DAY 16 I awakened somewhat refreshed after sleeping in a very comfortable bed. Posts got updated all the way up until the previous day and I was able to get the previous day up while tethering in Helena, MT. We stopped at the Montana State Capitol and took some time to go on a self-guided tour. The symmetry of the architecture was right up my alley. The art strewn about was lovely and reflected the history of the state. The grounds were even a work of art. None of the chambers were open for us to enter, but there were windows to take a peek at them. Not as elaborate acoustically as North Dakota, but very artistic and visually appealing.

We moved on to some last minute errands like filling up with gas and getting a few staples to tide us over for the next few days. We won’t be back to an area with a large supermarket for a couple of days. Since I am very particular on what I eat (I may explain that post-trip), it is important I have options. After that was taken care of, we moved on to finding a free campsite for the night. En route we started hearing an awful sound when going over rough road or bumpy areas. We thought it was the shocks/struts.

Once we found a great spot (we hope), inspected the problem with the car, discovered the culprit – the tail pipe detached, made dinner and ate while it cooled, then removed it to keep it from dragging. We’ll get that fixed when we hit a metropolitan area. Surprisingly the muffler is still pretty quiet. Now I am writing the post that probably won’t go live for a few days. Stay tuned for a rating of the campsite.