We didn't close the curtains last night so woke early. Just below our windows there they all were, the wolves of Howlers Inn. Comanche didn't seem to have moved much from last night and was still being harassed by Satcha who was bouncing all over him trying to get him to play.
We went down to the kitchen for breakfast and we're all watching through the windows there when howling began. We joked it was Mary Martha who we'd just seen go out. Then it became apparent it was her, enticing the wolves to join in which they did. They looked and sounded amazing, heads thrown back howling to the sky.
After a fabulous breakfast we went for one last encounter patting those willing to be patted. Over breakfast we learned that my bites are far more likely to be from poison ivy or similar. The bad news is there's little you can do and it lasts for up to four weeks; awesome.
We packed up and were on our way back to Bozeman. First stop I went to a pharmacy to get their opinion and seek possible treatment options. I was told it had gone too far for over the counter medications and I should go to a Dr. At the Drs I was to,d the consultation would be $200 or more. I decided I could put up with the heat, itchiness and general discomfort. I think all they would've done is prednisone and much of the swelling is reducing on its own anyway. I'll keep up the allergy tabs and cortisone cream.
We headed then to Safeway to do some much needed topping up of supplies and then to the museum of the Rockies.
They have a lot of dinosaur digs around here and the museum is full of T. rex and triceratops skeletons which were very cool. They had a display of artefacts from near Pompeii presumably on loan and a very interesting Indian section. It had displays from the local Montana tribes going into their past and present which was super interesting. Part of the museum is a planetarium and we went to one of the shows which was about the origins of the myth of Atlantis using the ancient star maps as evidence. It gave a compelling theory that a recent find of a buried civilisation in the caldera below Santorini was the culture that the myth was based on. Again very interesting stuff.
Leaving the museum it was cold and raining, not at all pleasant. Deciding there was little we were likely to do other than drive we set the GPS on highways and set off east.
It's not the most exciting trip, lots of not too much but we have to get to Minneapolis by Friday so it's a matter of crossing a chunk of the country. It's mostly farm country; cattle, some sheep, soy, sun flowers, corn and potatoes.
We got into Dickinson about 8pm, tried several hotels but there were no vacancies anywhere! It has to be something akin to Gladstone and the miners cos we can't see any it her reason for so many rooms to be full.
Setting off east again we finally got to Bizmark, another unremarkable place that as inexplicably almost full at 9.30pm. Having gone across a time zone locally it was 10.50. We got a room at the ramada, $100 plus taxes etc
Dinner, some catching up on line and bed.