MONTANA – There’s no Corona out there!

OK, I know that I am taking a chance here. Some would say that it would be in the poorest taste and completely insensitive to post anything about the Coronavirus in a blog that may also be attempting some humor. So, please bear with me. I take the Coronavirus pandemic quite seriously. It is the most critical thing that our nation (and world) faces at this moment. Everyone needs to listen to the experts and take the prescribed precautions to lower the risk of infection and subsequent spread. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is suffering and will suffer from the virus and all its associated effects. But, at the same time, we can not let the fear of the virus rule us. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, but we WILL get through this. Take precautions, but live your life. Do not give in to fear and depression. Keep a positive attitude and laugh when you can. If you find yourself self-isolated, guarding your horde of toilet paper…take that opportunity to cheer up and read some posts of Traveling with PugsleyTonks. For this post, I will tell you a happy story about a place without Coronavirus…that place is called Montana.

Courtesy of the New York Times, you can see the few states that are still in white with no Corona. Montana is one of them (bigger white state in upper left…duh). This shocks me in no way. In my quest to visit every state, I made a very brief pass-through of Montana, my 47th state. I was in Montana for about 3-4 hours. Its started well enough, I was going from Devil’s Tower, WY, to Bismarck, ND,…so I figured I would cut through Montana to check that off my list. Step 1, no problem…

Step 2 was to cut the corner on Montana so that I could end the day in Bismarck, ND. I was using Google maps…here is the big travel tip from my failure…when you want to go on that little state route that seems most direct…BUT Google maps keeps putting you on the more indirect major highway…DO WHAT GOOGLE MAPS WANTS YOU TO DO! Well, as you guessed by now, I took the road least traveled…I skipped the highway and opted for the smaller state route. When you are in Montana, you should really put “state route” in quotes. Out there, many of the state routes are not paved and there is no chance that you are getting any cell service. Beware the occasional herds of cattle that do not seem to be particularly contained and wander on both sides, as well as directly IN the road. It looks something like this for a very long time…

It seems beautiful at first, until you start thinking about how far away from anything you are. If you break down, there’s no calling AAA. No phone, no mile markers…I did not know where I was…how could I tell them where to find me. Every half hour or so, you would see some farmhouse off in the distance. That was your only hope if you break down. Well anyway, back to the original point…what chance does Coronavirus have out there? What are some of the precautions that I have heard…try to stay 6′ from other people and do not get in crowds of greater than something or other…in Montana its difficult to find any people. Those 2 precautions are no problem. So, if you are unnaturally terrified of the Coronavirus, I got the place for you to visit…its beautiful and spacious, Montana. PT

p.s. I realize at some point very shortly, Montana will get a few cases of the Coronavirus. While this certainly lessens my post, I say the basic beauty and relative safety of Montana still applies.