August 2 - made it to Polson, MT

Well, here I am at the local library on these annoying tie limits. I already had to read all my mail then get off and wait my turn again so I might not have time to reply individually to everyone I've heard from.

So, now I have so much to tell you. I camped at Turtle River Park. That was great. Friday-Sun. I left Mon. After that was my first real day of travel and as evening came I began to get nervous. I was really going to be camping out where I didn't know anybody. i couldn't believe it. Well, I had no idea where to stop. there was those towns everywhere with all the grain elevators. My idea had been to stop and draw neat store buildings but I was too chicken. I did make a stop for gas where the attendants were really friendly and that put my mind at easy. So after that I just decided to look. I saw a sign for Berthold and pulled off to see it. As I drove around I saw two ladies practicing barrell racing. Why not, I though so after I stopped at the gas station I came back to talk to them, who knows, right? Well, it turned out to be a mother and daughter and we got to talking.

Once they realized I was an artist - you know, once I told them, they told me of their local town artist and directed me to her house. Well, she was so nice. Barbra is her name. She looked at all my art, I looked at hers, you know the usual. So summing up what is already going to be a long story, I loved Berthold. It was EXACTLY like I imagined my trip would be. She told me where I could sleep at a park for free. I went and drew some of the town before sunset and pretty much all the neighbor kids came up and talked to me. We ended up walking around town till after dark. I slept under the playground equipment at the school and rose up with the sun. Before I left i sold a painting of the local café to the owner, a drawing of Barbra's house to her and she also bought one of my colored copies.

I also got to see some more rodeo riding and I can say I met the high ranking ND bull rider. Everyone was so nice to talk to. I had a great time. that was Monday.

Tues:
I drove, duh. I took a detour to see the bad lands which Barbra had suggested. it was really beautiful. AFTER I had pretty much passed the bad lands I realized that I was missing the chance of a lifetime to paint the scenery so I pulled off into a approach and walked down along the road till I came to round bales that had come from the grass in the ditch. I sat up onone of those, felt all artsy and painted away. Cars wouold pass every once in a while and either wave or honk. Then one guy turned around and came back. I hopped off worried I had blocked his approach with my Bug. Nope, he's just curious he said. He even gave me his business card and address. Another friend. I made it to Culberston, MT, where I decided I would stay the night. I stopped in at a historic museum and took the tour. while I was there a visiting lady just happened to know of a farm on 20 acres for sale for $21,000. there was even an Amish colony nearby. I'd have to check it out. I slept in the park again. This time there were two other pup tents up. I just used my sleeping bad.

Wed:
The other campers were cyclists on their own summer road trip. I can't believe how many people I've seen on road trips, its a common thing. So I drove south 35 miles south of Miles City, MT. It was entirely dirt roads. this little "farm" turned out to be a very nice built house on a hill of sand. I don't think there was 5 square feet of level ground. I visited the locals and they told me I'd never be able to grow anything on there. they all work in town. well what's the point in that? I covered 60 miles of dirt road that day. I found the Amish farm. I met the Yoder family.

Abe, the dad was so nice. He's the one who greeted me. He showed me around, I saw their flower mill. An old guy told me about Bee therapy, he says a bee sting will cure just about any inflammation. That was interesting. The girls were quilting. I met them, they were so quiet. everyone talked low German around me. They have 9 kids and yet the mother invited me to stay the night. Well, the older sisters had planned a surprise party for their neighbor friend who tunred 22 that day. We had a great time socializing, I finally got a better idea of Rook, we enjoyed ice cream and BBQ chicken. i had my first buggy ride and when we finally got home we slept under the stars, it was too hot inside. they reported 107 degrees.

Thurs:
They let me take a bath, I needed that. After breakfast I had to leave. There were other colonies to visit. they gave me directions to the Hutterites. So I drove a bit, ended up in some of the neat old buildings, and tried to sell my drawings, no luck. One of the buildings was abandoned and the other, the owner was gone for the day. A very nice lady did stop and talk to me though. She gave me all sorts of advice and encouragememt, sort of rejuvenated me.

The Hutterite colony was really different too. They live in a group, they have seperate houses but everything else they do together. There's assigned leaders over some work and the rest take turns helping. I saw how they wore their hair. I talked for a long time to two sisters-in-law. they were very open and helpful. I just want to see that different ways people live their lives. Maybe it will help me decide how I want to live and maybe I can find a place where I can fit in. Hutterites I can check off my list. I like the closeness but they are too close. they are never alone until they go to bed and everyone is always split up, no family time. they are still about the most generous people I've met. Lena made me a sandwich before I left and directed me to the next colony.

