They Left the Light On!

It was a debate as to whether I should leave today or wait until tomorrow for better road conditions.  We had to cancel our trip to Billings, MT yesterday due to hazardous road conditions from snow, freezing rain and blowing winds. None of us really wanted to drive into snow nor over some of the passes between Billings and Broadus that were already snow compacted from previous snows. 

As it was the roads were snow compacted and icier than I really preferred but what made me really pause and wonder if I wanted to continue driving was meeting the snow plow only a mile or two out of Broadus.  After my 'adventure' with one on the way to Montana it was more than a little ironic that I would encounter a snow plow almost right away.  But fortunately this plow was going the opposite direction than I was so I wouldn't have to follow it worrying about a snow cloud engulfing me so I continued on my way.

I traveled slowly for a good 60 miles barely reaching 45 mph but I'm sure I was being a little overly cautious but it did allow me to pay closer attention to the scenery and wildlife as I went.  I spied several bald eagles and was able to stop quick enough to get a couple of pictures of one.  It isn't an awesome picture but one can see how bright and blue the skies were today.  Someday I'll capture that one picture of a bald eagle in the wild that will be breathtaking (at least for me)!

A great variety of wildlife were out enjoying the gorgeous day and I spied a herd of antelope amidst round hay bales in a field.  The bales are about 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide so the pronghorn antelope you can see are small creatures.

It is now getting late into the evening and actually past midnight as I sit next to the heater in my Motel 6 room in Mitchell, South Dakota.  It is below 0 degrees F with the wind chills and I am missing the more moderate temps of Montana already and, more importantly, my brother and his family.

I stayed at a Motel 6 in Wall, South Dakota on the way out to Montana & spied one coming back when I had begun to tire of the long drive between Montana and home.  Nothing all that special about the motel but I did find it quite ironic and a bit humorous that I was assigned room 104 without specifically requesting a specific room both times now.  Makes one wonder if the number 104 has some significance for me?  Guess I will just have to ponder this in my dreams.

Just Another Day

I think for most of my life I have been enamored with the ‘cowboy way’ of living but it was my brother and not me who followed through and has been ranching for what seems like forever.  He’s been in southeast Montana for going on 40 years so I have made my fair share of trips out to visit and even worked one summer on the ranch back in 1985 helping hay…one of several years that saw a heavy grasshopper infestation.  Never was very fond of the bug and after that summer an even deeper dislike for the ‘hopper’ was instilled in me as they were everywhere one stepped. 

But this visit it is snow and not a ‘hopper’ to be seen anywhere. For the past few days we have seen rain/sleet/snow/wind and yesterday was no exception going to the ranch and a very poor time for the 4 wheel drive wires to disconnect on the truck as the snow had been melting and running over top the ice accumulation and several inches of snow had fallen on top of that so driving was somewhat difficult but I was just along for the ride.

The cattle were happy to see my brother drive up with their breakfast of cake and later hay and I snapped a few pictures of the snowy creatures.  They didn’t seem any worse for the wear and I imagine this was a fairly typical occurrence for them to have snow and icicles hanging off them during a Montana winter.  Despite the 4 wheel drive not working my brother was able to get all the cattle fed and happily content at the Daley Ranch where he is wintering part of his stock.  Just another day in the life of a cowboy.

Celebrating a Heritage

The day was absolutely gorgeous once the sun decided to appear and the snow glistened as if there were tiny diamonds imbedded in the drifts as I set off for my last few hours of driving to southeast Montana.  The sun warmed the roads up and what snow/ice had accumulated had had a great start in melting by the time I hit the Montana border so there were few worries and definitely no scares like I had had the previous day in Minnesota.  Even so the memories of that event had stuck with me and I was happy to travel at a moderate pace plus once you hit the Montana border you started to see gorgeous vistas appear in front of you each time you crested the next hill that were definitely cause to travel at a more leisure pace.  Though I didn’t take the time to stop I did manage to get a few satisfactory pictures through the front window of the truck which showed some of the vastness and beauty of the countryside like in the picture above.

Not far into Montana as I crested a hill I saw before me a state highway patrol vehicle with lights flashing and in front of it was a school bus.   Not sure what was going on I waited and when the semi tractor trailer in front of me eased around I could see some students getting off and some getting back on the bus as it crawled slowly down the highway.  Of course I grabbed my camera and took a few shots not knowing what I was seeing.  Finally finding a space to ease around the bus I passed and as I topped a hill I saw a van pulled over that had obviously been decorated by kids so I decided to stop. 

The older gentleman driving a van full of high school students seemed pleased that someone would stop and take the time to ask what was going on and with great pride proceeded to tell me about how these young adults (high school age) from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation at Lame Deer, MT had been running through 4 states commemorating the forced march of their ancestors in the 1800s along the route that Highway 212 ran in Montana which, since  2007, has been dually called the Warrior Trail.

 As the bus slowly approached two new runners emerged from the van getting ready to take their places in the relay.  I asked how long a distance they would run and the one young man, with a cocky grin on his face, stated they were the best runners and would run until the van stopped for them and then chuckled to himself.  I am not sure just how many miles each of those young runners accumulated over the days it took them to run through 4 states but I commend each and every one of them for their endeavors and commemoration of their heritage.  If only more of us took notice and celebrated our heritage.

Not wanting to interfere with the exchange I quickly got into my truck and headed out ahead of the group glad that I had stopped and taken a bit of time to ask.  As the miles increased between me and them I came to yet another hill top and knew I was within 15 miles of Broadus as the Nisley Buttes as they are called loomed on the horizon in all their glory.  Years ago my oldest brother had worked for the owner of the Nisley Ranch and I did get to go partway up the backside of one of the buttes but never ventured to the top.  I can only imagine the vistas that can be seen from these but I will probably never know though I did have the good fortune when I was 16 to fly in a two seater Cub airplane over the vast ranges of the ranch which was something like 30,000 acres.  But my first flight in an airplane is another story for another time…for now I was almost to my Montana ‘home.’