10/15/10 Day 12

     We headed on to Livingston, Montana after a quick pack up and a breakfast of cereal.  My dad’s cousin, Mary Jane and her husband Vance live about 10 miles east of the city. 

     We hopped on I-90 and drove pretty much non stop except for a short break to visit Pompey’s Pillar.  This was a stop during Lewis and Clark’s explorations of the western territory.  It is basically a huge rock formation that if climbed to the top of, provides an amazing view of the landscape and the nearby Yellowstone River.  It is named after Sakakawea’s infant son that also accompanied the explorers on their journey.  Clark nicknamed the child Pomp.

     We turned into the entrance of Pompy’s Pillar and were disgusted to see that it appeared we needed to pay to get in.  Upon further observation, we found the gatehouse to be empty and a sign that said the pillar was closed for the season.  The gate was wide open though, so we helped ourselves and drove in.  The buildings that probably housed an information center and small history displays were all closed and there was a landscape crew working, but other than that the place seemed deserted.  We just walked right up the boardwalk to the place where Clark had carved his name and the date into the side of the pillar.

It was pretty cool to be standing almost right where the legendary explorer had years ago.  There were various other names and pictographs carved around this area in the pillar too.  We continued climbing the boardwalk steps til we got to the top.   It was a beautiful view of the river and surrounding area.  We took some pictures and headed back down to explore closer to the river.  We kicked around for a bit then it was back on the road. 

            A few hours and only one wrong turn later, we were driving over a little orange bridge and up the drive to Mary Jane’s house.  She met us at the car and we were greeted with hugs, then shown our living quarters for the next few days.  She opened the door and we walked in.  We were being stared at by hundreds of eyes!  The eyes of their many taxidermied animal head trophies!  She paid no attention, but Eric and I were fascinated by the dozens of heads surrounding us with their dead eyes gazing blankly.  She had a pull out couch bed prepared for us right in front of a fireplace and a television with satellite.  It was our own creepy hotel room! 

And thats not even a third of them!

 

     We got settled and relaxed after the day’s long drive.  Then we explored their property and house a bit.  Their yard is nice with quite a number of trees with a small pond in back.  I am not sure how many acres they own but they are pretty secluded, definitely no neighbors in sight.  The house is very strange.  There are at least 2 stories and a loft.  There is a full kitchen on the ground floor and another full kitchen on the second floor. The floor plan is very open.  I liked it a lot. 

   While Mary Jane and Vance worked on dinner, Eric and I went upstairs to play with the ferrets!  Eric was pretty excited about these little weasels. We had a lot of fun with the curious creatures until it was time to eat.

 

     Dinner was a delicious pork tenderloin roast.  Probably the best pork I have ever had!  We sipped some wine and got caught up on each other’s lives.  Then we went to bed and watched TV.   

-       Virginia