June 11 MT/ND storms

We began today in Billings, MT, and we lost 3 of our guests.  There was a decent risk of severe weather along the MT/ND border, and these guests needed to be back in Denver by Sunday afternoon.  Chris ran them to the airport in the morning and dropped them off at a rental car company.  It was sad seeing them leave, but we understood.  That being said, we hit the road around 8:30, and our plan was to drive a couple hours east.  We ate lunch in Miles City, MT, at a place called Blackiron Grill and Rotisserie.  The food was quite tasty, and the service was very quick.  After lunch, we continued east to Baker, MT, where we found a spot outside of town to wait.  Storms were going up, but they were not moving in the direction we hoped, so we stayed put for a while longer.  The road network was very sparse, so it was crucial that we did not get suckered on a storm too early.  When it seemed like we were going to get skunked, a storm came up that exhibited signs of rotation, and it was moving in the direction we were hoping.  We intercepted the storm about 20 miles east of Miles City along US 12.  It was very picturesque, and the setting sun in the hills provided a very nice backdrop.  As the storm inched closer, lightning became more frequent, and we decided to drive further west.  We decided to abandon the now outflowy storm near Baker, MT, for storms that were near Hettinger, ND.  As we go further away, we noticed the storm we abandoned was showing signs of strengthening.  A reputable chaser reported a brief tornado, so we were rather shocked.  Anyway, the storms near Hettinger looked good on radar, but we quickly found out that they were very junky and not worth chasing.  Eventually, we decided to unsheath the big silver fork and drive to our overnight destination of Belle Fourche, SD for the evening.  Our mileage for the day was 593 miles.