Day 6, I think

We've been on the road for 6 days now, and while it's still new and interesting, the novelty has worn off for all.  Today we made our way from Newcastle, WY, a town that is incredibly industrial and has the fumes to show it, to Billings, Montana. This was not our initial plan, but after 5 days of lots of driving, DJ and I realized a few things.

1.  iPads are a God send for road trips.  Alex gets some iPad time every day, but not the whole day by any stretch. He spends the rest of the time coloring, drawing, reading, looking out the window and asking questions, or entertaining himself in ways that only he understands.

2.  These are places in the USA which are still incredibly rural, more than anything back east.  You can drive for hours without seeing anything more than cows, horses and the occasional farm/ranch building.

3. That being said, DJ and I have learned that you really need to plan well for hours traveled, meals, and gas refuels.  We haven't had any kind of refueling scares, thank goodness, but finding meals in acceptable places has been a challenge.

4.  Everything will take longer. It just will.  Except for the actual driving-that will go faster b/c the speed limits are high and the traffic is minimal.

Truly bucolic

5.  8 hours in a car is a nice goal for a day, but not practical.  5-6 hours, with a break in between is more feasible for everyone in terms of disposition and energy levels.

Cookie pizza indeed.

Thus-our original goal was not met last night by about 40 minutes, and we decided to totally scrap today's plan (Yellowstone) for a more relaxing trip.  We opted to travel to Buffalo, Wyoming and stop for lunch and do a quick hike, and then head on up to Billings, Montana. This was a good move.  We got into the hotel early enough for Alex to have a quick swim, for
us to go out to a fantastic brewery for dinner and stuff ourselves silly, and then walk back and head to bed. It's 9:20, and we are already settled. Miracle of Miracles!  

Montana and Wyoming are spectacular in their scenic views and rugged beauty.  Horses more than cows dominate, plus deer-tons and tons of deer.  It's not hard to imagine cowboys and wild horses and buffalo in this craggy landscape.  Billings, Montana is awesome for the record.  There have been only a few places where I could actually see myself living if I ever left New England, and this is one of them.

Tomorrow's goal is Yellowstone, but we are closer than we had planned initially and fully plan to take advantage of as much as we can see, keeping Alex and his age in mind.  Because he is so big and strong, and pretty curious and polite to most people, it's easy to forget that he is still a young 7 and his body gets tired! He's been a real trooper for most of the trip though, and for that, we are thankful.

Daily stats:
2 states
Horses, deer, cows, squirrels and some dogs
2 real, sit down meals
47/50 license plates found, plus some Canadian.
1 letterbox fail, 1 success, 1 planted.