A perfect place to sleep.

We drove till 10 pm and then little by little it started to get darker. Being on a lookout for a perfect place to spend the night we drove up a gravel road away from the Road 200, just passing a small one street town of Circle where there was no gas station, so desired by us. The grassy land was flat and easy to make a u turn, so we pronounce this spot to be our destination for the night. Since everybody had been fed, we went straight to bed with an intention to wake up as early as possible and run away before an owner of the land would come chasing us with his 22.
It was a peaceful and uneventful night (phew!!!) and we decided to celebrate a new day with a fancy breakfast, pancakes with Wisconsin maple syrup and fresh strawberries. Just like at home, only better, since the sense of adventure did add a special kick to it!
From Circle we took Road 200 West and passed Lewistown. The landscapes were changing right before our eyes. It was interesting to discover that Montana, so well known for the mountains, is actually mostly prairie. Two thirds of the state is flat and dry. The prairies did look different form North and South Dakota prairies, though. The color was different because of a lot of brush sage bushes on the hills, giving the prairie a light bluish - greenish color.

The uninhabited plains were far and wide. Dried up little streams and ponds, cracks in the land , with no trees in sight, almost made it feel like we were the only living beings on the planet Earth. And then we saw a flower, spotted a very well camouflaged grasshopper, bashful antelopes moved in the distance looking for grazing spots, and a fox was running along the edge of a canyon, and all of a sudden the emptiness and nothingness seized to exist. It was glorious God's country with all its beauty and charm after all.
Driving through eastern Montana we, once again, for the most part followed Lewis and Clark's trail. And by avoiding traveling on major highways we were fortunate to see some spectacular views. The traffic was non existent and almost everybody waved, passing us by.
In the most parts the only sign of human activity was the fence. It always followed the road as a reminder that this land does belong to somebody, in human terms.

We took a short hike and climbed up on a butte. It was very spiritually uplifting to be there, far away from hustle and bustle of the modern society with its problems and tribulations. We took a gulp of fresh air and once again expressed our thanks for having been given such a fantastic opportunity to travel and see what we'd never dreamed of seeing.