Sandman's Journal

Oofda... greetings from the west side of North Dakota. At 2 a.m. yesterday morning I was still in Olympia... basically drove all night to Livingston, Montana (except for a three-hour stop in Ellensburg, WA, to rest and have breakfast with my good pal Aaron). Then I drove to Spokane and had lunch with Melissa who treated me to a gourmet lunch at the Elk. By day's end I was at Earl and Susan's outside of Livingston. They had bought some land and built a house since the last time I saw them, so now they have to keep busy with their horseshoeing business. Their land is intense, with views of three jagged mountain ranges: the Crazies, the Bridgers, and the Absarokas. I arrived while they were asleep and woke up early to join them for a breakfast of biscuits and eggs. Earl filled a clawfoot tub out in the field with hot water and I soaked and listened to the morning meadowlarks before heading to Killdeer, ND, which is where I am now, at my parents' house. They just bought it for only $32,000 from the bank. It's old and big and nice. We cooked a venison dinner and invited Grandma and Grandpa Sand over, and then we had some ice-cream. I'd better get to sleep. I've been burning the candle a little too hot this last week.