SRT 2018 Prelim

I chose the date months ago.  End of June. Not too hot hopefully, and far enough out of winter and spring to avoid unsettled weather.  I also chose the direction months ago. South. South across the border into the United States. Montana, to be exact.  S/C is a mere 90 minutes from the border, and I have heard of shopping trips to Billings or Great Falls, but have never crossed into the U.S. except on a plane.  Driving across held a certain feeling of adventure.

When plans are made so far in advance, there is potential for unexpected happenings to interfere and push forward such plans.  I did my mostest to have no expectations surrounding the trip, before, during, and now after as I sit and reflect on the five days on the road.  What resulted was an adventure filled with excitement, a bit of fear, awe at the splendor and diversity of planet earth, gratitude, grief, peace, inspiration, motivation, confidence, direction, closure, surprise, and so many more lovely words.  If I had to wrap up my SRT in One word though, it would be strength.

I didn’t talk about it very much in the weeks leading up to June 29.  Maybe I thought I would jinx it if I did. I told the kids and my parents and mentioned it to Shantal in passing.  They know by now that this is what I do. I take off on my own, but this time was different. Five days instead of a weekend, no cell coverage unless on wifi, and no planned route, other than a trail ride booked in Billings for Saturday night.  They couldn’t understand how and why I would go on such a trip, and knew better than to talk me out of it. My mom scrunched up her nose when I said I was going to the States. ‘Why there?’, she said … my reply, ‘Why NOT there.’ That’s my mom though.  She doesn’t like to travel farther than a few hours to a provincial park to camp for a handful of days. That’s adventure enough for her. Me, I got wings on my feet and a desire in my heart to see places, and what better place to start than in the Continent I live in.

Nick from work travels to Glacier National Park often, and has talked about the beauty of the those Mountains. Initially, that was going to be my destination, but I’ve taken the highway through Lethbridge before, and I wanted something new, so when I settled on #4 South, the most logical place to aim for was Billings.  Leaving early in the morning is usually how I roll, but with the border not opening until 8:00 a.m., I didn’t want to waste precious hours. I decided to leave right after work. After all, I only had to drive 90 mins to get to the border crossing. Looking at the map, Malta would be where I slept that first night. For some reason, I thought Malta was big.  At least bigger than it turned out to be. For whatever reason, I delayed in booking a hotel, and when I finally did Expedia showed only hotel left. Actually, it was an ‘Inn’, the Royals Inn to be exact, and with a click of a button, I booked it.

One of the adventures I wanted to experience on SRT was to meet a horse, ride him, connect, and gain some insight.  I searched for horseback riding in Montana, Dude ranches, etc. and was coming up empty. I would search online every so often.  That would be what my trip is based around, along with driving in new frontiers. Bittercreek Outfitters popped up one day in my searching.  Minutes from Billings. What??? Horseback riding close to a big city?? How does that happen? Price was right. Location perfect. Reviews excellent.  Done. Booked and paid for. Saturday at 6:00 to 8:00. I even contemplated a morning ride, Sunday at 9:00 a.m. but didn’t know how my body would feel after 2 hours on the back of a horse, and then having to sit and drive for hours to whatever my next destination would be.

SRT seemed so far away.  John, a co-worker, gave me a map of Montana months ago, and every so often I would look at it and the different towns and cities, hoping that a name would jump off the paper and I would be guided to go there.  That didn’t happen. I looked at different places online, but made no decisions and no hotel reservations. It eventually became obvious that this trip was a ‘go with the flow’ kinda trip, other than the trailride.  The other times I had looked for a hotel, they all looked the same … and then one night, I went online and Dude Rancher Inn popped up. The name was perfect and fitted so well with the trailride I had booked. No hesitation, click click click, reserved.  Within 15 minutes, I reserved another night. Two nights in one place. Two days later, I cancelled the second night. Billings is close enough to drive to for a weekend if I wanted, and spending two nights out of five in one place gave me the feeling of being trapped … committed … and the second I cancelled, the lighter I felt.

So, Friday night Malta, Saturday drive to Billings and a trail ride at 6:00 p.m.  The only things planned, booked, confirmed and paid for in advance on my trip.