If you stick to the interstates, the trip is usually pretty quick...but it's boring. So I drove on highways and state routes all the way. It took me an extra day, but it made it very interesting - got to see a lot of the Rockies.

Have you ever watched hail stones hit the concrete? Have you noticed how there's a bit of spray as it impacts, and then it bounces? When you're driving about 70mph bugs look very similar when they hit your windshield... Which begs the question, "Why do bug guts on your windshield dry so hard - why aren't they more water-soluble?"

I listened to my iPod until it died, then I listened to all my CDs, and then I listened to 16 hours of country music... Though, at times, even that would fade out in static.

I pushed the scan button on the radio... After about 3 cycles I hit the AM button and pressed scan again... Still nothing. So I continued to watch bugs hurdle toward my windshield at 70mph.

Eventually I found an AM station. Anyone who's listened to the radio in the last week will know that the biggest news item in America is the results of the obesity census. The most obese state is Missouri. Montana, the state through which I was driving, was 5th. The slimmest state is none other than the great Colorado. A friend of mine had said, while attending Andrews Univ. in Michigan, that she was shocked by the number of obese people in Michigan because, being from Colorado, you don't see it as much. This raises another interesting question, "What if animals were obese?"

Whoa! Picture that thundering across the African planes. Thankfully, giraffes aren't obese.

I stopped for the night in northern Wyoming where my truck nearly blew away. The wind was so strong it was still splattering bugs all over my windshield while I was parked. I woke up at 2AM to get pictures of the lunar eclipse.

Most of the next day was similar. Around noon I got to Glacier Ntnl. Park in Northern Montana. This is a huge family vacation spot. It's truely beautiful - huge mountains, cliffs, canyons, rivers, snow, wildflowers. Of course it costs $20 to get in, like every other park in the US. I wasn't about to pay $20 though, so I just drove around the outside... As I drove, I noticed a myriad of attractions outside the park. Things like, "Wildlife Museum," and "The Great Bear Adventure - where your car is your cage!" Now, to me, this defeats the purpose of a park like Glacier Ntnl. Park, I mean, after all, isn't the reason you went there to see the wildlife in the wild? You can go to a wildlife museum in downtown Chicago if you want to see stuffed animals! Why drive 1,200 miles to northern Montana, scraping dried bugs off your windshield, only to see what you could have seen at home?

But what really got me were the other attractions: minature golf, family arcades, and gocart racing? Need I say any more...

So I drove around the southern side of the park in hopes of seeing something cool, but all I saw was attractions for city-folk. A short while later I crossed into Canada. It's not any different... Same country music on the radio. Just as many obese people. Maybe it smells a bit worse.

I got to RL on Wednesday. I moved into Evan's old room because it has a window. Then I set to work outside, mowing and cleaning up. Today I'll finish unpacking, and hopefully feel ready when Sunday rolls around. Though I still need to scrape the dried bug guts off my truck.

Goodbye, summer; goodbye, Colorado...