Missoula, MT

Drove from Rapid City, SD to Missoula, MT today - 716 miles. We've been doing some pretty hard-core driving the past few days! Tomorrow will be an easy 475 miles to Seattle, so we'll have plenty of time to hang around here in the morning. I think I should wash the car, because Monk has expressed some concern about how many bugs are plastered to the front. The collection included a live, twitching hornet at the last gas station we stopped at to clean off the windshield. An hour later you couldn't even tell we'd cleaned it..




We're staying at Gibson Mansion, which is really nice - way nicer than I thought it would be, and I was expecting it to be quite nice already. The owner, Tom, showed us around and it sounds like we'll be having a really tasty breakfast tomorrow! The place is a really nice old restored house with beautiful grounds and snacks laying all over the place. YUM - my kind of B&B! I took some pictures, which I will post to flickr later. I will also report back on breakfast! But I would definitely recommend the place if anyone is in the area. As you can see from this post, free wireless is provided ;)

Last night we stayed at the Coyote Blues B&B near Rapid City, SD. We stayed there on the way to Maine, but in a different room. The weather was nicer this time, so we had breakfast outside. The owners are Swiss, apparently, and they serve a great breakfast: muesli and yogurt/fruit, juice, coffee, delicious breads, a cheese and fruit platter, a meat tray, and something hot (fritatta this time, scrambled eggs last time). It's definitely an awesome breakfast! I was weirded out by their olives, which are sweet - like they were brined in a sweet pickle brine! They're good, but different.

Ray's Bucktown B&B has delicious breakfast

OK, I can finally smell/taste a little, and breakfast this morning was super tasty. I got a HUGE greek omelet, bacon, and breakfast potatoes and Monk had an omelet and turkey bacon (sucker! That's not real bacon :) which he loved. They also had fruit and pastries for everyone to share. And coffee, of course. I like the idea of having a menu that people can order off of.

I think I'm going to go downstairs and use the steam room - it might help me rid myself of the last of this stupid cold. I think I got my money's worth of tissues at this place, though - I finished off 2 boxes. :\

The bed here is very comfy! We'll probably take off around noon and head for Cleveland. Streets & Trips says we will get there around 5:30 if we leave here at noon. It might be later depending on if we stop for food (which I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't, since I can barely taste anything! Boo.)

Grumpy Troll Brewpub

In a couple of days, we'll be driving through Iowa and Wisconsin on our way to Chicago. Along the way is the Grumpy Troll Brewpub. I asked Monk if he wants to go (we'll probably be mostly out of food at that point) but I think the fact that they have a beer called "Monk Sweat Belgian-style Golden Ale" sealed the deal.

"Short" day

Drove from Helena, MT to Rapid City, SD today. We left around 9AM (keeping with the hour late trend) and arrived at Coyote Blues B&B at 6. We're also staying here on the way back (but in a different room). They apparently have 2 cats, who I should go upstairs and meet. But first we're sitting in our room, being antisocial for a while. (What!? We're from Seattle...)

Breakfast this morning was delicious, if cheeeeeesy - a cheese and veggie omelet with fruit and a warm slice of rhubarb bread. Mmm. With OJ and coffee, plus a mug of coffee to go for me.

My car's engine took a few seconds to start - I don't know if it's this dumb 91-octane gas (Seattle 'super' is 92) or the crappy Montana gas (no Chevron, no Shell, not even a Mobil or Exxon, my last-resort gas choices. Yes, I'm a savvy consumer...) sold at the stations with the dinosaur logo. Though I do like the fact that they're selling something made from dinosaurs! HAH.

We're having the last of our sandwiches for dinner tonight, which leaves us with a cooler full of salads, veggies, hummus, and protein bars. And boiled eggs. Lots of snacking will be in order, apparently. The stuff in the cooler is still pretty darn cold, so that's good. Did I mention how much I love the chicken and bacon sandwiches? It's just chicken, bacon, and chopped tomato and lettuce in a whole grain wrap (not those 250-calorie monsters, either; think flatbread) so it's got lots of protein and won't make me fall asleep at the wheel from eating too many refined carbs.

The southeast corner of Montana is chock full of deer - we were passing through around 5:00 and there were huge herds of them on either side of the highway, hanging out in the cow/horse pastures and eating. It's funny seeing huge crowds of them, but they're all standing as still as possible because there's a busy highway next to them. "Maybe if I stand real still here next to the 4-lane highway in broad daylight, no one will see me!" Even though they're all small and white, not HUGE and brown or black like all the cows. EXCEPT we saw this awesome all-white steer. Cool!