It feels new all over again. I want to connect, I want to remember my writing. This is our first go at it in another long while. How it’s been four and a half years since her birth and yet barely a word out.
Part of what pulls me to write is adventure. The soaking in of new places. The expansion of not knowing every curve and edge of my surroundings.
I made a decision. I have been wanting to do this for quite some time, especially back when I planned to homeschool Cornelia. I wanted to take her on road trips, show her the whole country. And what better way than to focus it around her love for animals?
I felt deterred slightly when I realized my limitations and inability to work full time and homeschool full time. There was a lot of loss there, and thankfully the loss was met with the salve of her getting into a wonderful Montessori school. But losing the hope of homeschooling didn’t have to mean we lost the adventure, as well.
Plan reignited. I am going to take Cornelia to a zoo, aquarium, or animal preservation in every state in the US. Mostly shooting for zoos, but for states where that isn’t possible or a good idea, an aquarium or preservation will be a happy stand in. Maybe we’ll even hit some aquarium and preservations for bonus fun along the way.
Here we go,
Packing with a toddler for a week isn’t quite the same as packing alone and heading to a foreign country for a month. For starters, I required less belongings for the month solo trip. But all along there is this beautiful, dancing little girl around my feet. Shoes on, stuffed animal in hand. Ready for adventure. “Are we leaving yet?”
Driving up I25 we make amazing time. She is in the back, tucked in with a table that holds a movie for her. I watch in the mirror as she switches between coloring books, dry erase markers, books, and toys. Each time she helps herself to another item and chatters along I feel a warmth in my chest. How am I so lucky? How is she so big and grown and beautiful and happy just being?
“I like your music, mom.”
“I like you, kid.”
I start to feel some of the joy I’ve felt in traveling before. Quiet stretches on the road, listening to music, like Kasbo, that makes me groove.
Our SpotX tracks us along on our journey, though like the rest of this process, learning the ins and outs of it feels clunky. We’ll get there.
The hills of Wyoming give way to endless plains as we enter Montana. Cornelia gets out her camera to try and capture the lightning in the storm rolling in. A bit of a feat, to be sure, but laughter fills the car between each “whoa! Did you see that?”
We find our hotel, the Boothill Inn in Billings. For some reason as we enter Billings, I feel a sense of disappointment. A marker of how little I know about so much of my country, but I always imagined Montana to be more wild and mountainous, and less like the eastern plains of Colorado with an extra bluff or two.
Our hotel is nice, though. We are greeted by the sweetest of ladies, who calls us ladies in return. The smell of popcorn fills the lobby. We make our way to our room, Cornelia learning the mechanics of operating an elevator and spelling out B-O-O-T-H-I-L-L on the carpet inside it.
Our room is clean and simple. Cornelia runs in and jumps on a bed, claiming it as her own. She ends up loving this room, expressing sadness when our two nights are up.
We venture off to grab some burgers from Mooyah on the other side of town. The streets are lined with factories and old buildings, and while we peak briefly at a cute downtown, the town reminds me of most rural towns. It leaves me craving more character. More culture.
At Mooyah, Cornelia pays close attention to only stepping on the white tiles as we await our food. The cooking area is filled with grease and a bit unkempt, which feels like a contrast to the man behind the counter’s warm disposition.
The fries (both regular and sweet potato) are delicious. The burgers are okay, at best. We head back to the hotel to swim in the pool, where I finally feel myself relaxing and being more playful.
Up until now I have been struggling. I suppose it hasn’t really ended yet, but I feel the turning of the tide. How irritable I can be when I feel like I have business to attend to. A house to clean, work to be done. But not this week. All I have to do is keep track of our stuff, drive safe, and enjoy my daughter.
I can do that.
The next morning we head to Zoo Montana. I read a few meh reviews before leaving, and hope we still can make it fun. We hit some whiny toddler moments, but make a recovery.
I find myself having a few nerves as we walk through the gates. Of course, it is just a zoo. But it is not one I know, and I feel myself stretching as I do with all new things.
We can do this.
There is a race happening, and most of the entrance is tapped off. So we head inside the first building to check out stick bugs, which are so cool, and one of my favorite animals: the kookaburra. He huffs at us and then just stares as I sing his song.
The armadillo was a cutie, too.
We head off to the next thing, the homestead, where there are donkeys, chickens, an enormous bunny, goats, and alpacas. Still struggling from our attitude hiccup, we don’t stay long and go to leave, but find ourselves trapped by caution tape. Instead, we stop for a moment to watch the koi, and a nice man offers Cornelia some of the koi food he bought. I nod in approval, and she feeds them with glee.
Feeling a little non-impressed and remembering the reviews, I wonder how the rest of the trip will go. But that quickly washes away as we walk along a hilly path, lush with a river and large beautiful trees that provide some much needed shade.
We somehow luck out and see every animal we want to see. The wolves playing and sleeping, the red pandas come forward to stretch, the otter swimming and playing. Cornelia, though, really wants to see the grizzly bears.
When we arrive, there are no bears in sight. Hope never leaves her face. We wait a few minutes, and hear folks talking around the corner. We head over and BAM, grizzly bear. Not one, but two bears that come walking straight for us. Cornelia is entranced.
We finish our time walking through the beautiful trees- a beauty I’ve missed in the rest of Billings. Cornelia finds a little grizzly bear in the gift shop, we grab a snow cone, and we head the long way home to take in more of the town.
We end up on a bluff overlooking the city, and stop to take in the views. After a long nap back at the hotel, we head back to the pool before dinner. Big kids play and splash, and after she musters up some courage, Cornelia joins the fun.
Dinner at Mackenzie’s Pizza is okay. We realize halfway into dinner that our gluten free, dairy free meal is not quite either.
Settling in for the night, I tuck my beautiful daughter into her bed. The first leg of our trip is done, and we’ll be heading out tomorrow. I can feel myself finally relaxing. Resting into our time together.
While we sing twinkle little star, she holds my face and kisses my forehead.
“I like when our voices mix, momma.”
“Me, too, babe.”
daniellerene 