Midwest Road Trip - Part One - Boise to Bismarck
Day 1 - Meridian, ID to a rest area near Glendive, MT
My trip started Sunday morning, July 30. This day was a long marathon to get out of Idaho and through most of Montana asap. I tried to stop a couple hours out of Boise for a quick break and a video diary… but then I realized I can't do video diaries very well unscripted. I either can't think of what I'm trying to say or I ramble on incoherently. Anyway, no more video logs were ever attempted in this trip. I just took tons of pictures with the camera and phone.
Most of the drive was uneventful, even though I was still tense for most of it. I took the interstate to Idaho Falls, then followed US 20 north to West Yellowstone, then US 191 up to Bozeman where I got on I-90 and blasted east. I couldn't relax on the road during this trip until I got well east of Bozeman. There are people everywhere all the time and I feel cramped and crowded, even in central Montana Finally when the traffic and population thinned out I could enjoy some of the drive and stretch my legs.
I was originally going to stop in Miles City for the day. On the map during prep I spotted a couple truck stops that looked promising. When I got there I fueled up, but couldn't really find any decent place to park. I saw at least four hotels on either side of the main street there, and would later wish I just grabbed a room this night.
I ended up leaving Miles City thinking I could find a rest area that was darker and quieter. I got off the interstate at Terry, and parked near a baseball diamond there. I got there around sunset and it was still hot as balls. During prep I remember checking weather in ND and MN but didn't really think about how hot it still was in Montana. Wups!
I couldn't sleep here. I tried for a couple hours, but I was miserable. It was still hot outside and much more humid than our scorched Treasure Valley. At around 11pm I jumped back in the cab and scooted down the road another dozen miles to the next interstate rest stop. It was still hot, there were big trucks running their engines, and the wind kicked up really badly from about midnight until 5am. I slept maybe 2 hours there, and left around 6 the next morning. Fuckin' hotel would have been nice.
Lesson: Don't keep pushing to find something better when you have a good option right in front of you. I should have planned the first stop better. Ah well.
Day 2 - Beach, ND Flying J to Bismarck, ND
Here's where I ended up parking for the first night.
Montana Rest area along I-90
Here’s the route for the day. Thanks to the long haul on Sunday I had a short way to go and a long time to get there.
Short miles today to Bismarck, ND.
After leaving the rest area I drove about 20ish miles to Glendive, MT and saw a couple nice travel centers that also would have been good options for getting a hotel room. How frustrating. Shortly after I crossed into North Dakota I saw signs for a Flying J at a town called Beach. I knew they'd have showers so I stopped there and bought one. 17 bucks, which the nice lady running the station thought was expensive. It’s cheaper than a hotel room, though. If you're a truck driver and you buy fuel at Flying J the showers are free, but I don't do that anymore so I paid full price. I didn't care. It was a great shower and helped me feel good for the rest of the day.
OK! After I got all cleaned up I hopped back on I-90 and shortly found myself in the National Grasslands of North Dakota. This is also inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I made a stop at this scenic area to get my first fun pictures of the trip.
After I left here I cruised a couple hours east in I-90 to Bismarck arriving there just before 11 am.
My first stop in Bismarck was the iconic capitol building:
We used to watch laser shows on the face of the building for July 4th events.
My friend Matt and I once took the elevator to the top floor to look out over the city out when I lived here.
I saw President Bush 41 at the Capitol when he visited Bismarck in 1988.
I parked near the big grassy field and walked the grounds for about 30 minutes getting some photos and reminiscing. It was overcast, and about 70 degrees, but it was also humid. I forget either how dry Idaho is, or how humid other places are and how it affects the heat index thing. It felt hot and muggy.
After leaving the capitol building I zipped down to Kirkwood Mall. Bismarck grew from about 50k people in 1990 to 75k or so in 2020. It didn't feel crowded except around the construction zones. Getting around town was a piece of cake.
Kirkwood Mall
I circled the Kirkwood mall parking lot until I found the entrance I remember using the most while we lived here. Like most old malls in America, this one looks like shit now. The entrance we used most is semi-recognizable. The recruiting station where my dad worked is now a nail salon. My mom worked here for a while at one of the clothing stores, but I couldn’t remember which. They used to have carpeting in the whole mall that was different shades of blue and grey to mark these lanes that people could walk. Most of the carpeting has been replaced with bland white tiles. I went in there hoping to find a black hills gold gift, but I ended up just going to the restroom and then I walked back out. Meh, some memories are best left as memories. Chronoshitty.