There, I didn't see very many people around. the last stop there were some people sitting on their porches. An old guy greeted me. He was very concerned about my boyfriend status. Was I married? Did I have a boyfriend? Would he let me travel all alone? Once I got that explained he was like, "Well, here you'd could get married real quick," or somethinglike that. Like they're short of females or something.

Anyways at spring Water colony I was invited to supper, the men eat on one side of the room, women on the other and afterwards the kids come in. They pray before and after the meal. After that I waited in a house til they were done with the dishes, I didn't get to help. After that the girls of the house came in to give me a tour. i saw the milk barn - 150 cows, chickens, the works. They have a few thousand chickens. I have never felt like suchh a foreigner. About half the kids in the colony came and followed us everywhere. It was like something out of a movie. We went into the school house after the tour and tried to find songs that we knew well enough to sing. Not much luck, but we did have fun. At 8:00 the kids were called into bed and I started heading out. Neighbors brought out so much food. I had about 8 aprcots, cherries, bread, two kinds of crackers, cheese, meat, pop, I'm not sure totally what all I have.

Then the leader of the colony called me over and asked me about my business, beliefs, whatever. he was very nice, just testing me out. Once I made it to my car there were more adults to see me off. They had all sorts of questions for me and I had a great time being the center of attention. Of course the subject got onto art and I showed them my stuff. They liked it butof course they don't believe in it. Something to do with graven images but somehow it was ok to have a picture drawn of you. One guy asked me to so I showed him how I am such a failure at drawing people. It was getting dark so maybe that's why he was so impressed by it. I let him keep it, of course, there's no way I can repay their kindnesses. "Well," he said, "would you like to spend the night here? You've earned it by drawing me." Of course I accepted, otherwise it would be at the park again and I still had to find it.

Well, I stayed up till nearly 11:00, we got into a great discussion about religion. Praying, baptising, mostly about unclean foods since I didn't eat pork. it was really fun and interesting, I was able to argue my beliefs to my satisfaction, of course, there's never such a thing as a winner in those kinds of discussions. I slept in the basement, had a shower. How nice

Friday:
I got up and had breakfast at 6:30 with everyone else. I was TIRED. Before I left they gave me a pint of their homemade rhubarb wine and I also found out that one of the men I had been arguing with was one of the two ministers. eeee. I had a long beautiful drive. I went from Great Falls to Cut Bank where I walked around the craft show that was going on. I drove through some of Glacier and finally stopped in Kalispell where Mom used to live. I could her from there just for old times. After that I called my Great Uncle Julian, he lives an hour away and he's who I hoped to stay with. I've only met him a couple of times that I barely even remember but I had sent a postcard from Turtle River Park. Well, he never got it and I had to go through the family tree so he could remember who I was. I bet its been 10 years.

Of course I could stay with him, he told me, and we had a great time catching up on all the old news of back home. And that's where I am now. I stayed the weeken, he took me to breakfast and gave me tours of Polson and Plaines. we visited his brother Obert. I heard some accordian and violin played by Olbert. Grandpa and his brothers are such natural musicians. Today is Monday, the day I'd be on the road again but he talked me into another night. it's been great hearing stories about him and Grandpa back in the day.

Now I HAVE to go. So much for my 15 minute time limit. everyone who's written me, hi and I'm really sorry I didn't get to answer yet, but I WILL. ok? Oh, this week the plan is Libby, Rexford, and then a good long haul over to Spokane where I have some other distant relatives to stay with. there's Amish to see in the other towns I mentioned. So Bye!!! Nice finally talking to you.

Have Fun,
Rachael

August 17 - vising Sweet Home. did I send this?

Well, well, well, do I have things to tell you but I'm on a time limit! Maybe that's a good thing for you. I can't talk forever. So, I stayed at my uncle's. That was weeks ago. After that I left for Libby to visit the Amish community up there. They were sweet as slways, i followed a lady home from the store. That's how we met. Anyways, she suggested that I visit the people in the Yaak. it's a community of people who live a simple life but it's not part of their religion. I found the place all right. The town was friendly as always.

I LOVE THE YAAK. Not only do they live the way I like but they have log cabins, one of the ladies is a registered nurse (I'd get to learn first aid) and there are two girls about my age who are awesome. they are the complete mountain girl. they go everywhere barefoot, they do crazy things and they work hard. The one, Kiki is 17 and she has her own chainsaw. She helps her dad cut trees and she's helping to build her cabin. The other girl is really strong, she chops wood. I think it's just her and her mom. Her name is Amy. I stayed the night, the boys all went swimming at 1 in the morning i nthe freezing cold mountain river. I was only supposed to stay a day but we went on an all day horse ride. it was sooo dun and so beautiful. I eally got to see Montana country. when I got back I could barely move I was so stiff and sore. I didn't think sitting on a horse is such a workout. That night we slept intheir bus which has been made into a camper. We stayed up all night talking. Kiki is a traveler too. She just hitchhiked from Seattle to the Yaak. She agreed to come with so we also did some packing that night. her dad gave me his old atlas, too. Well, Kiki didn't come and that's ok because I was really tired. i camped out in Utah, I didn't even have the energy to cross that 60 mile panhandle.

