Now that the morning run is behind me, I can begin to look forward to the upcoming week. Today, it’s some live TV baseball between the White Sox and Cubs. Tomorrow, I have a baseball card meeting, once I get out of the dentist’s office. The fourth box of the Hunt A Killer mystery also arrives this week. Friday, the adventure to Montana begins. I’m not sure if I’ve ever run in “Big Sky Country” since skiing has always been the primary reason for going there. This time it will be some hiking in Glacier National Park. It will be the 40th state my wife and I together have visited, and my 26th state for a run. I have only 2 states left to visit on my lifetime bucket list – Alaska and Maine. 

Friday’s trip east will cover about 800 miles round-trip with overnight stops in Walla-Walla and Spokane. Four nights will be spent in and around the park. Our schnauzer Tally is staying with my wife’s daughter and her doggy buddy Falco. They get together quite frequently. I will get out of my dog outing responsibilities for a full week. We’re meeting friends for two days of wine tasting in Walla-Walla on the way to Glacier. While in the area, we have joint reservations at seven different vineyards and three restaurants. 

My car will get a good work-out. It has just over 135,000 miles on it. If it survives this journey, we’ll take it down the Oregon Coast into San Francisco. It’s one of our few travel options following the cancellation of our Egypt excursion. My wife’s car is being prepped for it’s cross-country venture to Florida in late August. This includes some extensive body and strut work. Once we get it to the Sunshine State, it will patiently wait in my son’s garage until our permanent move next March. At that point, we’ll pack my car for the same long drive in conjunction with the moving truck. So much to look forward to this year!

I’ll pack both my running shoes and hiking boots for this Glacial journey through nature, not necessarily my favorite thing. At least, I should be well pickled by the time we get to Mother Nature’s door. Many of our planned activities have been disrupted by the Coronavirus. Also, traffic is reportedly a problem with travel limited to primarily US locations this summer. National Parks are now a preferred family destination by car. The Going-to-the-Sun Road has recently been choked with congestion and the boat trips have been cancelled, so our entertainment options may be limited. We’ll make the best of it, as we look forward to simply getting out of the neighborhood.