Oh how I have missed “pointless driving”

We took a drive on Sunday. It was Rick’s birthday and he wanted to go somewhere, but had no idea where, so I got to choose the itinerary. 

He was concerned that the first choice I brought to the table would be too long a drive for an afternoon. We knew we wouldn’t leave until after church was over and so start time would be between 12:30 and 1 p.m. We did kick around some other ideas, but I really liked the first one so I took some time to plot it out on Google and see how long it would take. 

I came up with about five to six hours. I know now what most people could have told me. Since I drive slower than Google plans, I need to add at least half an hour to each two hours to make a real estimate. Oh well, living is learning. 

The itinerary: Burlington to Powell, over the hill by Heart Mountain to 120 north of Cody, hence to Belfry, over the hill to Red Lodge, then north from Red Lodge to Roscoe, and down towards Columbus, but just short of Columbus hang a right and take that road to Joliet. Homeward bound then from Joliet to Rockvale, to Bridger and on home on 310. 

It had been many years since either of us had been that direction. Some of that trip I had never been on. But I did really want to see it all. I have heard motorcycle riders exclaim how awesome the ride is, and now I know why. The road is just curvy enough to make a bike ride totally awesome. And it is beautiful to boot. 

I had stopped in to Mad Jack’s and got a burrito for Rick and a bowl for me on Saturday, so I packed them with some chips, tea, water and fruit for lunch. We found an awesome park in Red Lodge right next to the creek for lunch. Just out of Red Lodge it started raining and I remembered that I had a bag of chicken scratch in the back of the pickup. We made a quick stop and put it in the cab. (Thank goodness for a crew cab.) We actually drove in rain most of the way. Not a hard rain, but just a pleasant rain. Cool enough we didn’t have to use the air conditioning. The vent was enough, and of course, we rolled the windows down a lot, too. By the time we got to Absarokee I knew our trip time was going to be quite a bit longer than planned, but we really didn’t have to be home until pretty close to dark, so I wasn’t worried about that. That road from Columbus to Joliet is a stretch I had never been on and was excited to see. It is really beautiful. I sure wouldn’t want to drive it in the dark though; I think wildlife collisions could be a problem. 

From Joliet home was rather uneventful except for the fact that we hit a really heavy rainstorm between Lovell and Greybull. It absolutely poured on us. We were amazed when we got to Greybull to find that it was totally dry. 

We used to drive like this a lot, then gas got more expensive and we let life get in the way so we pretty much quit. I know that now it will be revived. At least a couple of times a month we are going to set out and just drive somewhere, just to go there, for no reason, except we want to go. 

My Grandma’s pickled beets

 1 gallon small beets, cooked and peeled

2 cups sugar

1 long stick cinnamon

1 tablespoon all spice

3½ cups vinegar

 1½ cups water

Add sugar and spices to vinegar and water. Simmer 15 minutes, add beets, boil 5 minutes. Pack beets into jars, cover with syrup. If not enough to cover add more vinegar. (I actually make 1 ½ times the syrup called for, I did have some extra, but it is perfect to put hard boiled eggs in to pickle.) Process in a boiling water bath 15 minutes. 

Note: I measure the spices with my heart. I am sure I use way more than called for.