krista@Travelintoxication.com
Road Trip Day 4
Started off with continental breakfast at the Lexington Hotel. Was pretty good. Ate something I thought was a lemon pancake…nope, it was some sort of egg patty. Weird.
Once we were in Ron Burgandy traveling towards Gillette I saw that my mom posted something on my wall on Facebook. Here is what it said:
I urge you to travel.
As far and as much as possible.
Work ridiculous shifts to save your money.
Go without the latest iPhone.
Throw yourself out of your comfort zone.
Find out how other people live and realize that the world is a much bigger place than the town you live in.
And when you come home, home may still be the same, and yes you may go back to the same old job, but something in your mind will have changed.
And trust me, that changes everything.
Very fitting for our trip…thanks Mom!
Earlier while loading up Ron Burgandy we noticed that we were low on water, squirt and vodka (the important things), so we went to Costco. Luckily Dana and Beth both brought their Costco cards on the trip. They do not sell liquor except in state stores in Montana…luckily for us we stopped at a gas station / liquor store in Hardin Montana…bought a bottle of Louis and Clark Vodka. We haven’t tried it yet. But I’m sure it will be soon that we break open that bottle. Vodka and Squirt is my all time favorite drink now…especially for day drinking.
We arrived at Little Big Horn at 11:30 am. it was amazing and humbling. What the early settlers did to the Native Americans back then was atrocious and sickening. Some of the sayings that were quoted from either side back then are very telling about what the media is trying to do to us…divide us. We are all human and on the same planet dammit. Let’s try to be compassionate and empathetic to others.
We drove thru the park and we stopped to visit with some horses. I don’t think they were wild, but they were beautiful!
On our way back to the Highway Dana yelled to stop. Sitting in the middle of our lane was a little groundhog. We stopped and let him cross the road safely. Once on the side of the road the little groundhog sat up, looked over at us and clapped his little hands. It was amazing.
We crossed the Montana / Wyoming border at 1:15 pm. As we crossed into Wyoming Beth says, “The scenery makes me happy”. I reply, “or its the vodka”. Maybe it’s both, but I’m always trying to keep it real.
At 2:49 pm we stop at a roadside bar in Ranchester Wyoming. People were sitting outside the little bar, very friendly, and once in, we saw a little boy sitting at one of the tables. The other tables were taken so we asked if we could sit with him. He said we could. He was only six years old, and his dad was sitting at the bar. Something we don’t see very much.
We had more drinks, and they even let Beth and I keep our glasses…girls get away with things in bars. Met a nice guy sitting at the bar, Eric. Gave him one of my bumper stickers and my phone number. He works at the oil fields, divorced and has four daughters…real America right there.
As we were traveling down the highway I got very nostalgic and was thinking about all the people back home and how much I love them. I wasn’t home sick, I was just realizing that there are people in my life that absolutely get me, that I can rely on to always be real with me without being cruel. Some of them I don’t necessarily talk to everyday, but if I pick up the phone and call or text them, they answer. And it’s the same with them. If they need me, I’m there. Those are the things that are important in life right there. I have always known that, but traveling these last four days has really hit it home for me. And the vodka helps too.
We decided to stay in Gillette as it was getting late. We found the Artbuckle hotel in Gillette Wyoming. Nice hotel in the middle of nowhere. Only $109 a night…about $30 each for the night…score! We made it to our hotel at 5:00 pm. They offered free dinner, a definite good sign, it was my favorite dish…scalloped potatoes. AND, they had the ham separate from the potatoes. I was a happy girl.
Once we finished dinner we decided to cruise around town. We saw antelope by the road, drove through a drive-thru liquor store (ingenious) and we saw a storm coming in that I had nothing to do with.
We headed back to the hotel at dusk after witnessing a beautiful sunset on one side of us, and a full moon on the other. All was right with the world.
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Ohio has had drive through beer and wine for at least 60 years. But not liquor I think now that may have changed don’t know. Keep having fun and.Roll On!