The first time Doreen and I got together to plan our trip, it somehow came up that she had never been to Mt. Rushmore. After calculating mileage and available time frame, we determined this would be our initial goal for the trip. We plotted our maps, discussed what we'd need and who would bring what. We were both thinking "what did I get myself into" as we made our plans.
The fateful day arrived and she pulled up in front of my house in this tiny little red car that already looked packed to the hilt. My husband just shook his head as we unloaded and repacked it, again, to include my stuff - wondering if the poor vehicle would withstand the strain. It took inventive organizing but it all fit and with hugs goodbye, we were on the road. We had once, jokingly, said our theme song would be Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" and Doreen threw in a disc and as we cruised out of town, old Willie was wailing in the background.
Less than 4 hours later, as we crossed the border into Montana, I mentioned there was a pretty little road - Hwy 89 - south of Great Falls. It was winding, hilly and very scenic but wouldn't be as fast as I-15 although would still bring us to I-90. I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth when she said "Let's take it." At that moment, our fears about being teamed up with an itinerary "freak" went out the window and we knew this was going to be a good trip.
We stopped in White Sulphur Springs, MT the first night, had supper and played a couple games of pool at a local pub. Back in the room we were looking at the map again and she realized how close we were to Yellowstone National Park. What is that saying....the best laid plans of mice and men ???? The next morning we got up, left town in the wrong direction thanks to me, turned around and headed for Yellowstone. Our new "plan" was not to have one. |
