Montana Road Trip
Summer 1997
One week of vacation and time to kill...where to go?  What to do?  O.K., I'm a strange dude (if you've
explored this website, then you already knew that).  I chose Montana, and not the pretty part on the
west side. I was inspired to drive to Eastern Montana because of a book called Bad Land by Jonathan
Raban.  His description of the land was nothing short of amazing, considering there's not much out
there to see except cattle and endless miles of dirt roads.  He also described a town originally called
Ismay, which changed its name to "Joe" in hopes of attracting thousands of Joe Montana fans to an
annual celebration.  Unfortunately, Joe, Montana didn't look like it had benefited much from its Joe
Montana shrine on the side of an abandoned Catholic church.
I packed a week's worth of stuff, along with one of
my motorcycles, and made the two-day drive to
Miles City.  With the town as my base camp, I
traveled the back roads on my motorcycle for two
long days, each approaching 200 miles of pure
freedom.
This picture was taken on a bridge across the
Powder River.  From what I could tell, the river got
its name from the powder-like sediment that
clouded its waters.
Here's Eastern Montana...God's Country?
Need to find someone in Montana?  Just follow the signs...
(70 miles to Miles City)
I reached my destination
Most towns are lucky to have one rodeo hall of famer.
Just me and my ride and a ton of open space.


Painted on the wall next to "Joe's career"
was "1975-78
National Champs
1977
4 Super Bowls
Joe - 3 MVP's"