inspiration...

I'm ready for another cup od hot brown water with a big slice of local flavor!!!

I turn of the road and drive down a canyon to get to Lake Sakakawea, there I find a place called Lund's Landing. Lake Sakakawea is a reservoir in the Missouri River basin in western North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Sakakawea. And the Pie is awesome, even though no more pure June-Berry only mixed kind of pies. I try the one with rhubarb, and it is most delicious. I sit there on the porch of this little resort kind of cafe and listen in to other peoples conversations, but it is kind of funny to be sitting there all alone, and so I don't have to full experience other than eating a mouthwatering good pie with ice-cream melting on it. It's time to pay and move on.

The landscape here is beautiful, canyons, buttes and cattle...

Next thing after this curvy road, there is this 6.5 mile long stretch of road, form one top to the next...

First looking West, and then at the other end looking back to the East!!!

And then to top things off... a fence as far as you could see with all the fence-posts having a boot stuck on top of it...

I'd call them some fenc-y-boots!!!

I went nuts with taking pictures of these boots, all kinds of them, even some skating-boots are stuck on top of these posts, what an art-project, executed by some farmer who's had it with replacing the split fence-posts because of the weather, he figured a different way. LOVED IT!!!
Shortly after that ND-1804 puts me back onto US-2 right in the town of Williston, the last town in this state on this road!!!

Williston, not the most exciting city in North Dakota, but sure the last one before Montana...

It's six thirty-five when I get into the State of Montana, that saved me a full hour because now I'm in Mountain Time. The trip milage is 8807 miles since I left Berkeley on April 2nd.

MONTANA the "Big Sky Country"

Now Montana is another huge state to cross, specially high up north where the state is the widest. It's a 22 mile drive just to get to the first town, here is the Welcome Center and I have to get a map and some info on camping.

Crossing over into the State of Montana, to get to the Visitor Center 22 miles away...

This place is also a museum, and a few cool things are floating around in the wind!!!

The weather is definitely changing on me, the further I drive the more I thing it might be smarter to find a Motel for tonight instead of camping out and this storm that is building up is gonna get me soaked.

Changing weather as I drive along advise me to find a Motel instead of camping out...

By the time I roll into the town of Wolf Point I know for sure that it is a smart thing to spend the night inside a place with a solid roof. Shortly before I got here I was talking with Eva, my neighbor back in Berkeley, I had to tell her how the weather is so alive here, wind, some rain, then the sun is blinding me again in the western sky, a rainbow, then two rainbows, and you can tell it is raining in about 4 places around me, just beautiful and impossible to capture by camera or with words, you have to see it yourself!!!
Now for the longest time I've been driving through a Indian Reservation of the Fort Peck Tribes. I filled up with gas in the town of Poplar, here the gas cost me 2.719 per gallon and I needed almost 9 gallons, and some more oil too, what can I say, this car is getting old, but still most reliable. All the people hanging around and in the gas-station seemed to be natives, and maybe I heard a snipped of a different tongue being spoken by some older guy over there eating some fried chicken he just bought. The place was colorful and had a unique feeling to it. I should have hang around here for some time and maybe could have ended up at some dance or some like that, but NO, I have to get going.

It's almost eight o'clock and I've driven 350 miles today, it's time to check into a motel...

The sky is black form the storm-clouds moving in fast, I get across the street for something to eat!!!

I check into the Homestead Inn, pay 52 Dollars and 43 cents and move into a downstairs room, open the window with a intact screen to protect for the luring mosquitos outside and watch the lightning and listen to the rumble of the thunder, then it start raining, coming down in buckets, the wind blowing hard so that I have to close the window again in order to stay dry inside. I get some work done on this blog and are completely exhausted for the many days of driving. It's time to rest!!!

Sunday, June 21st the day after!!!

I get up in the morning and get back to work more on the computer. I have to catch-up with this blog, I'm many days behind. While doing that I prepare a bowl of muessly and some tea. The weather looks crappy, cloudy and maybe some more rain. After some time I decide that it might be a good idea to spend a day here, write and editing pictures, relax and plan ahead for the next adventures. I'm e-mailing and talking with Michael Downs, the newly wed husband of Juniper who's wedding I went to in late May. He is from Montana and has some great advise on where to go and what to see, also lots of friends and family since he grew up near Missoula.
Time is already flying by and I better go up to the office and pay for another night. I love it, not to sit in the car and drive another day. Instead, in the afternoon I'm going for a walk around town. The weather has improved and I'm ready to get some movement into my body.

A little walk around town...