No Services

We had never been to Montana to visit Nathan's youngest sister and family, so when their first child, Madisyn, turned 2 and Nathan had Spring Break, we drove north. Unfortunately, right before we left we started having signs that I was having a miscarriage. Not knowing if we really were, or what that would entail, we pressed onward. Before very long it became very obvious that we were, indeed, having a miscarriage. This required me to make many trips to the bathroom, of which Montana has none.

Let me clarify: I'm sure that somewhere in Montana there are public restrooms. Just not anywhere on I-15. Nope, that road is a 5 hour joy ride through stark desert. The scenery is punctuated at intervals with signs like these.

For those of us not from Montana, I will translate. This exit is someone's driveway to their farm. No gas, no restrooms, nuthin'. The whole freeway is like that, exit after exit. Being already slightly emotional (just slightly) I had to endure the rising hope as we would spot another exit, only to have it all come crashing down in frustration. Um, not a fun trip.

We finally did make it to Great Falls, where we discovered that "No Services" is, in fact, NOT the most common sign in Montana. That would be "Casino." When we got to the base and Tiffany's house they explained to us that the laws in Great Falls were such that in order to sell alcohol a business either had to be a casino, or it had to pay a really, really big fee for a liquor license. Consequently, we passed Burger King Casino, Shell Station Casino, Best Western Casino, etc. They all have 3 slot machines and add "casino" to their name. Weird.

Maddy was very cute as she opened her presents, and seemed to like the Mr. Potato Head we'd brought for her. Miles was a roly poly adorable chub.
Despite the problems I was having, we were glad we got to see Mike, Tiff, Maddy, and Miles.