Route 2 and Car Camping

After heading out of the east end of the park, we decided to take the scenic route across Montana. Route 2 passes through many small towns as well as a few Indian reservations and follows a railway that will transport most of the wheat that is harvested from all the fields along the way. Montana is quite a large state and we spent the rest of the day and evening driving across route 2. Later, we decided to duck back down to the highway rather than continuing on 2 into North Dakota. Just before crossing the state line, we stopped to rest for the night.

We considered a couple of motels but ultimately decided to “car camp” at a rest stop. When we bought our truck, we thought we would have plenty of room for all of our stuff and sleeping if needed. Well, we barely fit all of our things in it along with the veggie oil tank and filtration system. So when we decide to car camp, we need to clear all of the things from the back seats to the front seats so Amy can “stretch” out in the back and I (Jon) lay down on the bins that are in the very back, we call it “the Loft.” This evening, we thought we would both try to fit in the back seat. We’ve been on some skinny couches during this trip and thought this would be no problem. So we made our bed and puzzled our way into position. With no room to toss and turn we went to sleep… well, I slept decently, Amy was awoken by the crazy storm that passed through in the middle of the night. Loud thunder, lightning, heavy winds and rain barely distracted me from sleep, and in the morning the sky was clear.

After washing up in some public bathrooms, we switched the filters in the truck, filtered the remainder of the grease we had on hand and set out to conquer North Dakota!