I left Bob and Meme’s close to 11 and arrived in Billings before 2 in the afternoon, but got sidetracked and ended up going way further East than I should have. So I pulled into a station, gassed up, and called George for instructions.That got me back on track and I arrived at his house about 2:30. I pulled up to his house and knocked; he answered and we both realized that many years had passed since we had seen each other. I said hello to George and Donna and their OC dog, Riley, then talked George into going to the Barnes and Noble bookstore so I could purchase a road map of the US. On the way back we stopped for beer, then whet back to his place and sat outside drinking our purchases till other folks showed up.
In addition to Donna returning, their daughter, Brandy, came with her two dogs and camping equipment that needed to be cleaned and dried. George and I sat outside drinking beer while dinner preparations and tent cleaning and ball throwing to the OC dog went on through most of the afternoon. Donna joined us for a while; Brandy did the same; when her husband showed up, he came out and said hello. But mostly George and I just caught up. Took a while to do. George had a 30 or so career with government, mostly with the Bureau of Reclamation which manages several of the major dams – Coulee and Bolder – and are responsible for much of the watershed management in the West (and maybe elsewhere). When George first moved from DC in 1979, he did some consulting, then applied for various positions, one of which as with MSU in Bozeman in economics. After applying for that position, he saw a notification of a position with the Bureau and also applied for that position, which he eventually excepted. He was able to transfer his retirement credits from when we worked together at USDA over to his employment with the Bureau. While this catching up was going on, Donna and Brandy were putting together a lovely dinner of salad, pork chops, mash, and Brandy made a beautiful raisin ice cream for dessert. Like the night before, we tarried over dinner drinking wine and talking till it was bed time.
The next morning I got up to turn the coffee that George had prepared for me with the expectation that I could let George and Donna sleep till their regular wake-up time, but Riley started barking as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. So, to my benefit, George joined me and we talked a bit more; again while throwing the ball to their OC Riley. I packed up and left about 7:30.
The 510 miles I drove to Murdo, SD, was easy. With 80 mph speed limits, it doesn’t take long to cover the miles. Followed I-90 all the way, stopping in Spearfish, SD, for lunch and to gas up. I arrived in Murdo before 4 my time, but 5 now that I had entered central time. On the way I was notified (signs on the highway) that state road 83, south from Murdo to my destination White River (the county seat of Mellette County, SD) was torn up and may not even be open. So when I checked into the Best Western in Murdo, I was told to either head East to a road that connected to White River or to go West to do the the same. Checked it out on the map and decided to take the shorter route West tomorrow.
So tomorrow the work starts.