Our start from the ranch on Tuesday wasn't too late, but later than desired. Before we left I had to:
- close that corral gate to the back yard,
- take down the corral panels limiting the horses to the back yard,
- open the corral gate to the north pasture to let the horses out there,
- open the gate between the middle and south pastures to let the cattle access to both pastures while I'm gone.
We were off a quarter to 10 am - mountain time. Tammy's Garmin estimated we would arrive at my brother's place at 8:53 pm - central time. But the Garmin didn't estimate stops for stoplights, stop signs, gas refueling stops, road construction, and problems. Tammy's new Garmin also showed the current speed and the the road's speed limit. I said "new" Garmin. But not new enough to account for quite a number of lowered speed limits in North Dakota due to more traffic in the Bakken oil boom area. Often 70 mph was now 55 mph and the Garmin showed us "losing" time as we drove the speed limit.
Our first unanticipated stop was when Daisy threw up on the back seat floor 15 minutes into our journey. Daisy was not pleased when we left as she stood and looked out the minivan window and meowed as we left the ranch. Out of site of the ranch she eventually settled down and laid on Tammy's lap until she felt queasy. Once I cleaned up her mess our time of arrival was 9:01 pm. Once we got through the mountains it was 9:12 pm. And so on.
For the rest of the trip Daisy lay on the floor. First in front of the driver's seat, and once Tammy got her snuggie out, Daisy laid on the floor under Tammy's legs and snuggie with no interest in being elsewhere. I had easily put a collar on her in case she attempted to bolt from the vehicle during stops. After a couple of thwarted half-hearted attempts to exit an open door she gave up and settled down for the rest of the trip.
Our next problem was after it started to rain in central Montana. The week before we left Tammy had the air conditioner fixed in her vehicle. During the drive to the repair shop her windshield wipers quit working. The repair shop fixed them. Or so they said. During our trip, after about 15 minutes, they quit working again. Tammy was driving, the traffic was light, and concentrating we were able to see enough to make the 20 to 30 miles to the next town.
At the gas station and undercover out of the rain I found a screw was loose and tightened it. This time the windshield wipers lasted 10 to 15 minutes. When they quit working again there was a spot nearby with cover and I again tightened the screw. The wipers lasted 5 minutes. By now there was nothing but open fields. The traffic and rain were light so we kept going. The rain clouds were going from SW to NE and we began to get just ahead of the clouds and rain.
It remained that way until we got to North Dakota road construction. Each time we waited the rain caught up to us until we could get going and eventually ahead of it again. So the construction was more than an annoyance as a time waster.
It was raining when we drove through Ray, ND. The road was so bad with large potholes that the speed limit was 15 mph - not 55 mph. Between the rain and non-working windshield wipers it was hard to avoid the large holes in the road.
People living in trailers along the highway were common.
So was gas being flared at the numerous well sites. If they could build pipelines maybe they wouldn't have to waste the gas.
We had another incident in eastern Montana as we were getting closer to North Dakota. Two large semi-trailer gravel trucks were going the other way on the highway. The trucks were full, the wind strong, and a bumpy road meant gravel flying out of the trucks. All of sudden were were "strafed". One large rock hit the windshield on Tammy's side. The rock didn't make it through the glass but it left a large impression.
We didn't get to my brother's place until 10:14 pm. Eleven and a half hours to drive 700 miles. So much for Garmin's initial estimate. Tammy and I slept long and hard Tuesday night and late Wednesday morning.
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