One very long day

LAUREL, Mont. --- The Brendan's Isle voyage has made a landing somewhere on I-90 for the rest of the morning.

We left Cousin Sheree's Friday afternoon, picked up the car in the nick of time, dropped off the rental just before they closed and caught Cousin Joey right before they left for the evening, so we were able to pack everything and hit the road. And hit the road we did.

We drove through the night and on to Butte, Mont., where we spent a luxurious amount of time at Cavenaugh's Celtic Shop, where we learned Butte boasts more Celts per capita than any place outside of Ireland. 

Needless to say, we found a score of things we needed, including Liam's new Irish fire engine and my Gaelic/ English dictionary with a pronunciation guide and a new bed spread. We even picked up a few gifts to share in our grand adventure. We also looked at a few mansions - given the extremely low cost of living - so if we suddenly disappear, you might want to check out west.

From there we stormed through Yellowstone National Park where we took some closeups of elk and Buffalo and some absolutely amazing geological events, which we will share in the near future. After heading out of the park and toward our next landing, we drove over an 11,000 foot mountain and got caught in a blizzard, but unfortunately, we only had rain by the time we reached the valley, but onward we went to the next town, which had no rooms in the inn, so here we are 2 1/2 hours after leaving Yellowstone, finally putting our heads down for the night.

Tomorrow, Liam and I are going to hit the pool before packing back into the car and heading toward Minnesota. We're hoping to be seeing the lakes by midnight or so tomorrow, then dinner with the Johnsons, and finally onward home.

We'll see how it goes.