Couchsurfing

Hello from Helena where I have WiFi! Another residency complete, another unbooked week!

WiFi is so glorious, don't you think? I love it. It is the very best thing in the whole world (wide web).

How did I get to Helena, you may be thinking. Let me rewind and finish up the week in Bridger. In case you couldn't tell, just like there isn't a lot of wireless internet in Bridger, there isn't a lot to do there either. I realized earlier this week that my friends, family and blog followers might be missing one key fact in understanding life in Montana -- you know how on the east coast, you have the highway and then you have to get off the highway to actually do anything? This is not the case in Montana; you've got the highway, where you can cruise at a smooth 70-80mph (yes, the speed limit actually goes up to 80mph) and then you'll see a sign telling you to slow to 45, which means that there is a town ahead. The highway then passes directly through the town and exactly one blinking traffic light later, you're accelerating back to that heavenly 75 (company policy forbids going over 75mph even if the law allows it). And when you think of it like that, the average town here is what we'd think of as a glorified rest stop. Do you think you could find much to do if you had to spend a week at a rest stop? I think not (although the view is admittedly much nicer here and gas doesn't cost $4.00 like it does at the rest areas on I-95 in Connecticut).

After my birthday, the week went well. We had a few kids get sick and Melissa had to step in at the last minute. There was also an incident of me arguing with a five year old in his underwear -- I called his mom so that I didn't get arrested. Weird things happen when you work with kids...

Yesterday, we drove to Billings, MT, which is about an hour away from Bridger. It's where the people of Bridger go when they need a Walmart/Target run. We went to yoga and then a local diner for brunch -- I got pancakes, which I've been craving recently and how could I not? Pancakes are the best! I need to get some more pancakes STAT! After pancakes, we did laundry, which is always a good time and saw Pan which was fun.

Today, we packed up again and drove off. Our next residency is in Helena, MT which, like I said, is where I am now. This is why I thought Helena was the perfect place to fly out of when I was making plans -- I'm going to Seattle to see high school best friend, Joshua Taylor Crespo on Tuesday. The drive here today was interesting -- there is a warm front coming in from the west and a cold front coming in from Canada which meant we were driving against 60-70mph winds all day. That does not make for a cozy day in the little red truck!

Now in Helena, Melissa is staying at the Quality Inn and I am Couchsurfing. It's a little weird that we're staying different places but she didn't make her plans until the last minute so this is the best we could do. I'm very comfy at the place I'm now staying, even if it is a couch. I haven't met my host yet -- there is someone here who showed me around, her name is Andrea and I'm not sure if she's another surfer or if she lives here -- but I've got a solid WiFi connection (the network is NachoNetwork... gotta love it!) and a great view.

It's a little strange trying to figure out what to do in Helena for the next two days when we're also going to be here in a week, but I'm sure we'll find something. I've also got to spend some time planning my epic adventure in Seattle!!!