Someone shot a gun at us tonight. Or maybe it was just near us. But at the very least they were trying to scare us.
Jim and I are at the Fort Peck Dam and Lake Downstream Campground, about 20 miles south east of Glasgow, Montana. We got here this afternoon.
Earlier this evening we decided to look at some of the nearby boat launch areas for our kayaks. We saw a sign that said something like “Boy Scout Bay” that indicated it included a boat launch. I was driving, so I turned our 2004 Honda CRV onto what turned out to be a curvy, rutted, dirt road that went by a not-used-in-a-while scout camp. After about a half a mile, a big white pick up truck appeared in the rear view mirror. Almost as soon as I noticed the truck, we heard a gun shot. The truck immediately started to back up fast.
At that point we weren’t sure what was going on, but we decided Jim had better drive. I turned the car around and Jim got in the driver’s seat. He then flew us over those ruts while I said several times “Don’t be chasing some crazy people with guns.” We saw the truck get back on the main road, followed it for a while, and then watched it turn onto a gravel road trailed by a big dust cloud.
Jim checked the car and the boats and they were not hit. Once again, they were just crazy people with guns.
Below are some photos from earlier today.
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| Before we left Theodore Roosevelt National Park this morning, we decided we'd hook our tow car up to our rig in the picnic area. Then we saw these guys having breakfast there and found another spot. |
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| Another photo of the bison. A lone bison was also right next to the pay station where you enter the park. The ranger there called him "the welcoming committee." |
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| Like two days ago, we saw a lot of traffic on ND 85 including one oil tanker after another. Northwestern North Dakota is really booming because of oil exploration/extraction. |
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| Jim and Cooper between images of Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea near a stop we made at the Culbertson, Montana, visitors' center on US 2 in western Montana. |
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| Also like two days ago, we saw a lot of road construction. This photo was taken on US 2, just west of Culbertson. The asphalt was gone and for about five miles US 2 was a dirt road. |
The owners of the campground we stayed at in the Black Hills had just moved down from North Dakota within the last year. They were lamenting that North Dakota was just not the same anymore -- that so many people had moved in from who knows where and that it had become a dangerous place. They told us if we went there to make sure everything was always locked up and there was a lot of thievery. Unfortunately, you must have encountered some of those bad elements.
ReplyDeleteJeez Bev!
ReplyDeleteAlthough it does make the noisy neighbors at the last campground not seem so bad. Unless of course these were the noisy neighbors from the last campground, upset with you "outing" them.
"Crazy People with Guns" but for the lack of firepower go I.
Thanks for the comment, BooneDocks. We saw the results of the oil boom in North Dakota -- the northwest corner of the state was unbelievable with the construction, the oil wells, traffic, and the help wanted signs. Who knows what was really going on with the shootin’ guys, but we’re looking at it as one bad experience in 2 great years of travel.
ReplyDeleteCarl, you would be “crazy person with every power tool ever created.”
ReplyDeleteI noticed some signs on our walking trail had more bullet holes than metal. What IS it with gun owners? At least we weren't around when the bullets were fired.
ReplyDeleteI noticed some signs on our walking trail had more bullet holes than metal. What IS it with gun owners? At least we weren't around when the bullets were fired.
ReplyDeleteHi Trud! Glad you are reading the blog. I'm still trying to find a place to visit that you and Don and have not been to :)
ReplyDelete