So, where did I leave off? Oh, yes - the end of Day One.
The next day, Monday, we just hung around Billings. Everyone was tired, and Sis normally gets up at 4am everyday at home, so I sure as heck wasn't going to begrudge her some sleeping in time. We had a very late breakfast - OK, it was brunch - at Sis's favorite restaurant, the Cracker Barrel. She always cracks me up because she can never remember the name - it usally comes out as Chicken Barrel, Chicken Biscuit Barrel, or similar. I think she keeps confusing it with those Chicken in a Biscuit crackers... Anyhoo, she was thrilled and Hannah was thrilled and they both spent lots of money there. Hannah got a really pretty watch where you pick out your band (purple and white stones w/silver accents) and the face and then you just hook them together for your own personal look.
Then we went to my office and they got introduced to all the guys. A good friend of mine from the Portland office had flown out to cover for my first week off and it was awesome to see her again. Then we went to Hobby Lobby and cleaned out their scrapbooking section. Sis and Hannah wanted to keep scrapbooks of their trip - Hobby Lobby is now my best friend, wondering when this wonderful red-headed woman and her credit card will be visiting me again. Hannah also got a little silver cowboy hat to attach to her new watch. Super cute!
After that we kind of drove around town and I showed them the sights. We stopped and had ice cream before dinner (BEFORE dinner? shut up - we were on vacation!!) at the local 31 Flavors. I haven't had ice cream there in years and it was SSSSSOOOOOO GOOOOOD!! I noticed the front of my rig looked a little fuzzy, and it is because it was PLASTERED with bugs!!!
I managed to pull up to the yard where they were eating cherries from a tree, and we got these pictures - please to enjoy:
No, the first one is not photoshopped to look like she is saying OH! She was chewing and I just held my finger down on the shutter - I love it!
So, after that we drove over by the airport to a subdivision called Rebergh Ranch where there are lots of beautiful homes. We found an empty lot and parked the truck, then waited for the sun to set. Sis caught these great pics:
As we drove out of the area and were almost back to the highway, Hannah spotted this guy and took a great picture with Sis's camera:
We went on to a lovely dinner and then home for sleep.
More about the rest of the trip later.
TTFN.
The train made it's way to Spokane at about 1:15am where they had a lay over for about an hour and a half. Then a train from Seattle hooked up with them and away they went, further east through the night. In the early hours, the train rolled into Montana and Glacier National Park.
Now, I pride myself on being really good with directions; I can read a map and can tell which way is north, south, east or west; I can go somewhere for the first time in the dark, then find it again three years later in the daytime. So, surely you can imagine my complete surprise when I discovered that I took a wrong turn in Roundup and went 150 miles to the east when I should have been almost to Malta, 200 miles to the north. I could NOT believe it!!!! I had to call Sis on her cell (fortunately she was in range) and tell her that I would be, oh, two hours late picking her up. Hannah said I was fired. Fortunately, Sis and Hannah both were really good sports; especially since the Malta train station is really just a wooden bench with a roof and a bathroom. There was no where for them to go, it was 103 outside and about 110 inside the little station house. Hannah had brought her portable DVD player and they passed the wait by watching a movie and soaking their hair and shirts with water when the heat just got too much. Here is the train station and some pretty sights from the trip home:
