The Beer Traveller

It was an absolutely amazing day in Big Sky, MT & Danielle would be joining me for the day’s adventures.  I spent the morning trying to catch up on my Blog/website while Danielle cooked me breakfast.  Who would have ever thought Pancakes were such a chore.  Beggars can’t be choosers but I had to laugh as I kept hearing “why do these keep burning”.  We got a much later start than I had wanted, but it was totally my fault.

Michael would be joining us for the drive to Bozeman as he had to score some cash.  Marly was left behind to stretch his legs & enjoy Big Sky’s sunshine.  I was pretty excited that I would be getting some company to help with my tastings.

So in life & this trip I knew there would be many firsts, but this was an unexpected one.  On my way to Big Sky, I pulled into a truck stop in Butte, MT.  As I made a beeline for the bathroom I spotted man, dog, & ‘headed East’ sign out of the corner of my eye.  Upon exiting the bldg, I double checked the sign & sure enough it said East.

As I was tediously scrubbing the bugs off my truck I got to thinking…why not?  I headed over to what appeared to be what looked like one of the many bums we have in Seattle & his not so clean Pit Bull that was built like a brick shit house.  I verified that they were indeed headed in my direction (Wisconsin actually) & informed him I’d be stopping in Big Sky for a few days before continuing on.  In the world of hitchhiking I can only imagine that it must be the mother load to be going halfway across the country & get 1 ride to take you there.

I made some room for Marly the Monster…actually one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met & we were on our way.  Turns out Michael was a good guy & had just quit his job, as a Sou Chef, in Ashland, OR to hit up a hippy festival called the Rainbow Gathering.  He was now on his way to visit some family in WI.  After some initial “who are you” questions, the remainder of the trip was mostly silent.  This was due to my exhaustion from driving & his from spending 10 days in the woods.

It wasn’t until I pulled up to John & Danielle’s that I got to thinking “now what?”.  Michael actually gave the lay-up that he would wait in the driveway while I went to talk to my friends.  The look on my friends faces was probably about what my parents will be when they read this.  Now as rude as y’all may think this is, we gave him permission to erect his tent in the backyard.  I may be dumb enough to pick up a hitch-hiker, but no way is he sleeping in the same house.

The next few days were spent w/ me visiting breweries w/ Danielle (John had to work) & orchestrating the showering of both Michael & his beautiful dog Marly.  It was soon time to go & on the road again we were.

Ok so I’m finally on the road, a lil’ behind schedule but that’s par for the course.  I had planned on leaving Saturday, than Sunday, & it ended up being noon today.  I planned on getting all my supplies (soap, soup, & rolaids) yesterday, but it turned into a complete cluster-fuck!  I had some gift certificates I wanted to use for now necessities, but the stores where I had them that should of had them didn’t.  I drove all over the Puget Sound for a few basic staples; probably spent more on gas than what the gift certificates were worth.

Today was interesting.  I’m now the asshole @ a campsite that has his HD MacPro out & lighting up the entire frickn’ campground.  This is a 1st.  Not only is this the 1st time I’ve taken a laptop to a campground, but I have never seen one there.  In all honesty I would be the 1st one to carry on all night if I did see one there…the irony!  I surprising found the perfect little campground (amazing what you get when you ask around at a bar).  I’ve even got a sweet female voice (& guitar eminating from the camper next door).

The whole day hasn’t exactly gone as planned, but I guess that’s travelling.  2 out of the 3 breweries I planned on hitting were closed.  Roslyn Brewery (guessed I missed the part about weekends only) & Rocky Coulee Brewery (totally missed the hrs on this one).  I was able to hit my final score, Northern Light Brewing (no website).

I’ll discuss these in more detail when the mosquitos aren’t circling my lit-up Apple like a bunch of United flights @ O’hare.

To top things off I got lost finding this place & drove all over town in near darkness only to pull up to a sign (& blockade) at the entrance that said all campsites were full (on a flippn’ Monday???).  Sometimes I don’t see so well so I decided I’d check for myself.  Got lucky.

I have about 18 kinds of canned goods in a big storage container in the bed of my truck.  After not eating all day, I decided to reach in to see what other surprises today held.  Would you believe it..I pulled out Lentil Soup; traditionally served @ New Years to bring luck to the upcoming year.  Wish I would have had it for breakfast.