We got a late start this morning. Since we needed to stock up on supplies, we went to the local IGA market. It was raining off and on all morning. I sat in the Coach House while Jackie went inside to do the shopping. At this point in our trip we were both exhausted from the pace and monotony of traveling. The sameness of driving four or five hours then stopping for the night at a campground and then starting over the next day and the day after that had finally taken its toll on whatever “joy” that came from the act of traveling. At this stage in our trip, we just wanted to get home as soon as possible. I realized that if we wanted to do any exploring of the areas where we stopped, we would have to stay more than just one day. It occurs to me that the whole point of this trip, apart from the act of traveling and camping in the Coach House, was to get to Blackduck and Blaine, Minnesota. That accomplished, when we finally left Minnesota, the goal was simply get back home. We could have spent more time exploring the places we traveled through, but with the cost of campgrounds and especially the cost of gas to keep the RV on the road (which averaged out to be about $90.00 dollars a day), the trip was already on the expensive side. Traveling in the Coach House is comfortable enough; it has everything you need to make the experience pleasant. But at this point, Coach House is not for us. When we stayed in Kino for a lengthy period of time, it was much more pleasant, though we had no freedom of movement to explore the area if we wanted. Now, I think we will try to sell the camper when we get back home.
To make headway, we decided to try to drive all the way to Spokane, Washington before we stopped for the night. The weather was improving, and driving through Montana again, gave us a different perspective of the state. As the clouds begin to clear, the blue sky was vivid and the panorama dramatic:
The elevation once you’re in the state can be anywhere from 4 to 6 thousand feet, often with roads that slowly curve, then rise and fall. Little towns can suddenly appear as if out of nowhere, their church steeples often the first clue that a town is approaching. Here are a few more examples of Montana church steeples that seem to be everywhere:
I kept my camera close by as I was driving. The steeple shots are taken through the windshield of the rig then cropped and leveled later using Photoshop.
Often what you see first is the steeple itself, pointing upward toward the sky:
A final shot:
Call and Response 