Bozeman, MT

**Edit: I forgot to mention how many times we crossed over Clark Fork in Montana - the answer is 7, yes, 7 times! (sorry, memory of my dad yelling out "Clark Fork" when we did our trip to St. Louis in '93)

Greetings from Montana!

Day one of the drive has gone well so far... and boy are we tired of sitting in a car already!

Notes about the trip so far:
* Miles traveled: aprox 670.
* Hours in the car: aprox 10.
* Current time zone: Mountain

To spice up the trip a bit, I suggested that we play "License Plate Bingo". If you are not familiar with the game, the idea is that as you take a road trip, to try to find all 50 plates from the USA. Bonus points if you come across any from Canada. The one stipulation: you cannot "find" the plate if it's in its state (dude - I can't believe that I did that using it(')s!). So, here are the plates found thus far (in alphabetical order):
* Alaska (found while driving to dinner tonight)
* Arizona
* California
* Colorado
* Florida
* Hawaii (found during a gas stop at a Conoco station in Missoula, MT)
* Idaho
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Kentucky
* Minnesota (a lot of cars driving in WA, ID, and MT from this state today...)
* Missouri (and one of them cut me off in Missoula)
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Jersey (found at a rest stop just outside of Phosphate, MT)
* Oklahoma (a lot of truck trailers coming from there)
* Oregon
* South Dakota
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Utah
* Washington (lots of them in MT currently...)
* Wisconson (complete with Green Bay Packers frame)
* Wyoming
**British Columbia
**Alberta
Yes, that's right - we already have half the states covered! Great idea to play this as it really helps Andrew survive with all the miles of the road.

Washington was long, and of course I get the leg in Eastern Washington (Andrew drove through the pass - lucky him). The hour in Idaho was really pretty with all the hillsides and cliffs covered in trees. Montana is long with barely any civilization, but really pretty - and you can see why they call it the "Big Sky State". Amazing cloud structure (you see the whole cloud), and the variance of the blue in the sky... and pair that with the pretty hillsides with trees and clay colors... what a site.

Anyway, probably should head to bed - putzing around Yellowstone all day tomorrow - I hope we can get it all in!

Oh, but before I head out: Today's Quote:
Denise: "So, if Idaho breaks into two states, would they be 'Idaho' and 'Udaho'?"
--> Corollary, started by Andrew: "And you know the irony of what issue would separate Idaho?" Denise's response: "Legalized Prostitution"
(My apologies for all friends and other residents of Idaho - we are not trying to make fun of the state, but rather try to survive a long road trip)

Toodles! :)