Stupid LItterers

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Ron and I were up early, out before dawn. I very much enjoyed our beer-n-pizza fueled discussions the night before, and was once again reminded why I enjoy traveling with Ron.

Not much to write about today. Ron went home, west, and I went home too, east. First along 12 up over Lolo, which was unfortunately hazy from wildfires.

Then through Missoula to I-90 to Billings. Chuck was in Helena and it was tempting to stop there for the night and join him at the local brewpub, but that means stopping at 4pm, which is too early, and require 1200 miles on Wednesday. If I get out early at 2am that might be feasible, but I would be off the interstate on 2-lane highways at night. Not only is there an increased risk of animals, but the speed limits at night are slower in Montana.

Likewise, it was tempting to stop at the Pickelbarrel, but I would be fighting 5pm traffic there and back. I would probably lose 30 minutes of daylight, at least! So I pushed on to Billings, resolving to stop at the Montana Brewing Company if the KOA didn't have good beer. But they did (yellowstone valley brewing, black widow stout). Good stuff!

The camper next to me from nor-cal was on a 2009 r1200gs and was also on his way to MN, but on a more leisurely pace. He wasn't due in Minnesota until Friday. He said his wife is flying into MSP and then they are renting canoes and camping in the boundary waters. Jennifer would be jealous!

And so I hit the sack, making sure no feral cats are in my tent, despite how cute they look, sitting in the grass, waiting for me to leave my soup unattended....

Oh yeah. LIttering smokers, forgot to explain this.

When I was leaving the Bozeman pass I saw smoke from the grass next to the highway, the start of another wildfire. I called it in to 911 but they already had a crew on the way. Clearly probably a smoker who had tossed a lit butt out the window, despite the frequent signs proclaiming severe fire hazard and specifically asking smokers to "keep cigarettes in the trays". If anything, I wish smokers would stop littering our world with their butts. Why can't they discard of them properly, instead of on sidewalks, in gutters, or out the windows of cars?
As I continued to Billings I became more conscious of scorched grass and tree trunks along the highway ... and thinking that I could support a tax on cigs to help pay for the cost of fighting grass / forest fires near roads, and for the salaries of the folks who pick up their litter.

Stupid littering smokers [presumably].