I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my drive through Big Sky Country!
Montana is a big state. I learned this fact when I was a tween and spent time with relatives in Montana, but it was certainly reconfirmed over the past couple of days as Raffi and I have traveled from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Monday morning through Montana, a snatch of Wyoming, and into South Dakota where we spent the night last night. We’re Brattleboro Bound and Monday and Tuesday were days 3-4 of the eastward journey.
It’s also incredibly gorgeous! And it was fun to listen to Whiskey When We’re Dry on audio, which I found myself pausing occasionally so I could admire the scenery in its entirety. I didn’t take many pictures, but I did pack some of those skies away into memory for safe keeping.
Raffi and I stayed at Linda’s Loft - an attic Airbnb tucked into this little house.
I woke up in Billings, MT yesterday morning in an Airbnb called Linda’s Loft that was a cleverly converted attic. I appreciated how the owner had made good use of the space and added several nice touches. I’m always impressed when an otherwise nondescript house contains a cozy little space like that; it gets my imagination going again about how to do internal conversions of our existing housing stock to create more small homes.
Several of my loved ones have been inquiring about Raffi, curious about how he’s handling the long journey. I’ll admit I was a smidge nervous because even though he’s always been a great traveler he’d never done a road trip longer than a few hours. But as I’d predicted, from all the times we’ve transitioned from one wee abode to the next, if he has me, his blankie, his food, and his box, he’s a happy camper. I discovered when I started working from home seven months ago that he sleeps about 22 hours a day anyhow.
Raffi sleeping through watch duty while I ducked into the grocery store for provisions. He’s a great traveler!
Billings, MT is the farthest east I’d ever travelled by car before yesterday. I’m glad I’m making this journey by car so that I can see more of the U.S. - and adjust to each new time zone as I go! And it’s certainly got me curious about learning more about history and geology. This morning I woke up near Badlands National Park so I’m looking forward to more exploring today!
