Day 6, July 14

   When I ran this morning, I seemed to have a little extra pep in my step - almost like I have some extra testosterone flowing through my body.
   We notched another state this morning - Montana - Big Sky Country. We spent a few hours at Little Big Horn to see how Custer messed up. The first thing we did was attend the Park Ranger's presentation to 75 or so first time visitors to the Little Big Horn Battlefield. The second thing we did was embarrass ourselves. The Ranger was very good - we sat on the first row front and center while he spoke on an outside patio to everyone. I don't know if it was the perfect temperature, humidity, and light breeze, or our whirlwind trip and some lack of sleep, but we both nodded off right in front of the Ranger. He carried an arrow with him as he ranted and raved and pointed to all parts of the battlefield during his lecture. Pee Wee and I both felt the arrow prodding us in our nodding off moments - same kind of thing we've done to students before. Sorry Mr. Ranger - we won't do it again.
   It was a great place to visit though - the hundreds of acres of grasslands where the massacre happened 140 years ago looks the same today as it did then. We also got some photos of some wild horses on the side of the road. It was easy to sit back and imagine what was happening to Custer and his men as they fought to the last man.
   Then we drove to Billings, Montana and visited the Pictograph Cave State Park. Sometimes we kind of strike out on our ventures and this wasn't one of our better stops. We were supposed to see remnants and cave writings on the three caves from 3000 years ago, but we had to stretch our imagination to find anything on the walls. We had more fun scaring each other about rattlesnakes than we did visiting the place - there were quite a few signs warning people about the snakes.
   We got a little turned around and ended up staying at the Hilltop Inn in Billings, which is nestled in the middle of the very large local hospital area and is used by families who have relatives in the hospital. We thought about making up a story about our poor uncle Ned and his recent health problems, but that would have been a bad deed. Speaking of deeds, only one good one today, and that was a little of a stretch. The Park Ranger who nudged us with his arrow really was very good. As we were leaving the park, Pee Wee looked around to find him to tell him what a great job he did. Pee Wee didn't do it to save face, he really wanted to do something nice for the guy and he really went out of his way, so we're counting it.
   Definitely the highlight of my day came at dinner tonight. Pee Wee's favorite restaurant in the world is Perkins, so we ate at Perkins. We were joking around with the waitress which is kind of our normal procedure. Tonight I asked her who looked younger between the two of us and after a moment or two she pointed to me. Since Pee Wee is three years my junior, our very intelligent waitress received a very nice tip.
   Tomorrow we're heading west again - not sure where but that's kind of how this trip goes.