Well, things have been pretty quiet here at the Maass Family Travel Journal for a while now. This has been due to the long winter, but mainly to a lack of funds, let's be honest. And the Maass Family Travel Journal is taking a ROCKIN' trip to Atlantic Canada in September, so we were thinking in the interest of savings (both $ and time off) for that trip, we might have to forgo our annual summer trek to Montana this year. However, compromise has never been a strength of ours when it comes to travel (compromising situations....that's a different story), and we have seemingly been able to scrape together the time off and dough to make a go of it in Montana again this summer. We are about 90% sure right now, with hopefully a green light by tomorrow, giving us about 72 hours of preparation time before we would leave.
72 hours to buy tickets, get campground reservations, pack up coolers and a car (probably Goldy, although if she punks out in Montana again, she just might be staying there for good), and figure out what to do with our dogs and plants while we're gone. Now this is going back to the classic Maass family road trip: little advance planning, driving through the night, finding adventure on the fly. Should be an interesting time.
Here is the plan so far:
Tuesday afternoon: Greg will work Tuesday, I will be working from home, getting everything ready. (Yeah, right....this step pretty much never goes according to plan, but since we're in the optimistic stage, let's just assume....)
Tuesday evening: Hit the road, Jack. Queue up the road trip playlist. Much laughing, joking, singing ensues. (Actually it is arguing, sniping, swearing about half the time, but again, let's be optimistic)
Tuesday night: Bean me, baby! I'm ready to go through the night. Wow, what nice weather! Visibility is great! There are NO pronghorn along the highway! All the deer are in the woods, way back from the road! This should be a breeze. Bean me more! More bean! Wow, I'm shaky! But awake.
Wednesday, EARLY morning: stop for car nap. find that small Grand Am is actually quite comfortable to sleep in (when you are this beat, anyway). Pronghorn, deer, other wildlife may now graze along highway or parade down the middle of it, for all I care. but FOR THE NEXT HOUR ONLY (I'm sure they will instinctually understand that this is for their own good.)
Wednesday, dawn: Bean me more! And feed me! Preferably fast food (which I normally detest, but happen to love on the road). Let's go!
Wednesday late morning: arrive at awesome (please?) campsite in Gallatin National Forest. Set up camp. Probably test the comfort of tent, ground pads, and sleeping bags for a few hours. Find comfort level acceptable (please?). Perhaps make side trip to MacKenzie River Pizza Co. for a Flathead pizza. Love that stuff! But no matter how good it sounds, will not try the Thai Pie. Have learned lesson.
Wednesday, 2-11pm: STORYHILL FEST!!!! and DINNER!!!! with wine and beer!!!! Of course, only will indulge in as many drinks as pronghorn seen on the highway the night before (and, as we have already established, we have an agreement, albeit an unspoken one. So will be staying relatively sober, I'm sure).
Thursday, 12:30am: arrive back at campsite after awesome Storyhill Fest campfire performances. Sleep like brick in the cool mountain air. (or like motionless pronghorn littering the expanse of I-90, you pick the imagery.)
Thursday-Saturday: Wow, haven't planned THAT far ahead! My last name is Maass, what were you expecting? Options include possible whitewater trip down Gallatin River, hiking in Bozeman/Gallatin NF area, trip up to Whitefish/Glacier NP area (which will undoubtedly include sleeping on my brother's floor....and I know his housekeeping habits....so kind of leaning against this), or trip down to Grand Teton National Park. Or a combo platter of these activities. We shall see.
Saturday night/Sunday/Sunday night: Marathon it back to MN. Pronghorn agreement is back in effect. Bring on the coffee and Neil Diamond!
I can't really see any holes in this plan, so I assume everything will go off without a hitch. We'll let you know.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
