There was the Rainbow Family in the van and the rabbits watching from beyond the road. November nights they spent sitting beside the highway, waiting for a ride. Cell phone service was sparse and their goal to hitchhike into Helena, then on to North Dakota, looked to be in jeopardy.

This is how it goes for Scotty MacDonald and Matt Fiddler, a pair of young Canadian men bent on achieving the ambitious goal of hitchhiking across America to visit all 50 capitol buildings in 50 days or less.

The pair has already been to Juneau, Alaska, but not yet Honolulu, Hawaii (which may be a problem when it comes to hitchhiking).

They've checked off Montgomery, Ala.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Jackson, Miss.; and Baton Rouge, La., from their list, but have yet to visit Denver; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Phoenix; or Carson City, Nev.

"The idea just kind of came out of nowhere, really," MacDonald said. "We just finished college and wanted something to do."

As with Beavis and Butthead across America, their crash-course in U.S. geography has been a clumsy affair at times. They rolled into Boise before Halloween in a semi-truck driven by a guy named Jack, and they spent Election Day in Salt Lake City.

Then it was off for Helena, the 34th capital city on their cross-country voyage. Their time in Montana was fraught with ups and downs, but nobody said their Steinbeck-style journey would be easy.

"Nextel kinda forgot about Montana, Wyoming and most of the Dakotas," MacDonald wrote in his log, two days before arriving in Helena. "Our phone doesn't have service today and maybe it won't tomorrow."

By the time we caught up with MacDonald and Fiddler (actually just MacDonald because Fiddler was out having breakfast), they had already slipped through Helena and were living large in Minot, N.D., trying to get to Bismarck.

"Montana? It was good," said MacDonald over the phone. "It's a big state and there aren't too many people around. But it's sure a nice place."

Hitchhiking through the South was easy, MacDonald said. New Jersey and New York were a different matter, but that was expected. In the West, the rides go a long way, but getting from point to point isn't so simple.

The two men, who have known each other since high school, were sitting alongside I-90 outside Bozeman when a brown van pulled over. They climbed in and were introduced to the Rainbow Family inside -- Arianna and Leprechaun and their son, Rowan.

"Leprechaun talked passionately about mind over body, spirit over mind, body over mind-type theories and ideas," MacDonald wrote. "Like two stone statues, we sat in the back of that van trying to take it all in. I don't really get it all, but it seemed positive, so that's cool."

Leprechaun and his family dropped the Canadians off in Three Forks, where the two men made themselves comfortable along the highway, the rabbits serving as their only company.

It wasn't long before "Drew," fresh out of the military, offered them a ride to Helena. He dropped them off at the mall, two blocks from the Capitol -- the 34th on their tour. They posed for pictures and checked Helena off their list before heading back to the interstate, looking for a ride out of town.

"We found a busy onramp and parked ourselves, thinking it wouldn't take long to find a ride," MacDonald wrote. "Four hours later, we were standing in the same spot, but a lot colder."

There in the distance was the Wal-Mart store, a beacon in the night. They went shopping for long underwear, gloves and new socks, hoping to stay warm. Now dressed for the Helena weather, they went back to the onramp.

"The cold gave us a chance to try out some new moves to add to our hitchhiking guide," MacDonald wrote. "We came up with 'the shiver' and 'the frozen plea.' But nobody took pity and we decided to pull the plug and find somewhere to stay."

After checking in at a cheap motel, they received a message. A Helenan named Greg offered to drive them to Shelby to catch a train to Minot.

"We hitchhiked on the train," MacDonald said. "Some guys hooked us up with a ticket."

To find out more about MacDonald and Fiddler's journey, or to read about their experiences and the people they've met, log on to www.hitch50.com.

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com