Movin' On Down the Road

This will be another quick update, as we're getting ready to hit the road again in the morning.

Approaching storm at Escapade in Gillette

We left Gillette on Friday morning about 9am. With Bozeman MT in our sights, and since it was looking like a good driving day, I thought we'd be able to complete the 380 miles with plenty of reserve energy left to enjoy dinner with my brother... a denizen of the fine city of Bozeman. We made good time and the drive was quite agreeable until we turned due west near Billings... and ran smack dab into a 30 - 40 mph gusty headwind. I had drawn the straw to drive this leg and by the time we made Bozeman, some three hours later... well, lets just say it was time to relax.

Update on the windshield crack I attempted to stop the other day:  The cross-scoring of the crack with a glass cutter idea failed completely. As we drove against that strong headwind today we could see the crack growing as the big sheet of glass held back the almost 100 mph combined wind speed. At this point we're resigned to the inevitable new windshield and hope we can make it all the way to Portland, where we'll be parked for a month, before starting that project.

We've been at Sunrise Campground on the east side of Bozeman and had two very enjoyable dinners with my brother Bill. He's an Assistant Professor at Montana State and just kicked off the new semester a week ago... which means he's swamped. Despite it all, he made time for us both nights and we certainly appreciated his consideration and good conversation. We won't see him now until next summer back in Wisconsin. Thanks Bill... we thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

As I mentioned earlier, we're back on the road tomorrow, Sunday, and will probably alight somewhere near Missoula. Tune in tomorrow for another episode in the continuing adventures.