Hey, It's Spring! (Finally)

Howdy!
I found myself a new job. My family will recognize this as one of my alter egos. I'm actually portraying the chuck wagon cook. "He" was a cowboy too old and beat up to wrangle the cattle. In reality, most cowboys were only 15-25 years old. Of course, since I'm 39 now, I qualify for the cook.
I am hoping at some point to also get to fill-in for the "real" cowboy when he isn't here. Hey, I've already got the get-up, including button-fly Levi-501's (gitty-up is questionable).


These are two of the seasonals who also portray the cook. You might recognize Ken (left) from a previous blog. Dustin is on the right. He is a cyclist and is going with Larry and I for a ride on Monday, our only, mutual day off. Ken is from Kansas and Dustin's a California guy.


On Thursday, Larry and I explored a potential bike route and also checked out a couple camp grounds that have not been accessible due to snow. It has been great to enjoy a lot of sunshine, warmer temps and less wind!
This is Lost Creek. A wide valley narrows down to a tight canyon with massive rock walls. The canyon ends at a waterfall.
High on this rock face we noticed a square hole and thought it might be the end of a mine tunnel.


Upon closer inspection, we saw that it held a large, eagle's nest.


Lost Creek Falls. We might camp there later. However, the signs saying "Bears Frequent This Area," is not encouraging! A ranger told us that
big horn sheep and mountain lions are also here.


It's hard for us to believe that we have been in Deer Lodge for nearly eight weeks...half of our time.


There is so much that we have on our "to do" list before we move on at the end of July. Larry still hasn't been able to get into the gold placer areas to dredge and pan for those big nuggets.
We've started to ponder the road ahead.


As for me, after a LOT of thought, I made a bold and difficult decision to resign my position at the University. Although I love the students and hope I've contributed to their future success in the classroom, I feel like there are other exciting options to explore and ways to "give back." At this point, I guess I am officially retired...at least for now...and free to come and go in whatever direction seems right. A friend's FB post was quite timely at the point I was composing my letter of resignation (in tears). Those who are interested can find and read Jeremiah 6:16. I am enjoying what I'm doing at the ranch, and there are hundreds of national parks and historic sites all over America with Interpretive staff who share the stories of our beautiful country and its history with lots of kids.
Hey, today I taught a little, nine-year-old guy how to twirl a lasso and catch a wooden cow. He was ecstatic! What could be better?
Note to my li'l bro: That rope we tried to catch your pony with at the farm didn't work because a real lasso ain't Mom's, old clothesline!

Until next time. M & L

Sad News

Today we decided to visit the National Bison Range, north of Missoula. The weather was beautiful and we spent over four hours just enjoying the beauty of spring.
When we returned to Deer Lodge, we were sorry to hear that our neighbor and friend, Jim, has passed away. He has been in failing health and I guess I thought he was ornery enough to still be there when we returned. Jim's wife, Opal, is just a treasure and we know how hard the past year has been for her as Jim slowly declined. Our love goes out to her and to their family in this sad time.
Jim loved growing vegetables in their patio and also loved flowers. He "supervised" my rebuilding of a flower garden wall in the common area of our condo circle last summer. I knew he was itching to do it himself but just couldn't. I enjoyed our interaction in those times he was strong enough to come outside. I hope my neighbors will lovingly tend to that garden in Jim's memory.


For Jim: I know you would enjoy these beautiful, alpine flowers.



For our friend, Opal and family: May you be comforted in this difficult time.

A Mother's Day Event

The first calf of the season has arrived...on Mother's Day!
Larry checked the herd this morning and everything was as usual. When he went to the pasture to feed the cows this afternoon, there was an extra, little creature.


Happy Birthday, little one!


Carmen and Ken are two of my fellow interpreters. Ken is a retired elementary teacher and Carmen retired two years ago from the Charlotte, NC - PD where she served in the Crime Task Force, Special Unit. (We give her a LOT of respect. Actually, she's is a terrific person and lot of fun.) This Mother's Day, Ken and Carmen got to share chuck wagon duty. I get my first crack at it next Saturday!


