# Travel Journal -2-17-09 Havre Montana



## wokofshame (Feb 17, 2009)

I'm gonna try out keeping a little online travelogue- here goes.

Snowmaking had finally started to make sense to me and i had a nice house to stay in with my buddies, I started thinking about getting a vehicle for the 1st time in a while as it's just so damn hard to live in the country without one. So I took out 600$ from the ATM and bought a '95 Ford ranger from a shady used dealership in Central new hampster. it turns out i had found a real baby, with two seats, a working heater, actually everything worked except some of the gauges, 150'000 miles. At one time I'd been opposed to owning a vehicle, then for years i said "It's just not my steez", now I was a proud truck owner.
A couple days later we were hearing rumors that it might be our last night on the mtn, lift ops had been told before us, i was out taking a piss when our boss Rick gets on the radio and gives us the proverbial pink slip. "leave your headlamps at the garage on your way out."
He was driving right by in the sno-cat but he felt guilty so he made a point of not seeing us in person. needless to say i kept my headlamp. The entire mountain was built on corruption and i knew i'd get my direct deposit anyway. the fucking manager of the entire place was skimming money to pay off his daughter's court fees.
On our final run we were luging down, it was the last one so we were booking just for the fuck of it, when Stich slams into me (sometimes we'd play bumper derby on the sleds)
and bounces off, capsizing. he gets back up and regains speed to where he's right behind me for about 1/4 of a mile. he wouldn't have caught up except i braked to make the final turn to the Den (where we hung out between runs) and wham! he hits me and i go flying and somersault in midair on the final stretch of the final run of the final light of the year.
For couple of seconds all I can do is breathe, then "you got me!" i just lay back with my arms spread on the snow and suck in a deep breath of cold air.
I say my farewells, do some skiing, visit my grandma, and pack up my truck over the weekend. And we roll thru the pub a bunch. Over to VT to visit the fam and friends, get a truck cap, and check the mail.
I convince my buddy Austin to come drive out to missoula mt where some of our friends already are, my brother wants to go check out this Farm in Michigan so we succumb to that whiteline fever and hit it, it's not that warm, about -8 and i ran out of weed so things were fairly intense over about 2 1/2 days of shifting the gears in that little truck. We stopped in Michigan so my brother could go to this farm and i was intending to visit good friends in northern MI but they had moved and had a new # so we just kept heading west which turned out to be something i really regretted as i finally managed to get in touch with gypsy in SD and it turns we really should have visited.
In Brandon SD we ritz into a holiday inn and get breakfast, then get into the hot tub which was much appreciated, a thousand pounds off our chests, hell yeah.
finally we arrive amongst the usual quarreling and things are great. nice and warm, and we catch up on good times, meet quite the assortment of characters, and get the greenery fix. Austin and i sat in on this one class Jack is taking by Prof graymorning at the U of M a bunch , this man Gray Morning is the shit, best class ever. If you ever get the chance sit in on this guy's class.
also we went out to a Hot Springs in Idaho,drank some wine, meet some swinger lesbians who try to rope Austin sinto the local BDSM group. That was priceless.
Austin is going thru some turmoil with his girlfriend back east who has a 2- year old kid, jack and I keep trying to convince him to stay in missoula and leave the whole Burlington Vt morass behind and hook up with my friend Amy who really loves him, she lends hime her guitar which is all he needs really, 
we're swaying him more and more and FINALLY he says yeah to staying in missoula which i am pysched about.
I got my food stamps and I'm ready to head, so i give Austin the keys to the ranger and wish him to be safe with my baby while i'm gone give him a hug then hop onto a coaltrain slave and wake up in hauser the next day,(this unit was really warm, i had the A/C on in february so i could sleep comfortably) over to Whitefish on DS, hang around there overnite, drink at the VFW and smoke a lot of herb, end up hanging and drinking in that 5-story treehouse some kids built by the catchout and grab a bare tables (all empty 53's)
eastbound up the hill, we reach Java Stn at sunset, there is snowmobile trax all the way on the access road, i wonder if MOW is using snowmobiles up in glacier???
roll out on the porch and watch the stars from my ill -20 bag, stop in cutbank, then again just outside of havre, i get off in havre, not without -RIP!- catching my ill -20 bag on something and ripping it. fuck. off to the jungle and update the tags, maybe about 1 AM and probably 0 degrees. I make a nice little fire and sit by it with my back against the concrete, sewing up the rip in my sleeping bag, cooking some chili, and trying to melt the ice in my waer jug but instead deforming the plastic. i slept really well bit i'm kinda tired right now at the library, winter 'll do that i suppose.
lehiem!


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