Wachter Middle/Junior High
The school is across the street from the mall, of course, so I popped over there and parked in the lot. I wandered around the main field in front of the school for a few minutes, then I took a lap for Mr. Puffe around the track getting photos and reminiscing. He was my track coach when I went here. I really hated going to this school. This was the worst one for me growing up. I had a couple friends here, but there were some real fucking prick kids in this school. The dick measuring begins early in some (most?) people and I was constantly getting fucked with here. There are two kids in particular that I remember from this place. I won't forget them. Blame them for the F-bombs.
I went to Wachter between 1988 and 1991. Thanks to my mom hanging on to a lot of my childhood stuff I still have a couple yearbooks.
In 1991 when we moved to Germany my dad said that Ansbach High was going to be a "rough school" and we should prepare for that (somehow). I don't know what he'd heard, but it wasn't true. Ansbach High was the best school I ever went to. Going to school with other military brats for me was like fitting in like one of those round pegs. Being the new kid in Thief River Falls and Bismarck was rough. I was a military brat, and the people who liked to fuck with me the most were spoiled preppy kids. I was an outsider and an easy target. When I got to Germany with other military brats our only real difference was skin color and no one gave a damn. Everyone got along well for the most part. We were all in the suck together so we may as well have a good time. It was easier to fit in there and make friends with other non-civies.
Anyway, fuck Wachter and civilian schools. Now that I've gone back to see it one more time, Forrest can go ahead and have it bulldozed to the ground.
Lincoln and 72 Custer Drive
Lincoln has really been growing. I imagine most of the people moving into this area are settling in Lincoln.
This "town" reminds me of the CBH home building phases being built near Caldwell when I bought my first house. Lincoln looks like a town built in similar phases. The older part of Lincoln has mature trees and the streets are beat to shit with tar snake repairs. The newer parts of town look like any other fresh housing development; better streets, vinyl fencing and manicured lawn areas along the road. The crappy food store is still there. The park where I sometimes played baseball with other kids is still there, but not well cared for. I drove down Custer Dr. a couple times and got pictures of our old house.
I didn't linger here for too long. I circled the block a couple times checking out the 'hood' and then drove McDougal street to the food store/bus stop parking lot. That was the way we walked to catch the bus when we lived here.
After a quick look at the map, I headed off towards Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. On the way out I spotted the little bridge I used to fish under. Parking my truck anywhere near it was going to be a lot harder than it was with my bicycle, so I didn't stop here. I wanted to get a pic under the bridge, but ah well. No big deal, I still have the memory.
Ok, from Lincoln I scooted along the southern edge of Bismarck, crossed the Missouri river into Mandan, then made my way south to the park.
Holy smokes, I forgot how much Custer is celebrated throughout the Dakotas and Montana, and especially at Ft Abe Lincoln. Custer this, Custer that. I don't like him. He's the "bruh" of his time and he got what he deserved at Little Big Horn.
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
When I arrived at the fee booth I got a map and a quick description of the park and what's available from the cool ranger there. She highlighted all the open camp sites on my map with a marker and pointed out the main attractions in the park to go see.
I checked out the Block houses first. There was a pair of guys up there flying a huge humpback whale kite. This thing was really cool. I could see it from miles away as I made my way to the park. I couldn't tell what I was seeing until I got closer, but it was when I got up to the block houses when I realized how big it really was and how it worked. I briefly chatted with the guys flying it, then climbed up into the block house to have a look around. Once I was done, I wished the guys a fine afternoon and I wandered back to my truck.
After that I drove around the rest of the park for a bit then went to pick out a camp site. I got settled there and made some lunch and just hung out all afternoon. It was warm outside, but nice in the shade, especially when a breeze whipped through. I spent the afternoon in the shade watching the river, boats, birds, anglers, etc. There was a path along the riverbank next to my campsite and most people who walked by responded when I said "hello". I was finally starting to relax enough that I felt like interacting with people again. There were probably a couple dozen RV trailers around me and some other people camping in trucks and tents but I had no neighbors right next to me in either campsite so it wasn't too bad there. I almost felt like I was hiding in plain sight, which was nice.
The next morning I was up pretty early. I made some coffee, snapped a pic of the sunrise, and then broke camp (which means I closed my tailgate). I was heading to Minnesota today and I could not wait to GTFO.
I miss these still, foggy mornings along a waterfront.
