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I'm going way back with this one ... there was a lot that has happened in the past couple of weeks that may be of some importance to yous all! Being home in Montana for more than a weekend for a dentist trip sure makes me want to stay forever. As my good buddy Pat Mumme would say, "It's the great Montana curse. You'll never find better!" And by gosh I think he's right! Of course he's off in the Mediterranean sailing some big ass yachts for fun, and not thinking twice about the Mad Cow right now so whatever ... he doesn't know anything! No, I love that man ... in a completely non-homoerotic way ...
So where was I? Ah yes, Montucky. What a sesh it's been! From the time we last spoke, Nicole's sister Linda and her man Patrick came into town with high hopes of adventure and entertainment, and that's just what they got!
Within minutes of their arrival, we saw a good family friend Lark who was going to check on her sheep who were in their birthing season. As soon as we got there and saw all the baby lambs, we were put to work. No more than four minutes in I was holding a mama ewe and, as the bartender at McCormick and Schmicks in downtown Seattle would say, "Ta DOW!", I gave birth to a little baby lamb. Aww ... it was a pretty crazy experience that is for sure, but I'd do it again no problem!
From there we traveled to the big beautiful city of Virginia (Virginia City). A place known by few but cherished by all ... once you get there. I began to start playing tour guide and remember as much as I could about the town I spent so many great summers in doing odd jobs for the state. You know that it's a small town when you work just about every business possible within a couple of years! I do recommend visiting this place if you haven't yet. The town is stuck in 1867 and you can only pay in gold and rupees! We enjoyed a great meal at Banditos where I had the bacon wrapped Lamb meatloaf (no offense Lark). Lamb is sooooo good though, and Amy at Bandito's is doing it right! We did a quick raid on the candy shop, and then bartered our way into the Brewery Follies where we got a great show and a couple of Gilbert Brewery beers. Mmmm mmm !
After a night of laughter and amazement at the fact that you can still walk around the cities with open beverages, it was off to the next adventure. Even though the rivers are at all times high all around the state, we managed to find things to do. Weird eh? Our next stop was the Upper Ruby (UR). A place known for its beauty and home to famous celebrities like Ted Turner and David Letterman. Why must they find the places next to where we live? Can't they stay in Ennis or Big Sky? We managed to slay a couple of gophers, in true Halo fashion, and have some good old can shooting fun at an old cattle loading station deep in the heart of the UR.
Our next journey was to a place that many locals to the valley know is there but hardly go to. The Lewis and Clark Caverns are only about 45 minutes from the homestead, and well worth the drive. You have to take a nice jaunt up the hill to get there, and can be quite cumbersome in the pouring rain but whatever! It's always worth it! We explored, watched people break stuff, and hit our heads for an hour or so, all loving it and trying to get great pictures in a space where light is never present. At least now they are starting to move up in the world and put natural LED lights in the last parts of the cave so you can see how truly beautiful and full of color they actually are!
The next day was spent in the beautiful city of Butte, MT. There is a lot of history here for a town that some people still call 'Butt, MT.' The Berkeley Pit is home to the largest copper mine in the history of the world. And as some may know, Butte holds one of the best St. Patrick's Day bashes you could ever imagine (see previous paragraph, first line). We visited one of the premier blade shops of the west. It held a tremendous collection of knives, most that serve no purpose except being on your wall and getting your geek friends to gawk and awe at. Then it was off to the world museum of mining were you can go underground and see how god awful those conditions were back when they were digging a mile into the earth looking for ore of any sort. Naturally we didn't want to hang around for almost two hours to go on a tour so we passed on that one. But it looks pretty interesting! :) The last point of interest was the memorial for the great fire that struck the mining town in 1917. It started down deep in the mine and resulted in the death of over 100 miners, the most ever lost in the town. I have a personal connection to that fire as my great, great uncle Arthur Murray was lost in that accident. It was, and still is, a very dangerous job. I can't imagine working in those conditions even now! Being under the Earth with just some poles and shafts keeping you alive. No thank you! Interesting enough they had some of the old sayings laid in brick that were common in the olden days. My favorite being, "GO GET HER!" meaning get your time card cause your butt is fired! On our way home from Butte, we stopped by the Ringing Rocks of Pipestone pass. It's a pile of boulders that, when struck by a hammer, make different tones of noise. Quite a little interesting side track ...As our time came to an end with Linda and Patrick, so began the Morgan/Jezierny family invasion. My sister Annie and Brian came out with my nephew Luke. Followed soon by my other sister Malia coming out from Minnesota. It was a blast having everyone around, and never a dull moment. My nephew is always the first one to let you know if it's getting boring or not.
We proceeded to cook some tremendous, delicious meals. Got a few rounds of badmitton (sp?) in, and gave some more of my unneeded belongs to Luke. If anyone is looking to donate, I'm sure he'll put his hand out for you! We were able to catch the Virginia City Players and see a play about the fire in Butte that I mentioned previously. But most exciting of all was the time we got to just hang out and not do anything ... man I love those days! Isn't that what vacation is suppose to be???
The last day in Montana was spent cooking a glorious meal based around the Sardinian way of life. We made (by 'we' I mean Nicole made and I helped prep) a beautiful bolognese to go with a hand made malloreddus, a nice little selection of antipastos to go with it, and a bottle of Buty wine that was made for the well known restaurateur Peter Canlis I was able to get a hold of (only 120 bottles made a year!). Yeah I'm proud of that ... so what ?!
So it's off to Yellowstone National Park, our journey is really beginning! Now I am off to sleep ... I hope you all could bear to read this whole post !
Send my love to you all ...
A little list of wildlife seen on this trip so far:
Whitetail deer . Elk . Bison . Owl . Fox . Sandhill Cranes . Gophers . Pheasants . Bald Eagles . Osprey . exotic birds . Cows . Antelope . Big Horn Sheep . . . TBC
Now at this hotel in Beaver Utah ... we've traveled our first 1000 miles ... and a lot more to go !
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