Archive for the Montana Category
Posted on October 24, 2009 by angela
Parker recommended Bozeman, so off we went. We passed through Anaconda, home of the big Smelter Stack – the tallest (585 ft) and possibly largest free-standing masonry structure in the world. An interesting note is that the Washington Monument would easily fit inside. We had been warned of the Anaconda swine flu outbreak, so we stayed in the car, and admired the big phallic structure from the highway. I thought it would be bigger 
Butte, Montana was the pit stop portion of our drive. Jason wanted to get the tires balanced and rotated, so he left Bode and I to entertain ourselves at an empty mall. The tire rotation took so long that we didn’t get to see the town’s main attraction, a toxic waste dump that you actually have to pay $2 to see. Jason seemed to have the more interesting day waiting next to a bleached blonde woman in heels, dressed to the nines. An old friend of her’s walked in and during the catching-up she explained she was now a roofer. Her friend asked if she was scared of being up on the roof or swinging a hammer. No way, she loved it! We don’t know a lot of roofers, but Jason guarantees he’s never met one that looked like her in California. “It’s fun! I’m not afraid of being up high. I’m not afraid of anything,” she said.
Many years ago on a particularly blizzardy day in South Lake Tahoe, Jason and I lounged in bed watching the mountain ski report to see if we could make it up the hill to snowboard. The ski-dude weatherman introduced us to the term “Snain” – half snow, half rain. An appropriate term for what we drove through over the Continental Divide on the way to Bozeman. Another often-quoted phrase from that snow report… “Did you see that guy on a bicycle in the blizzard this morning? He doesn’t have a car!” Tahoe weathermen are awesome. You had to be there.
No worries. Once down the pass, the weather cleared a bit. We stayed around Bozeman for 2 days and took care of a few of the things that really bore you on a vacation, like laundry and shopping. It wasn’t really raining, but Bode loves umbrellas. In fact, at one point it cleared up so much we noticed there were still mountains around us.
Bode and I snuck away to the Museum of the Rockies, one of the world’s largest collection of dinosaurs. Very cool. These smaller feathered dinos actually clawed their way up the big dinosaur to kill and eat it. If Bode would give me a little more time at each exhibit, I could read the displays and learn more. I’ve learned that reading at museums is futile and that I just follow along with him running around looking at stuff.
We talked to a guy at a restaurant here and yet again we heard the now familiar story. He came to Montana and loved it so much he stayed. He did mention that they had 80 days without snow this year. It stopped snowing in June and started again in September. 80 days.
We’re currently in The Badlands (I just love saying that). We’ll be heading through SD on 90 to visit friends in Vermillion, so if you have any great pit-stops let us know!
Posted on October 23, 2009 by angela
Did someone say c-c-cold?
We headed straight from Missoula to the middle of nowhere about 1.5 hours away. We’ve seen so many deer in Montana that I’ve stopped yelling “DEER!”. That is until we saw deer legs sticking out of the back of some pickup trucks.
We stopped in one small town around dinner time thinking we might stay. But, there were just a few too many home-made billboards discouraging the use of meth for my comfort, so we plodded on.
Melissa and Mitch had pointed us to Philipsburg because of it’s proximity to sapphire mining and ghost towns. The problem with Philipsburg in late October is that it is a ghost town. It had become really cold, and was nearing dark and we decided it was time for another motel. The first was locked but had a sign to call. Problem was, we had no cell service. We found a wireless connection (the hotel’s) and used Skype but no one answered. We headed to the end of town and found another motel. No one there either, but as we pulled out the owner drove in. I sighed in relief as we were not prepared to drive another 2 hours to the next town. Keep in mind that driving times are somewhat slower in an old Volkswagen, and they are really slower in the rain with a fidgety four year old in the back.
Philipsburg is actually a pretty neat little town. There is one paved road in town – main street. At the end of the businesses on main street, the pavement ends too. Even though all the rest of the roads in town are sort of layed out on a grid – with many historic buildings – it’s all dirt. Still a real old mountain-side mining town.
All of the working sapphire mines were closed for the season (new keyword: closed), but we found the indoor version at a shop in town and it was really fun. We’ve been through a number of gold rush and mining towns, and Bode has learned that gold=money. He’s asked quite a few times to dig for gold, but we didn’t really have a resource for him. As a child my parents took me to a diamond mining place somewhere in Arkansas and I still remember it. We only found glass, but I had a great time. So this was a real treat, but I had to warn Bode that we might not find anything.
