Scraps of my Life

AKA “Howdy from Bozeman, Montana”!

Yep, the last time I was in Montana was 1976. The year my Dad took Mom, Porter and I to Carrington, ND (his Hometown). On the way to Carrington we had gone through Vegas, Salt Lake, Cheyenne WY, various sites in South Dakota before continuing on into ND.

Here was the deal with my Dad…he did ALL the driving on any of our trips. Since he did all the driving we were subject to his timetable. We stopped for the day when he was tired, could have been 2pm, could have been 10pm. We also stopped when he was hungry or when he had to use the restroom…granted, he wasn’t an ogre, he asked for our input, but since he was driving I can understand doing everything according to how he felt.

Having said all this…the plan for the drive home from North Dakota was to go into Montana and down through Yellowstone National Park…much like Brian and I plan to do with David tomorrow.

Back in 1976, we were driving in my Mom’s, newly purchased for this roadtrip, Chrysler New Yorker. Down we go on Highway 94 west through North Dakota and into Montana. Once we got into Montana, Dad started feeling really tired…I mean really tired, so tired in fact that he was willing to relent and let my Mom drive. So we pulled off the highway, Porter (six) and I (eight) were put onto the front bench seat and buckled in, Mom took her position behind the wheel, and Dad stretched out in the back seat. Dad, being a typical “back seat” driver, had to admonish Mom, “Betty, just stay here on the 94, we have a full tank of gas, there should be no reason to stop before Billings. When you are coming up on Billings, wake me up”…and off he drifted into a slightly fitful slumber.

There are Porter and I, in the front seat, chattering along with our poor Mom who HATED to drive on freeways…HATED as in a slight phobia, I think. I feel for her in retrospect, she had no sense of direction whatsoever and to have to drive without that is pretty tough…ya get lost easily and I think that was always her fear. Anyway, back to our story….Porter if you are reading this, you know what comes next. (This has been one of those favorite, oft repeated, family stories since it happened)

As we are driving through beautiful Montana we come upon an area where the department of transportation is doing some repair work, some rather noisy repair work. Think jackhammers and vehicle back-up beeping! Mom wasn’t concerned, she was just moving over to the left lane as requested, when all of a sudden, Porter puts both hands over his ears and yells, “OH NO!”. This sends my slumbering father, immediately upright, and wide-eyed assuming we are in mid-air having just driving off a cliff! Much to everyone’s dismay, Porter continues to scream at the top of his voice with hands still over his ears, “THEY ARE GOING TO WAKE UP DAD!”. Too late little brother, you have succeeded in doing that all on your own!

Needless to say, Dad was no longer tired and as soon as Mom could, she moved off the highway and Dad continued driving…with a slightly faster heart rate.

Filed under: All About Pam, Family, Travel