Here’s the only shot from Day 01 worth offering up:

001. “MOR sign, just before crossing into Washington.”

Hit the road outta Spokane right around 10am. A good start, considering dad’s blitzkrieg snoring kept me up all night. Crossed over into Idaho and dad took the wheel. Couldn’t keep my eyes open. Some “road warrior,” eh? I slept until Missoula.

002. “Out of Spokane, across Idaho’s panhandle.”
003. “Dad checks in with mom.”

There’s an old ghost town called, “Garnet,” just north of Beartooth, not more than 10 miles off the highway. We turned off, found the access road and started venturing back into the hills. The signs said the trek would be 10 miles. Three miles into it, the elevation started to kick in. That little two track got wet, then slushy, then, got real slick and visions of us getting stuck and stranded started to sink in. The we’d have to endure some freakish snowstorm rolling in, have to kill Gary for supper and ulitimately, a scenario would play out where I’d have to gut dad and climb inside him for warmth…

Well, that one in the thinker was enough to make me turn right the hell around. Rats.

Instead, we found a dirty old gas station not far from the entrance.

004. “Old Gas Station, long gone and way dead.”
005. “Dad approaches the site.”
006. “Krumble Krunch>”
007. “Decay.”
008. “Dad on the lookout for dreaded Montana vipers.”
009. “Lots of dangerous stuff underneath us.”
010. “Big S, still at it.”
011. “That ghost town road left its mark.”
012. “Gary graffiti.”

Back on the road, and down to Drummond, and, quite possibly one of the greatest antique shops we’ve hit in a long time. Some of the treasures we came across there:

013. “$1.00 box deposit.”
014. “Maytag enamel decal.”
015. “Free and Eazy.”
016. “Radio.”
017. “Spindrier.”
018. “Oliver Industrial.”
019. “Milwaukee nameplate.”
020. “Horse Racing, Deer Lodge, Mont.”
021. “Me and my RC.”
022. “Foodstuffs.”
023. “Skillets.”
024. “Montana!”

We’re in Deer Lodge for the night, resting up for a big day tomorrow in Central Montana. On the itinerary for tomorrow: The Old Montana Prison in Deer Lodge, and Custer’s Last Stand. This one has been a long time coming. A long time.

025. “Pretty big: The world’s largest railroad spike.”

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This is why we love Wayne Coyne.