I crossed nearly half of North Dakota and half of Montana today -- listening to my Louis L'Amour books on CD almost all the way.

There were gunfights, there were buzzards, and rattlers and all nature of varmints. There were damsels in distress, low-down, dirty-dealing scoundrels and tall-standing, straight-shooting heroes.

With Louis as my background music (as narrated by Willie Nelson), it was almost as if, as I whipped down Interstate 94 at 75 miles an hour with my air conditioning on, there were dangers lurking around every dusty arroyo, beyond every butte, behind every canyon.

Lucky for me, I had my trusty hound Ace by my side. Here he is keeping a nose out for rattlers, which allowed me to hightail it to the restroom and take care of a matter that had arisen on account of too much coffee.

Some might reckon I was suffering from too much Lamour, also -- but that don't matter none to me.

Right now, after a hard and long day on the dusty trail, I aim to wash up, enjoy some grub, throw a couple more blogs on the fire and catch some shuteye.

Seeya at sun up.