Billings, MT

Here we are in Billings, Montana after a straight line drive from Fargo, ND.  Where's the automatic pilot when you need it!

We missed blogging yesterday and I know you all are dying to know what we did and where we went - yeah right!  Anyway, it was a day of doing errands.  I took the Red Baron to a local Chevrolet dealer for an oil change and lube.  We're still under the warranty, so it's free (always a good thing).  Vi and Melanie went to Fargo, did some shopping, and then met Michelle and Karen for coffee.

After a great dinner of northern pike and Carly's alfredo pasta, we went to Celsey's final summer league basketball game.  I had never seen Celsey play and was amazed at how talented she was.  Here's this "delicate" little blonde running back and forth, shooting three-pointers, and just being a great player.  Obviously, it was recognized because she got the All-Star award for the summer league for the second year in a row.

Friday morning we checked out of Ken and Melanie's and stopped by Michelle's to say hello to Adrian.  He had been in Seattle for the week, so we never got a chance to see him while we were in North Dakota.  Visited for a while and then headed west on I-94 toward home.  Great weather for our trip and it's always fun driving through North Dakota and Montana.  Beautiful country - we just need that auto-pilot - that way we can catch up on our sleep and still make time :-)

The drive through Montana gave credence to the Big Sky moniker for Montana.  I-94 in Montana follows the Yellowstone River and is an awesome drive through farmland, cattle rangeland, and wide open prairie.  Looks like it was pretty drive because some of the feeder rivers into Yellowstone River, like Powder River, were almost dry.

We were going to try to make it home in two days, but decided to stop in Billings and then make another stop somewhere along the line heading toward Reno.  We are staying in a Best Western in downtown Billings and found a neat pub across the street to have a drink.  They had a terrific band (Slender Ribs), but while we were there, they were only practicing for a later performance at 9:00 p.m.  Great music, even it was only practice.  We later walked down the street and had "dinner" at a local tapa's place.

Tomorrow we're heading down to Bozeman and then into Idaho, probably staying at Twin Falls, ID before driving home on Sunday to Reno.