Day 18: Montana

Big Sky Country

When I told you in day 1 about the guy I knew that did the Appalachian trail, one thing that struck me while reading his blog, every day all he had to do was wake up and put one foot in front of the other in order to reach his goal.  It hit me, what a great existence, no meetings, no multi-tasking, no worrying about what you had to get done today, just get up and get going.  I feel the same about this trip, except mine is even easier, just get up and put one wheel in front of the other, set the cruise control and move towards my goal.  Even a week shy of ½ halfway through this trip, I still love the feeling every morning of knowing I just need to get out of bed and get moving towards my goal.  It’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to have this opportunity; that I was able to retire early, that I have a supportive spouse, and that I have the health and desire to do this trip.

Today was a big trip mileage wise, I left Bismarck before the sun came up and headed west.  I stopped at Little Big Horn National Monument. Side note, I bought a National Park Pass 3 days ago, and it’s already paid for itself. The park is where Custer’s last stand happened.  They have a 5-mile drive through the battlefield and places to stop along the way.  A couple of things I noticed, this landscape gives you nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, once the battle began, it was all over.  The other thing, which was really interesting, they put markers where all the solders fell and, significantly, in 1999 put markers where the Indian fighters that perished fell. The Park Service recognized, they needed to provide a balanced account of the battle.  Another thing that stuck me was that Custer was removed from the battlefield and is buried at West Point (See Day 4) and Crazy Horse was a leader at this battle (see Day 16).

Another reason I know this trip fits my style, even after driving 10 hours and 600 miles, as soon as I got to my hotel in Livingston, MT, I dropped by bags and went to check out the town.  Nice little town with good restaurants, beautiful views and nice people.

Song of the Day: Big Sky Country Chris Whitley and Livingston Saturday Night Jimmy Buffett

Podcast: Smartless, today Astro Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson

Book on Tape:  Finished Uncle Tom’s Cabin, started Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee Dee Brown

Beer of the Day:  Dirty Bird IPA Neptune Brewing

Total Miles 600