This is a reanimation of the Vicaribus blog as lived by Miro Kazakoff and Ehren Foss in 2004 and 2005. The photos may be spotty.

The First of Several Ass-Hauling Segments

Posted by ehren

Even though WGBV's flight wasn't until 10:50 I suggested we set alarms for 8, allowing for 45 minutes or so of frittering time before we could get on the road. We left Pulito and his Buick to the elements The drive back to Gallatin Field was cloudy and quiet. We dropped off WGBV, stopped for an hour of internet at the airportside cafe, and drove into Belgrade looking for lunch. We found a serious BBQ joint and ate our fill, even though we knew that the meal would be with us, for better or worse, for the next 300 miles of driving (for Miro and I) or a full day of flights and connections back to Wisconsin for La Madre. Still, I think you can never have too much good BBQ.

We dropped La Madre off at Gallatin Field around 1pm, and then started north. We couldn't find MT-86 in Bozeman, a slight shortcut through the national forest and past the Bridger Bowl to US-89, so we took I-90E around 40 miles through Livingston to the US-89 junction, except I was daydreaming at the wheel listening to Ellie McKay and missed the exit.

"We could just keep going east and skip Calgary, you know."
"Yeah... we could.... "

Once on US-89 Miro fell asleep until...after we crossed into Meagher County, the road started to disintegrate, and then in a patch of construction with no road surface at all, I launched the bus over a huge bump. I drove for another 50 miles through White Sulfur Springs, then we switched drivers and Miro piloted up and down the Little Belt Mountains and into Great Falls. Great Falls, Montana is the first city we've been to twice on the trip, and the first closed loop of navigation (excepting in-city detours and one-way roads like Mt. St. Helens or the VLA...ok, I lied we went to Squamish twice. And after 8 months of constantly new surroundings it brought a profoundly surreal sense of deja vu. We stopped by the library, which was closed but still providing wireless, and found the big 10-screen theater in the mall. After a long day of driving I saw "Batman Begins" (well, well done) and Miro saw "Fantastic Four" ('It was slightly worse than I thought it would be'). After the movies I drove another two hours north on I-15 to Shelby, MT, home of the BNSF international railyard and not much else. We stayed in the Pilot Truckstop parking lot, amidst the largest collection of oversize vehicles I've ever seen. Giant ore dumptrucks on flatbeds, with their oversize wheels on others, combines, grain silos, giant farm machinery, all strapped down and festooned with dayglo orange flags.

We woke up lateish, around 9:30/10, and I drove the remaining 40 miles to the border. They ran our SSNs and licenses through the system, and based on our probably still being flagged after the beef incident, spent the next hour or two searching the bus. The curt border patrol officer who first scanned our passports brought the bus into one of their three garage bays, and gave it a thorough look-see. We were smart enough to bring reading material into the waiting room this time. Between Shelby, MT and Lethbridge I saw three trees. The rest of the land is wide open prarie, rocky mountains easily visible 70 miles to the west.

Released at 1, by 3, after being passed by one of the aforementioned giant dump trucks, we drove through Lethbridge, the dullest city in North America, and kept going another 30 miles to Fort Macleod for a lunch at A&W/Chubby's Chicken. We switched drivers and Miro logged the remaining 180k to Calgary, and we're currently in rush hour traffic.