Missoula, MT 9/16 - 27

   We had an easy drive from Emigrant to Missoula. We are at 712 E Spruce Street in downtown Missoula in a very nice VRBO rental. It is modern and clean and comfortable. We have a little outside balcony. 

   It is so nice to be in one place and not having to be in the car. We cleaned out the car, in fact. And, we did a big pile of laundry. 

  We did a self-test for Covid on the 17th.

   We made a trip to the Good Foods Store, a favorite, and stocked up on organic veggies and fruits. We have both missed veggies as we've traveled. And, on Saturday we went to the downtown farmers' market here which is excellent and tempting. Mark made a beet/corn soup.

Our balcony, Spruce Street

Jen and Mark

     Jen Olson came over on the 18th with a delicious homemade apple pie and we caught up. We have not seen each other for over 10 years, I think. Jen is teaching art online in Missoula. 

     We also went to the Missoula Symphony on the 18th. It was the first live performance since the onset of the pandemic. We were a little nervous but all were fully masked and we did not sit too near anyone else. (Missoula is in the red zone for cases.) 

Sign along the Blackfoot River

  The conductor was the energetic Julie Tai who we enjoyed watching. The program was "Motors, Emperors and Activists." The first piece was by a contemporary composer, Mizzy Mazzoli, written in 2013 titled "River Rouge Transfiguration." It was a Detroit auto plant. The second was Beethoven's Piano Concerto, No. 5, the "Emperor." It is one of Mark's favorites. The guest pianist was Jeffrey Beigel. His fingers flew over the keys. And, the third piece was Ethel Smyth's Serenade in D minor, written in 1889. Smyth was a contemporary of Tchaikovsky who encouraged her despite the obstacles against a woman composer. A supporter of suffrage, she spent 2 months in a London prison. Both of us liked the piece.

Mushrooms at the Market

David and Maura got home on Saturday and we had a lovely meal with them at their house on Sunday. (grilled steak/veggies)

David had the next two days off. The first day we went to Gold Creek and walked and swam the dogs (Dutch and Maebe). We also took the Clarity to the dealer for a routine check up. The second day,  we went to Red Rocks and took a bit longer of a hike and the dogs swam some more. Both walks were along the Blackfoot River. We had a picnic on the second day. Maura and David brought Thai food over to our place on that day.

On two day Mark and I took part of the River Walk in Missoula on beautiful sunny days. We also were lucky to be able to get 4 (each) self-testing COVID-19 kits to use when we feel it necessary.

"Our" apartment

One night we went out to dinner at Michi Ramen restaurant. We sat a long time waiting, but the food was delicious. 

We decided to stay here an extra night, so we cancelled a night in Portland. It means that we can spend the last day with David who will have it off.

Maebe and Dutch retrieving

On Saturday, we went to the farmers' market with Maura who shopped for Sunday's dinner. We had a picnic from the food truck sitting in the grass by the river. Then, we went out to see where David works at the animal shelter and were quite impressed by the size and scope of their operation. 

David at work

Picnic with Maura, Farmers' Market

David's place of work

 Maura hosted a wonderful Sunday dinner with her cousins, Phil and Connie. Stuffed shells on a butternut squash puree bed - not red sauce. Really good. She also had meatballs and salad and Connie brought an unusual, but delicious, plum dish. She also brought a very labor intensive dessert with a shortbread bottom, apples (from a friend's tree), topped with streusel and then a homemade caramel sauce and whipped cream to top it. Yikes - the calories in that. It was a wonderful evening with great food, great conversations.

Connie with marvelous dessert

David and Phil

Blackfoot River

Our last full day in Missoula - another gorgeous, sunny day - hit 80 again. And...Maura took the afternoon off! So all four of us were together. So, we made sandwiches which we took to the Blackfoot River. The dogs had a blast retrieving sticks. Then, we went back to their house and had pizza.

Sunset on our last evening in Missoula

Very hard to leave, but the visit has been wonderful.

     

Yellowstone National Park, Sept 13-15

   We left Rapid City nice and early with packed sandwiches. We chose to go via Route 212 which was shorter in distance than via the interstate. And, it was supposed to be shorter in time, but there was quite a lot of construction, so...it wasn't. But, it was interesting and mostly deserted with miles between little towns, many of which had no gas stations. We also went through two reservations. We stopped for lunch at Little Big Horn which we find a sad place, although beautiful.

