Billings, Montana (Published in Bozeman, MT)

We are currently on the road in Montana traveling to our destination of Bozeman. It’s been a long day of travel, but the travel has made our day today, since the scenery has been truly phenomenal ever since we left Denver, where I will pick up from last night.

We got some dinner last night and tried some Flying Dog beers at the Blake Street Tavern. Our next quest was to relive, in some respects, the Real World Denver from a couple of years ago. We went over to the actual Real World house on Market Street, which has now been redesigned as a bar called Theorie. The bar, though it was cool to reenact the Real World and be in the actual building, was a little too pretentious for us, so we moved on down the street to Lodo’s Bar & Grill. We had a great time at LoDo’s dancing on the rooftop with our Denver friends Jessica & Jennie who we met the night before. The five of us had a great time, and it was real cool making friends after being in a city for only 2 days.

This morning we were up early and out on the road, traveling on I-25 N through Colorado and Wyoming. In the beginning of Wyoming I felt like we had left the comfort of the Rockies back in Colorado and Wyoming was going to be all grassland just like Nebraska. It didn’t have the same depressing feeling—after all it was a new day, new state, and new feeling towards our trip. But after Denver, which was tremendous, and where we had a ton of fun, grassland wasn’t necessarily top on the list.

Luckily, as we drove on, there were canyons and mountains in the distance that broke up the grassy monotony and painted the scenery for us. We passed through Chugwater, home of famous chili supposedly, and on top of a canyon that we passed sat a real cowboy on his horse, just staring out into unlimited distance and time. It was beautiful. An image I will never forget. I saw quite a few cowboys—almost like a convention of them—right off the side of the road closer to Cheyenne. They were all on their horses, dressed in cowboy hat, bolo, tight jeans or pants. It’s quite the interesting country up here.

The landscape in Wyoming, as it develops further north, is magnificent—so serene and peaceful. Casper, Wyoming, I read in the USA Today in Chicago, is experiencing a housing boom (contrary to the rest of the country). The area is beautiful—situated in valley, with mountains looming in the distance. People I’m sure find happiness out here despite its desolation. The differences in this country are inspiring. Robert Pirsig, author of Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance wrote, "Some say the good is found in happiness, but how do we know what happiness is? And how can happiness be defined? Happiness and good are not objective terms. We cannot deal with them scientifically. And since they aren't objective they just exist in your mind. So if you want to be happy just change your mind. Ha-ha." My happiness on this trip is defined by my mind, yes, but also my location. Each drive, each state, each city that we wind up in brings a newfound happiness that maybe wasn't the same in the last drive, state, or city.

I keep finding that I am fascinated by water on this trip. Even the Wyoming reservoirs we pass have stood out to me. I pay attention to every river we cross (North Platte piqued my interest in the subject), including ones with crazy names like South Fork Crazy Woman and Middle Fork Crazy Woman, and for some reason water keeps fascinating me.

There is a quote that I read about in Zen and... – “You’ve got to cross that lonesome valley. You’ve got to cross it by yourself.” Crossing all these valleys, with mountains surrounding in surplus, people in serious desolation and isolation, has certainly caused for me some introspection, but I am inspired by it. These “lonely” valleys inspire me and bring me closer to everyone in this country—even the cowboy sitting atop the Wyoming canyon in Cheyenne.

The snow-capped mountains in the Wyoming distance are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Cattle, livestock, animals of all kinds roam freely only feet away from the interstate, making me realize we’re a long way from the hustle and bustle of New York and Long Island, and that’s actually comforting, healing in a sense.

Rasselas has been taking a toll on the highway, as we have now driven close too 3000 miles (in less than a week!), but he is still hanging in fine. The windshield and grill are ravaged with bug guts from Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. As Matt put it, “We waged a jihad against the bugs of this nation.” So true.

Entering into Montana, I am in complete agreement with John Steinbeck, who wrote, "I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love, and it's difficult to analyze love when you're in it...It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur." The mountains here are incredible, made up of every color imaginable. The trees and animals roam the landscape, and the sky is the grandest, bluest I have ever seen. There wasn’t a cloud visible in this “big sky country”

We stopped off I-90 at the Battle of Little Big Horn, where Custer’s Last Stand took place. The views from atop the Battle cliff were awesome, and the monument was incredibly moving. It really made me think about Americans before us, and what our purpose is in being here. Those who are remembered at the Little Big Horn Cemetary—both the American soldiers and the Native Americans—had a purpose here in America to preserve their respective ways of living, and it really made me ponder my own.

We are about an hour and a half away from Bozeman, and I’m getting excited to settle down into a quaint Montana town. Our exploration of that town will have to be tonight only, as we are leaving for Yellowstone bright and early in the morning. More to come from this beautiful Montanan town settled at the feet of the mountains and nestled with the Yellowstone River.