Montana
Driving through the state of Montana is always a pleasure. Last year, when I could not enter Yellowstone due to heavy rain and snow, I had to take a detour via Montana. That’s when I first came across the splendid beauty of this state. That’s why this time I decided to spend two days in Montana – a day each at Billings and Missoula. Both these towns are mainly used as large truck stops. They are small and with not much to do in the evening. However, their location makes up for it – they are situated in valleys surrounded by snow-capped mountains (.. although, this year the snow was considerably less compared to last year)
A little bit about the truck stops – They are quite unique in several ways. They are almost like small townships. Besides having huge auto repair and tire shops, each truck stop town has little theatres, casinos etc. for the entertainment of the truckers. The crowd in the hotel or bars is a bit iffy too. The truckers are nice people who are dressed in not-so-clean attire. They give great recommendations on the places to stop by, because they know the roads really well. But you can’t have much of a conversation with them after some time. Or may be its just me. Anyway…
Montana produces lots of wheat and berries. Naturally, there are a number of delis and fruit shops affiliated with the farms and orchards in Montana. I went to one such deli where I had a huckleberry milk shake and a beef chili made with large wheat grains instead of beans. The chili was flavorful! Now, while my tongue enjoyed the mix of various tastes, my stomach did not enjoy the chili overall. Let me not go into further details on what happened next. I took the necessary care and went to bed really early. I also decided not to go for that chili the next morning. I simply got another huckleberry shake for my journey to Seattle the coming day.
I was up early at 4.30 a.m. that morning and went to a nearby truck stop to take some pictures of the sunrise. I had never seen morning colors like this before. Have a look at the pictures below to see how the pink-purple sky changed to light blue during the sunrise.
P.S. I also hit the 100,000th mile on my car when I was leaving Montana. It was a very exciting moment and I had my camera ready. Around the 99999th mile, I carefully pulled over into a vista point next to the freeway and took some pictures of my car’s milestone 🙂
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