Our weather is still "ever-changing." In Ohio, we always talk about "if you don't like the weather, wait fifteen minutes and it will change." That's somewhat of an exaggeration in Ohio...not in Deer Lodge Valley!
This afternoon, I was down by the chuck wagon where Ken was teaching Carmen and I the proper technique for using the lariat. The sun was out and there were only a few clouds above us. Suddenly, Carmen said, "Look over there, it's snowing!" At first, I thought maybe Ken had put something into the fire-brewed coffee we were drinking. Then I looked in the direction she was pointing. There, about fifty feet away across the grass, snow was indeed falling, confined to about a 25' diameter area. Just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Above the space was only the blue sky, Very strange.
Here are a few other interesting shots I took around the ranch today.




Some of our ranch saddle horses enjoying the new grass after yesterday's showers.



This is Fox, one of the quarter horses.



After work, Larry took me out to eat at the 4 B's restaurant for Mother's Day. Back at our "ranch," we took a walk along the abandoned railroad and I caught this late evening shot across the Stewart pasture at the ranch.


It is now our "weekend" and we are hoping the weather will finally start to cooperate with our hiking and biking plans. It's hard to believe that we have now been here 6 weeks without being able to go on any trails.

Remembering Our Moms

Luetta Mae

Remembering our moms on Mother's Day.

Maude Theda

Philipsburg, MT

Tuesday - The fifty mph wind gusts backed off to twenty-five, so we decided to travel to Philipsburg about forty miles away along the Pintler Scenic Route. The drive was beautiful in spite of a fairly thick cloud cover.
We knew a trip later in the season would be warmer, but we heard rumors of fudge and bison burgers.



We found this 1,800's mining town to be quaint with many historic buildings maintained over the years.











There are many more not included here. When it's warmer, we'll try to include others. My hands kept getting numb.
The restored, Victorian paint was beautiful!

We found the Sweet Shop and got our fudge, then paid a visit to a small, sporting goods store. It was our lucky day and we bought nice hoodies for half price. Actually, we did not come to Montana prepared for this extended period of c-o-l-d!

Lunch at Doe Brothers was great. We both had the bison burger with homemade potato chips and a pot of Numi tea. Very good. Larry's red Honda is parked in front of the restaurant.


Actually, Doe Brothers was originally a drug store/soda fountain. The present owners have a lot of memorabilia including the original, Italian marble soda fountain.

Even after taking the outer layers off, I still look like the little kid in a snowsuit. I bought the great, winter/western hat for just $12. at that little, spg. store.


Lots of animal heads around the room. That's a black bear skin in the center. Larry loves the bison!






This is the original safe from the old drugstore. I couldn't believe that they spent the time to paint the beautiful pictures on the inside.
This safe was made in Cincinnati, OH.



This is how the original store looked.

Looking uptown toward the old mines.



We took a road that goes to the Granite Ghost town. A local preservation group has worked to keep many of the remaining structures intact. The road was steep, winding, narrow and rocky. We did okay until we reached the snow line. At that point, the dirt road started to get pretty mushy and Larry decided that we shouldn't go any further. We talked to a Forest Service guy later who said we were close to being at the top, but he was surprised that we even made it that far. We did stop to see the remains of some old mines on the way back down.


It's a great view from way up there.


We stopped at the local Forest Service office to get some hiking information and to check if the pass was open for us to continue the loop to Anaconda. We were happy to hear that the road was open and started the climb up to the top of the Pintler range. It reminded me of a mini "Road to the Sun" - ala Glacier NP. Very beautiful with rushing water cascading over multi-colored rock to plunge thousands of feet to the gorge floor.





This is the remains of a sluice that was used to wash ore down from mines not accessible by wagon.



Over the top, we enjoyed seeing a beautiful, but completely frozen Georgetown Lake surrounded by structures of every kind from shacks to million dollar summer homes. We also scoped out a couple NF campgrounds near the lake. They are more in our price range. We didn't take any pictures because everything was covered with snow and that just blends in with the cloudy sky.

On the way down the other side suddenly, there was the sun!



We enjoyed sunshine the rest of the way to Anaconda where we stopped at the grocery and hardware stores before heading back to Deer Lodge. Sadly, the sun disappeared again somewhere on the way back.