Little Big Horn

We are staying at our first Air BnB. It is in the house of a couple who live on a ridge above the small town of Emigrant, MT. It is strange to be in a bedroom on the first floor of their house, but the hosts, Ken and Debbie deGraff, are doing their best to make us feel at home. We shopped in Livingstone and we have a shelf in their refrigerator. Ken helped us plan our route tomorrow through the northern portion of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone River where we had a picnic

    What a wonderful day we spent in Yellowstone today! The weather was perfect - blue skies and in the 70s. Our first stop was to Norris Hot Springs area where we saw geysers, boiling pools of mud and bubbling and steaming springs. 

Our next stop was to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which we viewed from several vantage points. 

Then, we went on to our farthest point- the Hayden Valley where herds of antelope, elk and buffalo are often seen. (Buffalo were there, but very far away.) 

Herd of elk in Mammoth Hot Springs

En route, we picked at a quiet spot which was needed as the main attractions were very full and it was hard to find parking, even with Mark's handicap sticker. 

We left through Mammoth Springs, but will stop there tomorrow morning. There was a really large herd of elk in the middle of town causing the rangers some problems. 

Leaving the park, we saw 5 big horned sheep which was a real treat and a great way to end the day.

They actually seemed to pose for us. Then, we stopped at a grocery store in Gardiner and got some chicken and a tomato and ate at a beautiful roadside stop along the Yellowstone River. We didn't get back to the air bnb until past 6. A wondrous day, for sure.

Big horned sheep ascending

The next day we got up a bit earlier to get to the Park. First, we went and got a day pass to Chico Hot Springs for later in the day. Our goal today was to see Mammoth Hot Spring which we missed yesterday, choosing to go further into the park on the first day. We thoroughly walked both the upper and lower parts of the hot springs. It is a surreal and magical landscape. We also found a cell phone with credit cards in it which we turned in to the Visitor Center and the woman was there to gratefully pick it up while we were in the bathrooms, so we didn't meet her.

Afterwards, we drove to Chico Hot Springs, a resort near Emigrant. We spent the afternoon in the hot mineral pools relaxing and chatting to people. It was idyllic. We tried to get into their fine dining restaurant, but there were no tables, so we ate at the outside grill which was only mediocre, but we were so very relaxed.

Then, we had a nice evening chatting with our hosts.

Hot springs, amazing colors

A killdeer IN the hot springs!

The Black Hills of South Dakota, Sept 10-12

 

When Jecca was little, she slept as we passed Wall Drug. After all the signs along the way, she was not pleased with us!

 We had a lovely day of weather on our first full day in Rapid City. We made sandwiches before we took off for Custer State Park. We went close to the Crazy Horse Monument, but did not go in. (We gave a donation and were able to take some photos. It has definitely made progress since we were here years ago.) 

Then, we took the Wildlife Loop in the park. We saw a huge herd of buffalo alongside a herd of burros and horses and prairie dogs all in one big field. The herds were rather far in the distance, but impressive.   Then we stopped by Legion Lake and then took the fabulous Needles Highway and stopped at Sylvan Lake to eat our picnic and walk by the beach where the kids swam many years ago, jumping from the rocks.

Sylvan Lake

   From there, we went into Custer and had ice cream at Horatio's which is in the old bank building where there was a coffee shop years ago. We channeled Hank as it was a place with homemade ice cream and waffle cones. And, we got a photo from Jecca in Boston with David and Maura eating sandwiches at Dino's. Then we came home to our Home2 by Hilton and watched the U.S. Open Women's Final between teenagers Emma Radacanu (Britain) and Leylah Fernandes (Canada). Radacanu won.

Main Street, Custer

Horatio's

    The next day we drove to Mt Rushmore. We felt quite alien as there were so many people defying the masking or social distancing rules. It seems that Rushmore is a magnet now for the right wing even though you'd hardly call the 4 presidents on the monument right wing, especially Theodore Roosevelt. All 4 were complex men with flaws.

Breezy Point Picnic Area

The souvenir shop strictly enforced masking with a person at the door, but it was crowded. And, the other indoor spots (bathrooms, a smaller bookstore) had no guards and the 2 of the 5 women in the bathroom were unmasked and staring at those of us with masks). So, we did not stay long. We found a lovely and empty picnic area called Breezy Point and had our lunch and felt a lot better about life.

Along the Wildlife Loop

Legion Lake