Brydn's 2003 Travel Journal - Montana: Reba

Brydn's 2003 Travel Journal - Montana: Reba

Page 10


I meet up with a dog and make a friend outside of Marysville, Montana.

I carefully line up my tent to be sleeping facing north. I loose a piece of my tent poles and have to fashion one out of a stick with my Swiss Army knife. This barely works so I bend around the pole a piece of tin and wrap it with electrical tape. I'm asleep by 10:30pm. I'm a dreaming vividly about what escapes me at the moment, but I wake up thinking "Rose Wild. Why would she pick that name?" First thing I want upon getting going is 'raspberry creme' coffee. I fill the pot with water, sparked up the burner and set the entire operation on the back of the truck. The propane bottle is so tall that the coffee pot tips over when I open the front truck door. I go, "Oh shit" because the burner is still going. I try again, putting it all on the ground. It tips over again. So, I bury the bottle in a dirt mound. It works out fine. Make coffee. Drink coffee. Then three dogs come walking up. The hair on the back of my neck goes straight up. They're three German Short Hairs. A big male one, a mother dog, Maya, and a puppy, Reba. We introduce ourselves. Reba quickly becomes friends. Maya gets a stick and drops it at my feet. "Throw the stick" goes on forever.... Reba tries to get the stick away. After awhile the older dogs wander off. Reba stays, laying down next to me by the creek. Then a red pick up goes up the hill with the two older dogs in the back. I run to the road waving my hands. The truck keeps going. I think why would they leave the puppy. I call the phone number on Reba's collier. The owner, Lance, said he'll send his nephew to get Reba. He doesn't know who the people in the red truck are. I gave Reba cheese (processed food substance) and crackers so she doesn't wander off. I pack up my things and park near the road so I can be seen. Reba takes a nap as I sorted out my briefcase full of receipts. About an hour goes by by when David shows up in an SUV. I tell him about the red truck. So he and Reba go up the hill to find them. They come back 1/2 an hour later. No red truck. He thanks me for returning Reba and invites me to the Marysville Saloon and he'll buy me a steak. Lance is the owner there. About 15 minutes after they leave and the red truck comes back down