-- Something Grunting This Way Comes...

Morning couldn't come quick enough for me today.  I had to pee something awful and I had to resort to whining to get my mom's attention.  My mom looked out the window to check for early morning bear activity...

With the bear spray handy, she looked left, right, and left again before jumping out of the Supervan with me.  I wanted to take my time, but my mom hurried me along.  Kinda takes the enjoyment out of it, y'know?  I like to put a lot of thought into where I do my morning business. 

My dad sat by the window and heckled at her, telling my mom that a bear and her cubs were approaching the Supervan.  My mom called my dad a few choice names and we climbed back inside the Supervan for cover.  My dad thinks he is a real comedian sometimes. 

While my mom packed up the inside of the Supervan, my dad went outside to shave.  After a few minutes, he opened the door to the Supervan and quickly jumped inside and shut the door.  My mom said, "What's the matter???  What???"  My dad told us that he heard something grunting from the road and he sounded serious this time.  My mom grabbed the bear spray and we all turned to look toward the road-- then a guy rode by on a bycicle, huffing and puffing. 

Hah!  Gotcha Dad!

We finished packing up the Supervan and headed toward a park on the map since the Internet didn't work so well in the Gallatin Forest.  The park turned out to be a cemetery. 

Oh well, we pulled into the parking lot anyway and my mom and dad checked their emails and plotted out our next destination.

We decided to take a walk through town before leaving Bozeman. 

I saw these two children on a bench and stopped to say hi.  They totally ignored me.  I sat pretty for them just to get their attention.  Apparently the book they were reading was engrossing.  It was evident to me that they had been sitting here for quite some time and had not used sun block. 

This cow must have lost all of its leather hide from the intense sun.  I could see all of its inner gears.  These townspeople need to learn how the sun can damage your skin.

This place looked delectable.  However, I'm not allowed to have chocolate, so we didn't patronize the place.  Sloppy Dawgs at first glance looked to be a pet grooming business.  I peered through the window and noticed they made footlong sloppy joes.  Oh man, that sounds good right now.   

A lot of the town had a western flair to it.  Take this place for example.  Wild Joe served up some coffee in one hand and was packin' a Colt 45 in the other.  

We ate lunch at a place called the Montana Grill.  I wasn't allowed on the patio, but the waitress was cool and sneaked me through the gate.  She got a big tip. 

Lewis and Clark?  Weren't they squirrel hunters?

I wondered why Lewis and Clark had their own motel in town.  After my curiosity got the best of me, my mom and I looked up Lewis and Clark on the Internet together.  Turns out they came through Bozeman back in the early 1800s!  Check this out:

This is the Bozeman area as mapped by Lewis and Clark in 1806.  These guys were explorers just like me.  I don't think they were looking for squirrels, but I'm sure they saw quite a few as they went on their adventures.  I wonder if they mapped active squirrel areas... hmm...

Oh well, it was time to get back on the road and continue our own adventure.  We headed northwest and drove through towns named Butte (haha), Anaconda (eek), and Crackerville (haha), Montana...

My dad pulled over at a rest stop so we could do a driver-switcheroo.  My dad has been doing most of the driving and my mom suggested he take a nap in the back seat while she and I did the driving and navigating, respectively.  Once I felt confident that she knew where to go, I went back to sleep in the front seat.  Then I found out she took more photos that I didn't authorize for my blog... ugh.

We finally arrived at our destination:  Beavertail Hill State Park in Clinton, Montana. 

We didn't have a reservation but we got lucky finding an unreserved campsite. 

My dad was happy because we had clear satellite access and my mom was happy because she had clear cell and Internet access.  I was happy because I had squirrel access--  I saw one running up a tree when I looked out of my window as we drove in here. 

Bring on the nature walks...

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