Trail of the Buffalo…uh, make that Bear

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315

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I had every intention of taking you on a 2 week road trip, carrying my City Stock, as I traveled from the Pacific Northwest to Wisconsin and back while I made a huge circle. Well, read on…

I left on the 4th of July just taking the interstate to Missoula before I could jump on 2 lane roads. I ended up eventually making it to the Northeast corner of Montana, near Fort Peck where Grandad is buried.

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Over the years I would head over during hunting season. Some years the old Fort Peck Hotel would be open and we would have some food and a drink or three. I always wanted to stay there sometime just because. Mission accomplished.

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After I left Fort Peck I worked my way East as I headed to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Western North Dakota. I’ve driven past it several times but never had a chance to stop before. This is definitely a lesser known park but every bit as scenic as some of the bigger ones

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Needless to say but the Buffalo (Bison) had the right of way on the trail so my little hike didn’t go far.IMG_3446.jpeg
 
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I was really impressed with park and it was pretty cool to be in the country Teddy Roosevelt ranched in, but I had places to go. I mapped a route down 2 lane roads, both paved and gravel, as I headed to a place I hadn’t seen in about 46 to 49 years. Along the way I saw some beautiful scenery you can’t see on the freeway, especially old buildings.

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I hit some wicked weather and fortunately was at the tail end of it as I drove. I saw more lightning strikes than I could ever imagine, including one that hit an old metal windmill about 300 yards in front of me and maybe 100 yards off the road. It was as if the lightning bolt got stuck to the windmill and couldn’t release itself for what seemed a full second. I wish I had some footage of it because it was impressive. But alas, the Mitchell Corn Palace came into view. I was last here as a kid sometime in the late 70’s.

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I spent an hour or so wandering around but never had an opportunity to pull out the City Stock for a photo. But I did find a brochure for an archeological dig nearby I had never heard of before. So I checked that out.

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I was able to talk to one of the archeologists working on site for a bit and was amazed at what they had uncovered and how much of the surrounding ground had artifacts just 6 to 10 inches under my feat as I walked across the grass.
 
I got a hotel in Mitchell South Dakota for the night. I had picked up another brochure for a museum in Freeman SD I wanted to visit in the morning. That’s when things went awry. I always carry 2 car keys when I go on a bigger trip. When I was settling in for the night I realized I had lost my second key, computer chipped of course. I went back to the corn palace and checked their lost and found, check with the restaurant had dinner at, drove back to the parking lot at the archaeological dig to look around where I got out of my car and could not find it anywhere. I even called the gas station up in North Dakota that I stopped at to get a couple of snacks and no luck. I looked around online to see if there were any easy solutions and there were not. So I just continued on my trip the next day.

Bad luck must’ve been following me because when I arrived at the museum it was closed and wouldn’t be open for a couple of hours. Apparently the brochure I picked up was an old one and the hours of operation had not been updated. I did not want to stick around for a couple of hours so I just continued on two lane roads across Northern Iowa to my final destination.

I arrived back in Wisconsin without issue, other than a level of humidity I hadn’t experienced in a long time, even on past trips. Went to a wedding for my buddies son and had a weird experience there. A massive thunderstorm moved through but we ere safely indoors in an old armory building. I know during storms there can be weird anomalies and one of them must’ve happened that night. I was absolutely positive I had finished a cool refreshing Leinenkugels and set the empty on the bar. When I looked again it was full. I thought I had finished it but perhaps I was mistaken so I drank it and set it down, but when I looked over it was full again. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but that’s how it went…all night long🤪
Fortunately the hotel was downhill from the venue and we just had to let gravity do the work and guide us back, walking of course.

I was able to hang out with some buddies and get some good quality time with my Dad. My one buddy runs a repair shop in the little town I grew up in and has a bunch of neat old nostalgic stuff on display.

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This was the hangout for a lot of the old timers when I was growing up and even today.
A lot of BS sessions, lies, good deals and bad deals went on here over the years.
 
I was halfway through the trip and planned my return to take me out through Iowa, hit an old Frontier Fort and museum in Nebraska, work my way through the Black Hills to a buddies place in Wyoming, hit another buddy in Cody WY, through Yellowstone and meander over 2 lane roads and go over Lolo pass from Montana into Idaho and just work my way home at a leisurely pace. Then I got a phone call…

My oldest daughter was due in September but something happened and she was admitted to the hospital. Once they got settled in it looked like she was going to deliver early. They didn’t know quite how early so I weighed my options of jumping on a plane or hitting the road. After talking it over with her I decided to hit the road because it was looking like I would have time. I packed the car, said goodbye to Dad at the nursing home and started driving. Somewhere in Iowa she let me know I could probably slow down as it might be a couple weeks. I decided to just keep driving without any detours but I would slow down. I spent the night in a hotel in South Dakota and hit the road early the next morning.

Things change and sometime the previous night and that morning the Dr. decided it would be better to just go ahead and deliver now. They said he would be big enough and healthy enough and this was there was less room for anything to happen. I would have never made it in time unless a private jet snagged me off the side of the road in nowhere Montana so I just waited patiently for the phone call. About the time I was passing Big Timber Montana I got the message my first Grandchild had arrived.

What’s his name??? Well, they had several names picked out but they wanted to get a good look at him before they decided so I just kept driving. I made it to Idaho after 15 hours in the saddle and crashed at a buddies place. Had a couple beers to celebrate and hit the hay for the night, but not before I got the message “Baby Bear finally has a name”. “Barrett” . My girls have always called my Dad “Papa Bear” but my daughter said that didn’t even dawn on her when she sent the text baby bear. So Barrett may be his legal name but I will call him Bear…

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waynorth said:
Congratulations, Gramps!!:cool:
Hope all is well for Mama and Barrett!!
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Thanks Charlie, everyone is doing well. Barrett surpassed his fighting weight of 4lbs 12 ounces and is tickling 5 pounds. If he were a fish I’d keep him🤣🤣. The nice thing is the hospital he is in is only 7 blocks from my office so I am always available to come up and try to sneak him in some red velvet cake or cheese curds🧀🎂. And speaking of Cheese Curds, I picked up his favorite outfit to wear this fall.IMG_7675.jpeg
 
Yes congrats and wanted to say I’m thoroughly on board with your style of road trips. So many interesting things to see in America by getting off the interstates and traveling the two lanes. One can find something interesting in any state. (Says the guy from North Dakota 😂)
 
Congratulations...... Great story!!!! UPS and Downs....👍..........

Thanx for bringing us along....👍
 
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