Montana Summer

We no sooner got to Florida, did some quick unpacking, set up the office, signed the papers to close on the house and took off. First to Pennsylvania for my Mom's birthday and a visit and then on to Montana for at least a month to keep cool and unwind from all the driving, packing, unpacking and stress from a cross country move.

There is hardly a nicer place to spend the summer than Montana. It has a dry climate and being in the mountains, where I was, the nights are cool and pleasant so no air conditioner is required. Nature provides the AC around these parts. The weather was perfect and every few days we would get an afternoon thunder shower. If only the mushrooms would have cooperated better.

My digs for this summer was an old homesteader cabin on Deep Creek in Paradise Valley. There is a main house and then a couple cabins that have been made very comfortable on the inside although the outside looks virtually untouched as it should. Listening to Deep Creek every night, lulling me to sleep was intoxicating. It was just cool enough at night to want a light blanket and all was right with the world. The stress melted off quickly and I was back in my element and loving every minute of my precious Montana. If only winters didn't last so long, I would have stayed there forever. But alas, Sarasota is going to be an awesome place to spend the winter so I'm happy about that. We will work on a more permanent solution for Montana summers.

Here are some photos of the highlights of our trip including the road trip along the way.

Pig Roast Montana Style

My friend Ann just had a huge birthday bash and invited over 100 of her closest friends! It was an all weekend affair with people camping all over the place in tents, trailers etc. I live close enough so just stayed put in my Aristocrat with the kids (dog and cat).

Friday was full of games for all who were staying up there, kids and older folk alike had to participate in the games. Ann's version of Deal or No Deal with a $100 bill in one of the "suitcases" (really a lunch bag). Myles was the banker and tried to persuade people to trade their bag for a prize but most were a no go. Everyone picked a bag starting with the youngest to oldest then one by one in order from the lowest number we opened our bags. Wouldn't you know that the first to pick (also the youngest) got the $100 prize. Wow, what a cutie!

The next day, Saturday was the big river float. The pig roast guy was up there early to get the fire started and get the pig on the spit. Can you believe it took three cords of firewood to cook that thing? And to boot, it was the hottest day of the year thus far. But a good day to float the Jefferson River. I think we were about 20 in all floating the river in everything from drift boats to inflatable kayaks, canoes etc. I would have liked to do some fishing but this was not meant to be a serious float by any means. We floated, swam, picnicked and then headed back to get ready for the BIG party.

By the time I got back up the mountain, the pig was done and resting comfortably. Next onto the spit were some big beef roasts while we got all the rest of the food ready for the masses. Little by little everyone started showing up, young and old. Maggie the Wonder Dog had lots of doggie friends to play with and still has pig juice on the back of her neck from standing under the table while they were carving the pig. I guess I'm going to have to get the scissors out to cut the glued hair away!

There was a ton of good food, lots of interesting people to chat with and everyone had a great time. I can still taste that first bite of pork with the crackled skin still in place...wow was that good!

Scenic Montana Shots

Reconnecting with our Montana Souls

So, we gave Oregon a shot and it just didn't work out. Between my horrible joints that hated the climate and the lack of open spaces, I decided I needed to return to southwest Montana where I've lived the last 11 years quite comfortably with the exception of the long winters. I'm going to work on that though and figure out a place to go for winter.

Upon departing Roseburg, Maggie the wonder dog and her feline pal (and sister) Madison and I took to the road and pulling our new (well, new to us) 1970 Aristocrat camp trailer decided to take a few days and camp out in Sisters, OR in search of morels and boletes and whatever else we could muster up.

Maggie had a great time playing with her doggie pals Mazey and Ruby and Madison sat in the window most of the time or hid and slept all day so she could pester the crap out of me all night long while I was trying to sleep! Have you ever tried camping with a cat in tow? It's not a particularly fun thing to do, traveling with a litter box in cramped quarters.

We met up with friends out at the Jack Creek campground about 18 miles from Sisters, which was quite a peaceful place to camp once the weekend warriers departed Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. The mushrooming was not as good as we'd hoped it would be. There were no boletes popping yet and the burn that had been producing had been so pounded by commercial pickers there were no morels to pick including babies. There were scads of pickers and buyers and virtually no mushrooms to go around so it seemed like a bad dream. We did manage to get out and find some natural morels though which is a treat for me, not having any natural morel spots in which to forage in Montana.

After four nights at Jack Creek, Maggie, Madison and I continued our trek back to SW Montana overnighting in Connell, WA and then finally making it back here late afternoon through rain, high winds, snow and crazy weather. Now we are getting settled in Montana and enjoying life staying with a friend in the Highland Mountain foothills and especially enjoying the beautiful sunny, warm weather. It's good to be HOME!