Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Driving from Billings to Missoula....

So this was not a fun drive.  Lots of winter driving with some icy rutted spots and trucks and cars kicking up guck.  Eventually we came out of these conditions to some pretty powdered trees and snow covered rock landscape.  As we neared Missoula we traveled along the Clark River Gorge (as in Lewis and Clark) and through its canyon which opened up into a valley surrounded by mountains.  Missoula was in that valley.  Quite the pretty sight.  I wish I had gotten better pictures along the way, but this is a beautiful setting.  I will share the best I could get to depict the day:

The first part of the drive was a bit treacherous:

Pretty powder sugar coated trees from a recent storm

Then the skies cleared a bit:

Clark River: 

These were very steep slopes and the trees were sparsely planted and standing straight up to the sky

Traveler's aside:

I have been pretty pleased with my packing so far.  For a 5 week trip I did a suitcase, overnight bag and one other bag for winter shoes and fancy shoes (I never wore those fancy shoes).  We also brought along our pillows - I can tell you that having your own pillows makes all the difference.  We have slept well - not having to adjust to every pillow at every hotel.  It has been great.  It makes for extra things to bring into the hotel each night but worth it.  We have gotten our packing and unpacking the car down to a science.  

This morning I thought, hey, I have room to pack my pillow in my suitcase.  So I did.  Then I looked into the mirror and it became obvious why I had that room.  I had on a pillow's worth of clothes to keep warm.  But I was warm!

All for now.  Going to see Kenny and Jessica tomorrow.  Can't wait.  (It's going to snow tonight quite a bit.  Hope that doesn't impact our progress.)