trip!

Here i am in Bozeman Montana--yes folks, in case you were wondering, i did not fall off the edge of the globe last Tuesday. We've been in Yelowstone, the Grand Tetons, all over Wyoming, and now MT.

We're driving of course. that can be very interesting, as it involves daily shuffling of stuff to and fro. then we either camp or spend the night in hotel, depending on weather.
this is the first time i've managed to get near a computer for more than a few minutes at a time!
last night was spent just outside of Billings MT. tolerable campsite, near a river, but the town was dreadful, very run-down looking, an oil-refinery, lots of homeless people, so many empty buildings.
and there was a certain amount of precipitation in the atmosphere too.

tonight we were waiting out the thunderstorm in Barnes and Noble bookstore [love that place] and as i was standing there reading, this old guy comes up to me and starts talking. about 60 probably, white hair, portly, seemed slightly vague in his speech. commented on my golden hair [ha--haaa! to my mom who says it's gone red after the latest henna treatment]. said he was a songwriter, going down to Tennessee with his song, the traditional Western-type about a girl with golden hair, and summer days gone by. quoted a few lines.
i was meanwhile smiling politely but getting nervous, and slowly bringing my elbow up into defensive range [I took that self defense class a while back, you know]. but he went off harmlessly after a bit.

randomnity! lol

We spent Independence Day in Cody WY. splendid parade in the morning, very hometown-ish. and highly patriotic. good firework show too, better than my town.

i could really get used to the western mind-set out here. i come from Oregon, a highly liberal sort of place. while that has its perks [ROCKIN' HEALTHFOOD STORES! for one], this is super...in some ways.... big trucks [which i detest in the ole hometown because you KNOW the owners are "putting on", but are cool here because you know they really DO ranch, and have to haul haybales and cattle and such; lots of Western wear [which is fab] and as for hats, wel, everyone wears a Stetson!; not ashamed to smoke and drink [which I'm not so keen on!]; wide open space; yee-haw!

it was pretty hard to find good food in WY. Jackson Hole was okay, but in Cody, well, people just gave you a blank stare if you asked for organic.
Montana is beter so far...imagine our excitement at finding a HUGE natural-foods store here in Bozeman, and it's not a Whole Foods either...a co-op.

sadly my lovely new iPod's battery is dead. we've tried to charge it at a few public computers, but no-go---USB outlets aren't hi-speed, it seems. not happy!!

my dad came very close to buying a western hat in Cody...i did buy a really splendid knife--Kershaw flick-opener. sweet.

must run...excuse sp. errors lol