We left the rolling hills of Great Falls and headed west into the mountains.
Montana is so beautiful with its jagged peaks, pine forests and swollen rivers. It is not a cliche to see people flyfishing in Montana. Fishing enthusiasts are everywhere. A river really does run through Missoula...
After trading a couple of days in a motel for airbrush art, we found a campground where we pitched our tent - Jellystone Park Campground. No lie. It is a theme campground, complete with a wandering employee dressed as Yogi Bear, and a huckleberry ice cream social every night. It was a nice change from camping out on the fairgrounds in Great Falls. At least the bathroom was clean.
The only problem - we had an entire week until the next event, the Western Montana Fair. So we had some time to kill.
Missoula is a very pretty city. Home of Montana State University and the Grizzlies - they love their team. It is also located near the small polygamist community of Pinesdale. We did have an offer from a relative to stay there, but it would have been about an hour commute just to go back and forth. Plus, I am considered kind of an apostate by the people there (who are part of the Apostolic United Brethren.)
Still, I wondered if I would see anyone I knew there from that polygamous community. And at the Wal-Mart in Missoula, I did. I saw a married couple that I knew back in the day, about my age. I chased them down in the bread aisle, saying, "It's me. Moroni Jessop. You haven't seen me in almost twenty years." She was very sweet. He looked very nervous, like he couldn't wait to escape.
So what do you do when you are in Missoula, staying at campgrounds and have no money? You do what everyone else does. You go to the river. We took a nice walk along the banks, watching people kyak.
We also hiked to the "M" on the side of the mountain by the university. A trail zigzags right up the side of a very steep mountain up to the whitewashed letter painted on the slopes. It kicked my ass. I could only make it halfway up. (I'll talk more about this hike in another post.)
We also saw the Missoula Symphony play in Caras Park (for free), and got to see a beautiful hand carved carousel in the middle of the park. We explored a large hippie boutique, and had some of the best burgers I've ever eaten at the Missoula Club.
One night, we decided to go to a punk show at a club called the Palace Lounge. It was three hours of earsplitting screaming, drunken people spraying us with beer and trying to pull us into the mosh pit. As I stood on the edge of the crowd, with my arms folded, I wondered - did moshing always look this stupid when I used to do it as a kid?
The main act was El Zombi Gato, a conglomeration of local artists, most of them as old as myself. They were loud and grating and kind of obnoxious.
The best act was a band called Bird's Mile Home. They were awesome. Punk rock with a cello! Plus, the cello player was hot! The only thing I kept thinking was - why do they not have a record deal? They were that good.
With my ears ringing, we drove back to our tent.
The rains came, and there were several mornings when I woke up to a large puddle around our tent. There were some nights when I stuffed dirty clothes down my sleeping bag to help keep me warm. This is Montana! Why did I not bring a jacket?
When the fair finally started, it was quite busy. We negotiated a spot right by the carnival entrance. It was almost too good of a location. We were so busy, we could barely keep up.
A couple of notable things:
We met an 11 year-old kid named Evan Kirby. This kid is going to be the next Picasso, I swear. He does these images out of slices of duct tape. They are totally off the wall and random. He is going to be famous one day.
Our neighbors were gypsy fortune tellers from Spokane, Washington. We learned a little but about Romani culture, especially their ability to barter and negotiate. They could practically talk us into doing anything for them!
Once the fair was done, we packed up our booth, tore down our tent, left Missoula, left Jellystone Campgrounds and headed for Kalispell for our final event in Montana. Which is what I will write about tomorrow...
Montana is so beautiful with its jagged peaks, pine forests and swollen rivers. It is not a cliche to see people flyfishing in Montana. Fishing enthusiasts are everywhere. A river really does run through Missoula...
After trading a couple of days in a motel for airbrush art, we found a campground where we pitched our tent - Jellystone Park Campground. No lie. It is a theme campground, complete with a wandering employee dressed as Yogi Bear, and a huckleberry ice cream social every night. It was a nice change from camping out on the fairgrounds in Great Falls. At least the bathroom was clean.
The only problem - we had an entire week until the next event, the Western Montana Fair. So we had some time to kill.
Missoula is a very pretty city. Home of Montana State University and the Grizzlies - they love their team. It is also located near the small polygamist community of Pinesdale. We did have an offer from a relative to stay there, but it would have been about an hour commute just to go back and forth. Plus, I am considered kind of an apostate by the people there (who are part of the Apostolic United Brethren.)
Still, I wondered if I would see anyone I knew there from that polygamous community. And at the Wal-Mart in Missoula, I did. I saw a married couple that I knew back in the day, about my age. I chased them down in the bread aisle, saying, "It's me. Moroni Jessop. You haven't seen me in almost twenty years." She was very sweet. He looked very nervous, like he couldn't wait to escape.
So what do you do when you are in Missoula, staying at campgrounds and have no money? You do what everyone else does. You go to the river. We took a nice walk along the banks, watching people kyak.
We also hiked to the "M" on the side of the mountain by the university. A trail zigzags right up the side of a very steep mountain up to the whitewashed letter painted on the slopes. It kicked my ass. I could only make it halfway up. (I'll talk more about this hike in another post.)
We also saw the Missoula Symphony play in Caras Park (for free), and got to see a beautiful hand carved carousel in the middle of the park. We explored a large hippie boutique, and had some of the best burgers I've ever eaten at the Missoula Club.
One night, we decided to go to a punk show at a club called the Palace Lounge. It was three hours of earsplitting screaming, drunken people spraying us with beer and trying to pull us into the mosh pit. As I stood on the edge of the crowd, with my arms folded, I wondered - did moshing always look this stupid when I used to do it as a kid?
The main act was El Zombi Gato, a conglomeration of local artists, most of them as old as myself. They were loud and grating and kind of obnoxious.
The best act was a band called Bird's Mile Home. They were awesome. Punk rock with a cello! Plus, the cello player was hot! The only thing I kept thinking was - why do they not have a record deal? They were that good.
With my ears ringing, we drove back to our tent.
The rains came, and there were several mornings when I woke up to a large puddle around our tent. There were some nights when I stuffed dirty clothes down my sleeping bag to help keep me warm. This is Montana! Why did I not bring a jacket?
When the fair finally started, it was quite busy. We negotiated a spot right by the carnival entrance. It was almost too good of a location. We were so busy, we could barely keep up.
A couple of notable things:
We met an 11 year-old kid named Evan Kirby. This kid is going to be the next Picasso, I swear. He does these images out of slices of duct tape. They are totally off the wall and random. He is going to be famous one day.
Our neighbors were gypsy fortune tellers from Spokane, Washington. We learned a little but about Romani culture, especially their ability to barter and negotiate. They could practically talk us into doing anything for them!
Once the fair was done, we packed up our booth, tore down our tent, left Missoula, left Jellystone Campgrounds and headed for Kalispell for our final event in Montana. Which is what I will write about tomorrow...
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