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Another thing I didn't think about was the bears. It would break my heart if something happened to Marigold because of my not pay attention to the danger involved. I didn't even think of bear spray because it's not needed where I came from or where I've been so far.
I'll have to get some just to have I suppose. I'm not even sure where to get it. Maybe a Ranger Station or would Amazon have it?
Yeah, I wouldn't want to drive those roads in the winter either.
I once drove from Los Angeles to Eugene, OR and it started to snow just before the last pass near the CA/OR border.
A friend of mine from Scotland was was with me, and I let him drive the rest of the way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by happygrrrl
Yeah, I get it. This has been a wet, cool year so far. And last year we had a scorching heat wave, & the whole world is an uncertain mess...so it's hard to plan anything.
The higher costs of everything & so much instability has made everything harder, for sure.
That's the thing. I'm not willing to spend money to be uncomfortable. That's wasteful to me.
I would love to let Marigold out of the car to explore a campground. But not in the rain and not with the bears.
Maybe once we get to North Dakota if there's sunshine, I will stay over at a campground. I know there are free campsites there. Otherwise I'll wait until we get to the farm and Taz will watch over her when she's outside.
Got to a rest area by Bozeman. It started snowing, light at first, then heavily about 20+ miles away. Yet people are still driving.
It's early but I have been driving since first light. I don't want to go any further in this crap. I didn't like driving in it in Minnesota and I certainly don't want to be in it now. I was hoping for a Loves but there's none until close to Billings. No thanks to that drive.
The forecast says it's going to snow until 9am tomorrow. Then what,? Do they plow or?? I don't know if I should go before it gets worse or stay where I'm safe for now.
There are no sleeping signs in both the bathroom and the hallway plus the pop machine has a cage around it.
People are leaving in droves. Do I chance it? I just don't know. Yet, the signs and the caged machine make me feel like this is sketchy. Rats.
There's one in Fergus I think. I'm going to North Dakota, not South Dakota.
Update: I decided not to stay at the sketchy rest area and followed folks back to the freeway. The storm quit or slowed down once I got to a lower level. It was hairy for awhile but once I saw the mass exodus, I knew I wouldn't feel safe there.
Honestly, I've never seen signs with a picture of a person sleeping on the floor and the fact that the pop machine had a locked cage around it, I knew it was time to go.
When I finally got to Billings, Google and I had round about searches. It finally directed me to a 'park' that looks like it's been abandoned. I couldn't believe it and drove around the neighborhood of this small town and a neighbor assured me it was the park.
It has overgrown grass, 2 swings, a slide and a picnic bench, so I guess it classified as a park.
I'm going to go ahead and stay here. I've been on the road since 6:00 am and have had enough excitement for one day.
At least I'm headed in the right direction for Bismarck now. North Dakota, here I come.
Meo, it's too bad that you're passing so close to Yellowstone National Park, but aren't going down for a look.
Be sure to stop by on your next journey!
I pretty much have decided to do a reverse trip in September and hopefully the weather will be better by then. I was tempted to go there but it was so cold and drizzling. After the horrendous drive through the snowstorm, I was fried.
I figure if I do this the first part of September the weather should be much better. Tomorrow I should reach Theodore Roosevelt National Park and plan to stay a day or two.
I drove over 9 hours today under bad conditions. I did not want to experience more cold and rain. And that's my choice.
How much would I have enjoyed it being as stressed out as I was?
As it was I have slept badly for the last two nights and expect more of the same tonight. Once I got to this little town the weather improved. Go figure.
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