Montana Dreams

Montana.

 Crossing back into the US under lowering clouds and rain, down the twisty two lane Hwy 89 to Great Falls, the Rockies on our right peeking out every now and then, slowly, the weather clears the terrain flattens and Montana becomes what it promises.

 Big Sky Country.

 We took lots of pictures of Montana, but none of them seem right, every vista is a hundred miles in all directions, the eye strains to see the land, but the sky dominates.

 Eventually all you see is a small strip of land at the bottom with blue weighing down like an overturned ocean.

 It's a long way anywhere, so the imagination sets in.

 Cumulus clouds line up like malevolent jellyfish, marching in rank.

 Every now and then one descends in a purple rage, lowering tentacles to the flat bottom, ensnaring those  deer and antelope playing on the range.

 We follow Lewis and Clark's trail eschewing the interstate for the two lane Hwy 87

 Right through the middle.

 We see bears in the foothills of the Rockies

 We race Pronghorn antelope (clocked one at forty miles an hour)

 The road becomes a giant roller coaster of gentle up and down with no turns.

 Abandoned homesteads, some with rotting sod-roofed buildings attest others imaginations as well.

 We take a wrong turn in the middle of nowhere and go forty miles out of our way, no problem, in fact good, otherwise we would have bypassed Winnit.

 It's Sunday, the church parking lot has seven cars in it, the bar has two.

 There are no paved streets except the one down the middle.

 Montana,  Big Dream Country