Now, the day after I camped in Utah would be Friday, Fridays I try to find a cmapground to stay the weekend. It was getting late, around 4:00, that's when I started keeping an eye out. I also kept meaning to stop for stranded motorists. it is the nice thing to do and all that. there was quite a lot along the road. Finally, after the third car I failed to stop for I saw a mini van. That's it, I'm stopping, so I did. it turned out to be a family from MINNESOTA. The weren't having car trouble, their daughter spilled raspberry slushy, so we got to talking. it turned out that they were on their way to a place called Holden Village. After some more tlking they said they had an extra reservation. Before you knew it, I was invited along for a week stay at this Lutheran resort. I had no idea what it was like. it sounded like camp to me. there's classes, seminars, hikes, volunteer work, whetever you want to do. i offered to help where they might need it.

It turns out they were desperate for kitchen help so that's what I did. They set out each place setting at 25 tables before each meal. it's a lot of stuff. That's what I did. I also went on a hike every day. One I went on with another girl on kitchen staff, Jenny. It was to Lyman Lake, a total of 17 MILES and I made it. it was great fun. Another highlight would be tha big supply unloading. Every two months a barge grings inthe food supply. There was a train of people going to all the lockers and freezers. Ginger, the head cook called out the location of products as they moved down theline, "Tomato Sauce. Curly!" The three lockers are named after the Stooges.

Another Highlight was Friday, Renaissance Day. they have a costume shop up in an old projection room. Everyone dressed up and most people looked more like they were from the loony bin. All the little boys had little capes and ran around with pool sticks. I got to help out with facce painting. Since I have my own supply for that I continued it after they cleaned up. Other then that there was always late nights because the staff is all young people. They have access to everything so they blasted music and played pool, there was a bon fire, card games, I saw Waterboy again. my new friends were all telling me to stay on. It was sad to go, I was surprised how little time it took. Sis I tell you you can only get there by ferry? Well, now you know. See, the ferry ride was fun too. I met this guy who's into rock climbing and hiking. We talked pretty much the whole time on te ferry-by the way, hi Theron, I just remembered he'll be reading this, too. wow, you have to be careful what you say about people with this group e-mail. Since I'm at it: Sandman, what's your name? I also talked with this kid all the way down the mountain to the ferry, he got me to memorize his address and I don't even know his name.

So, almost caught up. Once off the ferry I went with my family for the wekk, Mercurios, to Leavenworth, they bought me dinner and then they had to go. they have friends in Leavenworth but I wasn't able to meet them because they have copany. I did find a campsite, though. It cost $13 to PARK my car for the night. Whatever. I was just pulling out when this kid flagged me down. i had knocked at his door first, i thought it was the office for the campground. once he found out I wouldn't be paying $13 for a parking spot he invited me to sleep on their porch. COOL! I had a roof. I was still glad to be oon my way the next morning. After calling home the managers let me use the showers. The lady was so nice she brought out a bunch of bath products for my trip. I drew them a picture as a thank-you as well as the Paris family.

Then I got to mt. Hood - Hood River. That was so neat to be back where I had such a great vacation. I spent the evening walking around and remembering last October. i asked at a hotel about a camping area. there was one out of town but it wa still $13. I'm looking for free spots now. I drove back to town and slept in a church park. I painted them a picture as thanks. Ok, I had my worst day ever in Hood River. I spent 4 hours painting a building only to find out he had commissioned someone to paint it long ago. Lesson 1: make pictures smaller. So I painted an ice cream shop, I sold that one for $5 and a large ice cream cone. it doesn't matter though because when I got back to my car I had a $10 parking ticket. WHATEVER! They just made it up, I wasn't even there 3 hours.

So I drove a long time. I stopped at the same stop we stopped at when we were in Hood River, I threw rocks off the cliff, one for everyoe in my familiy. It's a BIG cliff. Last night I slept outside a campground, off the main road and behind a rock pile. It was nice, I got to listen to the stream nearby. Now I'm in Sweet Home, tomorrow I will visit my friend that I met onthe train ride out to Mt. Hood. For now I've sent out postcards and I painted another picture which they didn't buy, I don't think I like Oregon. People don't even say hi back to you on the street. I still have enough money to leave at least.

Just cruising,
Rachael