Day 5 - Off to Montana

date 6/24

Weather: Cloudy

Expense
$5 on lunch
$30 on gas
$35 for today
$243 for the trip

Mileage: 672 for today, 1,390 for the trip

Beer: 2 for today, 4 for the trip

Pictures: homepage.mac.com/cenya/PhotoAlbum42.html

I woke up to Michelle tapping my shoulder at five. Normally I would be up but I guess the run wore me out. I changed into my regular shorts and I was ready to go. We hugged good-bye and I was off. I am grateful to Michelle for being such a great hostess.

Drive to Missoula was uneventful except for one miscalculation on my part. I did not realize I15 did not go through Butte. Now I had to drive further to get lunch and gas. I was worried for a little while as the gas gauge was going below an eighth of the tank. I stopped at Deerlodge for a standby McDonald’s and filled at Conoco.

The pump at Conoco would not automatically fill, so I had to manually hold and squeeze the handle the whole time. What a pain in the arrss!

The real drive began from Missoula, because the drive became speed up, slow down, drive through town, speed up, slow down, construction, speed up, and etc. It took another two and a half hour to drive less than a hundred miles. Montana is gorgeous. Weather was so great. I guess I did not mind the drive too much.

I finally arrived at Columbia Falls at half past three. It did not look like anyone was home, so I went to merchant area of town and got a haircut. I felt it was about time. A local barber was helpful and chatty. I called Ian A to let him know that I was staying with another. I could hear him but he could not hear me. How weird! Ian kept saying hello. I felt bad. I would call him again.

I went back to the house that I would stay at and rang the doorbell. No answer. I decided to wait at the park next to the house. I started to note things in my journal when a woman came out of the house and asked if I was Jae. I said I was and she invited me into the house. Her name is Jennifer and she is Colby’s sister in-law. It was good to meet her. We briefly chatted about this and that. I felt comfortable being here.

Pretty soon, Colby and Eric (brother in-law) came back from fishing. It is good to see them both. Eric looked older. I guess we are all older. I met the little one, George, and found out they are also expecting another like Colby and Amy. We started to drink some beer. Rokanee? I never heard of it. It was pretty good nonetheless. Do we have to consider Canadian beer, imports?

We had a great dinner, which consisted of boiled (or steamed) ears of corn, salad, and meatloaf. Mmmmmmm, meatloaf!