You buy a bag of dirt and rocks, they rinse and shake it, and you pick out sapphires if you can find them. Pretty cool! Bode and I were way into this, and I think we went through about every rock in the bag. They said the average bag holds about 4 cts of sapphires, but we discovered nearly 12 cts of ’gem quality’ sapphires. Plus, another lode of ‘fishbowl quality’ broken ones…and a few Bode and I threw in to test the expert.
Because of our colossal discovery, they wanted $60 to fire them and make them look pretty. I asked what they were worth- $25 as is (what we paid for the bag of dirt) but twice that fired!!!
Well, since the math didn’t quite add up, and I didn’t have $60 anyway, I decided I liked my sapphires au natural. Since then, we’ve pulled our 2 bags out at various times to impress people, though I’m not sure it’s working.
Jason’s cousin Rachel is a jeweler, so when we’re in Austin maybe Bode can convince her to do something interesting with them.
—We are currently traveling east through Wyoming on the way to Crazy Horse in South Dakota… on the way to Wisconsin. We’re headed to see some good friends, but haven’t really done our research on things to see and do. Please let us know if there is anything unique or interesting we should stop and see along the way.
Posted on October 22, 2009 by angela
It sounded as if we were dragging a huge metal chain beneath the car as we hit the brakes and pulled off the highway in Missoula. Luckily, we were less than a mile from Mitch and Melissa’s house, owners of Ludwig Camper Van Beethoven and Gertrude. We ignored the bus problems for the evening and shared that beer and pizza. We rolled in pretty late, so their daughter was already asleep, but Bode still enjoyed all her toddler toys. Especially the plastic keyboard- he’d never seen anything like it!
Bode was eager to lend a hand making selections from Mitch’s vinyl collection. Despite Mitch’s clear unease, he let Bode pick out some classic Stones (his dad’s) and a few other goodies. The “don’t touch dad’s vinyl” rules that have been in effect over the decades are still being enforced across the country. Bode had to admit he’s never seen a record player, which is probably true.
We spent the evening swapping stories… my favorite was their transmission problems in Death Valley– car stuck in 2nd gear. What would you do? Well, they decided to drive it home to Santa Barbara over 400 miles away—at a speed of about 28 mph. It took them 2 days.
The next morning the guys got to work on those brakes. We actually brought along spare brake pads, but I think getting the tires off took the longest. Tools were bent. Anyway, the old pads were worn down to the metal backing, so problem solved.
While the guys worked on the bus, Melissa and I took the kids on a walk near the river. Lots of stick throwing, duck watching and fun facts about Missoula.
Their family had moved to Missoula because it offered all the things they were looking for when choosing a place to live–close to lots of camping, mountains, good quality of life and a community spirit. Sounded good to us, and when we explored the town with them we could see why they loved it. Mitch and Melissa are hard core winter campers, so we got a few ideas on keeping warm. Unfortunately, most involved more stuff.
The famous Carousel wasn’t running, but the kids loved the park next to it and river that apparently needed more rocks added to it.
There was so much to do and they were such a cool family we wished we had more time. We are shooting to visit our good friends in Wisconsin by Halloween, and time is not on our side. Might be time for a new plan.
Posted on October 21, 2009 by angela
Glacier National Park was incredible, if not a little isolated. The last few weeks have been a lesson in the off-season. The lodge was recommended for great views and lounging, but it was the usual National Lampoon’s Vacation scene: “Sorry, closed for the season.” The park was open for hiking, but that’s about it. We drove up to the road closure and hiked most of the Avalanche Trail through old growth trees, waterfalls and awesome rock formations. The low clouds meant we missed a lot of the beautiful mountain views, but there were small piles of snow in the parking lot that were a lot more fun for the little one.
The campsites were all closed, but camping was now allowed at the picnic area – it didn’t sound like it was encouraged. We thought about it, but it was supposed to rain and possibly snow. Jason made the call to head to Missoula, about 2.5 hours south, to take Mitch and Melissa up on their offer to split beer and pizza. The latch string was out, as they say in Montana.
The scenery was mountainous and agricultural and much different than Canada. Also, there are a lot of casinos. A lot.
