Exploring Eastward - Part 4
The following morning starts of with a brisk nip in the air, but it's a slow and quiet morning. The hustle and bustle that haunted these city streets of Billings, just the night before, has since dissipated. The sun creeps it's way over the eastern horizon as if it's yawning and stretching along with me. Breakfast seems to be calling my name, so I set off around the corner from my hotel, soon approaching a quaint downtown bakery, with a sign hanging over the sidewalk with the words "The Sassy Biscuit." I chuckle at the branding, but I love it all the same.
Being the millennial that I am, I feel obligated, compelled even, like a code of honor, to order their version of avocado toast, or "The Avo-Toast" as they have it called. To be fair, I've never had avocado toast of any kind before, despite what mainstream media says about my generation.
Chunky avocado, crispy black-eyed peas, pickled red onions, arugula, peach habanero oil, and a fried egg, served neatly and piled tall on a perfectly crusted piece of sourdough toast of their own making. With this of course being my first time ever eating avocado toast of any kind, I can now see where all the hype comes from. Needless to say, I cleaned my plate and leaned backwards into my chair, with my hands on across my belly. Satisfied.
There's just one last day of driving left ahead of me. But before I can set off, I still need to backtrack slightly. I navigate back eastward from Billings and towards the Crow Reservation. Driving through Hardin, I decide to pay a visit to the Big Horn County Historical Museum. I wander around and tour the museum for a bit, and swing by the gift shop before leaving to grab a hand-carved and hand-painted buffalo sculpture from a local artist that had caught my eye on the way in. It'll look great next to my Charlie Russell print of "The Wagon Boss" and the 2 prints of Bev Doolittle's that adorn my entryway back home. ("Doubled Back" and "Missed")
Leaving Hardin and swinging through Crow Agency, I make another quick stop, this time at the newly opened Tipi Creek Coffee Co. I order an iced dirty chai from the delightful and friendly shop owner, we chat for a bit and I learn that they had just barely opened. She grants me the wifi password so that I can sit down and catch up on some photo editing, of the near 2,500 photos taken so far along this trip.
This building and business, I learn, are part of the Plenty Doors nonprofit located here in Crow Agency. Among the many amazing things that Plenty Doors is doing to support their local community here through housing, navigating legal ownerships of respective dwellings, and opening up their space for small startup businesses to get their feet planted and blossom with affordable means to support an entrepreneur's dreams. I was welcomed like a local and was happy to have picked this little coffee shop as my impromptu stop for a mid-morning hangout.
After a few hours of relaxation, I begin to head off towards the Little Bighorn National Monument. It's an eerie drive across the hilltop of this famous battle. So many lives needlessly lost over not being able to communicate effectively. Growing up, we're provided the perspective of the Union Army aiming to settle and tame the savage natives of the far west. Older now, I can only see how bloody their hands were with subjugating the Native Americans who had called this land home for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Learning more about the battle and understanding both sides of the fight, it becomes rather clear that hubris was the cancer that lead to the defeat of the Union forces.
As wars continue to rage on around the world over similar disagreements of land and ownership, it's horrifyingly true how history continues to repeat itself. Maybe one day, the circle of violence can come to an end. Maybe one day, there won't be as much hate and resentment in the world. My own experiences have helped shape my opinions on this topic. As someone who regularly struggles with the coping of losses of those dear to me, I only wish that others could be spared from the same pain of losing loved ones. It's an unrealistic wish, as death is a part of life. It the most certain thing about life actually. But senseless violence... there should be no place for it. And maybe, by living each day to the fullest, "living each day as if it were your last," we can pour more love and understanding into our world. Or at least our small communities. And let it bud like flower.
Either way.. then I stopped at Pictograph State Park for a bit as I headed back through the Billings area, and then drove straight home. Thoroughly exhausted.