11-12 October 2022
Tuesday
Today’s drive is about 440 miles, back to Makoshika State Park in Montana. It’s 6 am. We pack Vincent in the dark and walk Lucy. The woods glow silver in the moonlight. By 7 we are on the road to Fargo ND where we stop for pastries and coffee. We are buffeted all day by strong crosswinds as we make the long drive on I-94 across North Dakota, but we gain an hour as we go. We cross into Montana and arrive at Makoshika in late afternoon. Here, we choose campsite 5 because we can park Vincent next to the picnic table to provide a bit of a windbreak as we cook. As we prepare our meal we hear distant squawking. We look up to see a flock of white pelicans overhead, braving the winds.
Wednesday
We have a windblown oatmeal and muffin breakfast after which Lucy, O and I are pushed about by the wind as we go for a walk. No hiking today! I think we’d be blown off the ridges. We take shelter in the van, taking breaks from reading to walk Lucy. It’s quite gusty for cooking on our propane stove so we head into Glendive to top off Vincent for tomorrow’s drive and to buy sandwiches for dinner. We’re aiming for another early start. The forecast is for more wind, but we’ll escape the gusts as we drive westward.
O and I settle in for a quiet evening. Apart from us the campground appears deserted. O reads while I tune my fiddle and play some warm up scales. Suddenly we hear (and feel) pounding on the driver side door, but no one is in sight. O opens the door to find a tearful young boy outside. “Help! I need help!” he says breathlessly. “My grandpa fell on the stairs and he’s not moving and he looks pale! I think he’s dead! I don’t want to lose my grandpa! Can you come help?”
O and I pull on our jackets. I grab my first aid kit as we try to reassure the boy. I’m the first out of the van with O and Lucy close behind as the boy leads the way. The youngster is crying and blaming himself for taking his grandpa on this walk. He tells me his grandpa is not well and “has lots of metal in his body.” I ask the boy his age (nine) and praise him for finding help so quickly. I try to reassure him that grandpa’s fall is not his fault.
The boy leads us to a trailhead across the road where a few steep steps lead down into a wash. The steps are dry but the clay is slippery. Standing at the bottom of the last step, beneath which much of the trail has washed out, is a man, much younger than I thought Grandpa would be. He looks a bit dazed and slightly wobbly, but he insists he is OK. He has an abrasion on his forehead but claims the only thing that hurts is his back. With a little help Grandpa is able to climb back up the stairs. O gives him a hand up each step while keeping Lucy out of the way. I keep a hand on the man’s back to help steady him. At the top of the steps the boy hugs his grandpa and tells him how scared he was. Each is apologizing to the other. While Grandpa sits at the picnic table to rest, the boy holds up his little finger. Apparently it got squished when Grandpa fell on it. It does look a bit bruised and swollen. The boy is impressed when I pull out a “way too big” finger splint and put it on his finger. He proudly says he feels like a cyborg now!
I offer to drive the two of them home in their car while O drives behind in Vincent. Grandpa initially refuses but finally gives in. The boy mentions that his mom has been teaching him to drive “in case Grandpa gets dizzy while he’s driving!” Their house is quite close to the park entrance road. Grandpa’s parents (yes, that’s right, he’s pretty young for a grandpa) are at the house. I drop Grandpa and his grandson off to “thank you’s” and well wishes and ask them to get checked by their family doc tomorrow. Grandpa agrees.
O and I return to camp where we try to reclaim our quiet evening.