19APRIL2011 @ Helena, MT - At 1230 Felomina and I left Helena with a loaded truck, headed for Pryor and then Billings. The morning was spent with the standard list of last minute things to do ... stop the newspaper, leave note with the lawnmower repair man, check EMail, print Felomina's return bus ticket, print A-Frame house info sheets, turn off the hot water, arrange a neighbor to pick up mail and vote. Our last Helena stop was at the Subway sandwich place on highway 12 east ... a $5 (now $5.50) tuna sandwich to go. It is hard to beat seeing the expanse of the prairie north of Townsend, lake in the background, Belt mountains ascending farther back while finishing off a wonderful Subway Tuna sandwich, properly spiced with banana peppers ... oil & vinegar ... mustard ... tomatoes ... lettuce ... bell pepper ... cucumber ... and just a touch of onion. Flavor explosion topped by visual sustenance ... ahh-h-h-h-h.
We drove through a massive snow shower between Toston and Three Forks, ever thankful for the highway widening that was completed a couple of years back. Turning east at Three Forks we had the wind with us and drove all the way to Park City and still had 1/4 of a tank. At Laurel we left the interstate just in time to join the 5PM Laurel rush ... and thankfully ahead of the Billings rush. By turning SE at Rockvale most of the rush left us and when we turned east at Edgar we were on our own. In the 17 dirt road miles from Edgar to Pryor we encountered zero vehicles. Our closest encounter was a tractor approaching from the north; we beat it to the junction point and avoided a slow down/stop. Our friend at Pryor did not know we were coming and she was not home. Neverthemore, it was an enjoyable ride through the Crow Reservation and then into Billings. Some chinese take-out and a firm bed ended a wonderful day.