Heading North Through a Corner of Wyoming and Montana

Hi ZZ's ---Well, up at 630 and made reservations in Billings for tonight, Havre for tomorrow night. Also double checked our reservation for the red bus tour through Glacier on Sunday, pray for good weather please. Went down to breakfast and thought we might see our new friends but they weren't there. Assumed they were up earlier and on their way East. But Noooo--as we were finishing our coffee they arrived. So, our talking and picture sharing and plan sharing commenced once more. Jean tried to find Barb on FB last night among my friends and even messaged Barb Rich to ask if she was my sister. She told Barb that we weren't friends and then we had a good laugh when we remembered that in a snit I'd unfriended her awhile back. I'd forgotten and so had she. LOL Anyway, the gals were hanging out in Deadwood today--a rainy dreary day. And indeed, we've already gotten messages and pix of their escapades. We in the meantime, after bidding good bye headed to Spearfish, Belle Fouche and on into Wyoming. Let me apologize now for the fact that the pix are duplicated--have no idea why and just didn't want to take the time to cull. Also the two lady pix should have been at the beginning NOT the end of the album. Oh, well, the rest are in order. The roads around the old mining towns are nothing like they were 18 years ago--they are wider and don't pass through the wonderful old streets anymore--so all of the character of the loop through them is gone. Also 212 which was a deserted two lane highway through the Crow reservation etc, has been widened and serves as the main road from Rapid City to Billings particularly for big trucks. That was the case four years ago but now there has been commercial and residential development on a road that once only had a rest stop half way between the towns at Broadus--pronounced B-road-us not broad like wide us. Our first wild life were a herd of antelope which Barb pointed out by saying what are those strange birds. This was soon followed by her pointing out the boots on the fence posts which turned out to be nine buzzards all in a row! We missed the photo ops so we made a U-ee and went back to get them. The antelope were spooked but the buzzards hadn't moved a muscle. I started making up a conversation :; Hey, Clyde, I thought you said this was a good place for breakfast. Yeah, Clyde, its darned cold and wet here, where's the grub? Patience you guys--some dumb bunny or prong-horn has to go out in the road. And one of those two-legged idiots in the zoom machines has to hit it. Then what?/ Well, then, we've got a big, warm, juicy meal all laid out on the road. Oy,vay, Clyde, let's hope we are the diners and not the dinner for something else! Oh, don't get your feathers in a kerfluffle. Heck, no, Clyde, they're the only things keeping me dry--hey, what's that thing that person over there is pointing at us. Don't know but it didn't hurt--keep you eyes out for the next zoomer. Well, on the road went, windshield wipers swishing once in awhile to keep the misty drizzle off and fog and low clouds obscuring the sky. Cold enough to turn on the heat. Still, not a bad driving day. 212 terminates at Crow Agency and Little Big Horn. So, though we've been there more times than I can count we took the spin out into the Battlefield. So peaceful, so impossible to believe the slaughter that took place there and the misplaced confidence of an arrogant leader of the men he got killed. While driving through I took the opportunity to call Bill to check in and get news from home. Nothing much new--he and Bets will get the wood in on Sunday. She has started her second job at Books A Million. All is well with Bill and he knows that Havre is almost in Canada. I forget sometimes that he was out her fighting fires years ago. Got back on the Interstate and proceeded to Billings where we have a large comfortable, dry and warm room for the night. Looks like rain again tomorrow--hopefully not too hard. We are going to travel in a whole new part of Montana to us--hope it is easy to see and explore. Until we make camp for the night then, I'll say goodnight to all. BarbZig and KatZag