The Trip

Well, I've made it to Great Falls, MT!  I'm 158 miles away from the Park Cafe right now, and am sitting in a Starbucks, charging my computer and phone, because I ran out of sun yesterday to charge my solar charger.  My phone not having a charge was not a huge problem, however, the running out of sun thing meant rain.  Lots of rain.  I don't know if I have words to describe how much rain there was.  Because of all this rain, and because I have been taking my time getting to the Park Cafe, I took I-90 West all the way to Butte, MT, and then hopped on I-15 North, through Helena and then to Great Falls.  I-15, I would imagine, is an incredibly beautiful road to drive, if it's sunny and dry outside.  It was neither sunny or dry, or warm for that matter yesterday when I drove I-15.  The speed limit is 75mph, 65mph for trucks, with a minimum of 40mph.  There was so much standing water on the road I was struggling to do 40 at times, as was most everyone else on the road.  At the point when my fingers were beginning to get numb from holding the wheel so tight, and I had been telling myself, it doesn't matter when you get to Great Falls, just get there, and I was having some pretty intense conversation with God at the time too, a rest stop pretty much just popped up out of nowhere.  I pulled off and a semi pulled in a few minutes behind me.  After going inside, the truck driver and I stood outside under the awning for over an hour, just chatting.  He had some amazing stories from his 25 years as a police officer in Oliver, BC, and some crazy stories from his years of truck driving.  We talked until the rain passed, and the standing water on the highway cleared, and the last 40 miles from that rest stop into Great Falls were relatively easy driving.
Aside from the crazy highway travel stories, I've seen some pretty spectacular places on my journey.  On Saturday, I succumbed to the tourist trap that is Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  It was a welcome break from driving, and I went inside, got a vanilla ice cream cone, and had lunch before I got back on the road.  Approaching Rapid City, SD, there were severe thunderstorm warnings for a super cell storm that was producing softball sized hail.  Naturally, I hoped to avoid having my windshield demolished, so I managed to find a way around the storm, and then found my way up to Devil's Tower, in Wyoming.  It is incredibly odd, but magnificent also.  There were vultures flying all around the tower, and seeing them so gracefully rise on the air currents and then dive along the face of the tower was inspiring.  It was one of those moments that makes people want to be able to fly.  I wonder if those birds know how blessed they are to have such an incredible playground!
On Saturday night, I camped in Sheridan, WY, and on Sunday morning, I made my way to Little Bighorn Battlefield.  It is a stretch of Montana wilderness about 6 miles long by 2 miles wide, full of bluffs, steep valleys down to the Little Bighorn River, and it is a place that inspires imagination.  The battle was fought on June 25 and 26 of 1876.  The end of June in Southeast Montana does not sound like an enjoyable time to be living in the wilderness, much less wearing wool uniforms and fighting for your life.  The Native tribes that fought, the Cheyenne, the Arikara, and the Lakota, along with groups from many other tribes, had an encampment established along the banks of the Little Bighorn River, and were in control of the river access, meaning that Custer's troops did not have water.  4 scouts from the Army were awarded the Medal of Honor for running into gunfire from the Indian positions along the river to fetch water for the thirsty troops.  The landscape inspires imagination, and the history of the battle and seeing positions of the Indian Warriors versus Custers troops truly makes one realize that Custer never stood a chance.
My next stop was not planned, but I saw a sign for the Headwaters of the Missouri River.  It was really just a neat experience to have traveled from the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi to the Headwaters, which is where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers converge to form the Missouri.  I met a man and his wife there who were panning for gold along the banks of the Missouri.  He found what looked like a couple ounces!  There truly is gold all across this land, sometimes it just takes a little digging in unexpected places (yeah that's probably going to be a sermon this summer).
After I left the Headwaters State Park, I texted my mom, "Lewis and Clark took 2+ years to get from St. Louis to the Headwaters of the Missouri...it took me 3 days"  She responded, "What do you think they would say?  Progress??"  I don't know what they would say...any thoughts?

I've got just about 3 hours of driving left till I arrive at the Park Cafe.  It's cool and rainy, so it won't be as spectacularly beautiful as it could be...aww shucks right?  It is still immensely beautiful here in Northwest Montana.  I am looking forward to yet another amazing summer living and working and doing ministry in the National Parks.  Pictures are coming from my trip sometime in the next few days!