Big Sky Country

I’m writing this on I-90, headed from Missoula, Montana to an unknown destination (likely Yellowstone). It’s beautiful here, but as expected that’s no fun anymore. We’ve camped, laid out on beaches, seen and scaled mountains, plummeted down valleys, and stood atop any available higher ground to scan our surroundings, wherever those may be. We alternate between greens, blues, and asphalt-gray… it’s time for something else. I miss sitting on a couch and not feeling guilty for not being motivated. It’s why I’m so excited to pass underneath the signs that say east.

I’ve yet to talk about Seattle, but what’s there to say though that hasn’t been said about every city before it? The skyline was unique and it felt surreal to personalize another city I’d often seen and read about. The parks in the city were full of interesting local art, the restaurants were all tremendous, and of course the homeless people were still relentless in their quest for money.

*Side story on the homeless people: We went to a restaurant our first night in Seattle called Ivar’s, an on-the-water fish place that had both fast food and fine dining under the same roof. Weis and I both for the fish and chips, and being the man I am I finished all of it, while Weis continued to satisfy his need for to-go boxes after every meal. A few blocks down one homeless guy goes, “Hey man, can you spare the leftovers?”, and Weis walks on by saying “Sorry man”. Moments later, another homeless guy approaches and goes into a spiel about how he doesn’t get paid until next week and needs money to eat. Weis, thinking Seattle's impoverished wants food, now hands him his box of 3 fish planks. The guy grabs it and goes, “What is this?”, to which Weis replies, “Fish”. After a few second pause the liar hands him back the box and is like, “Yeah I don’t even eat fish man” and leaves. To sum it up, he pissed off one homeless dude by not giving him food, and he pissed off ANOTHER homeless dude by giving him food. 0-2.

Anyways what I was getting that though, is that the novelty of an unfamiliar city is wearing thin. The thrill of walking through un-charted territory is stale, it’s just work now. We research what the town is known for, the best restaurants, the places to be, and we walk double digit miles every day getting to do it all. I love the memories it will leave, but we’re approaching our third week of it. It's not an easy thing by any means.

There will be another post shortly about what we’ve done, which is far from boring looking back on it, but the problem lies with the present. It’s an in-situ dilemma that is feeling more and more forced with every stop.

Today, Missoula. Three hours.

I just need less and more. Either sounds better, you know.

But zero complaints, there's no where else I'd rather be.