It’s departure day. We’re all sorry to see it end. Chuck, Carolyn, Gary and Jane leave the house around 7 to fly back – they’ll be home by noon! Luigi and Kaui leave this afternoon for Billings, and fly very early tomorrow – they’ve got several stops between here and Molokai! We plan to be on the road, with the boys around 9. Things go pretty much according to plan. Lyle takes the crew to the plane, then picks Cindy up at the Condo. We take a little longer than expected, and meet Lyle and Cindy on the driveway as we are driving out. Goodbyes are said all around.
Oh, after the crew left for the plane, Luigi went back to bed. As we were packing the car, I got the sax out and played Happy Birthday and Yankee Doodle for him. It was fun, and I think he liked it.
We got the boys, gassed up and cleaned the very buggy windshield and very dusty rear window, and headed out. Back on the road. Our first planned stop is Big Timber for lunch. We thought we’d have lunch at the hotel, but as luck would have it, they don’t serve lunch on Saturday (!), so we went to a café down the street a couple of doors. The food was excellent, and we couldn’t have had a better lunch.
From Big Timber we headed north for a hike in the Crazy Mountains. It is about a 35 mile/one hour drive to the trailhead, over fairly good but rough farm roads. In places the road is almost cobblestone and very solid and bumpy, but in other places it’s the kind of road that makes you hope it doesn’t rain while you’re in there, because it will turn to mush, and the four wheel drive better really work. But it’s a good drive, and the flat of Big Timber not so slowly gives way to rolling countryside and then to 11K mountains.
As remote as it is, it is Saturday, and the trail is busy with hikes and horseback tours. The area is actually fairly commercialized, with a major dude ranch just before the trailhead. It’s all very beautiful, and it’s an interesting combination of seemingly private land and National Forest. As we arrive at around 1pm there are a few clouds in the sky, but it is not really threatening – the temperature is in the mid 70’s. Jake and Woody are ready, so off we go.
The trail, as many trails do, goes up a drainage to a group of lakes, and the water cascading down the drainage is pretty spectacular – lots of nice waterfalls and whitewater. We stop often, not only to catch our breath, but just to take in the wonderful scenery. The trail is not too strenuous, but with the 7K elevation it warrants an occasional breather. We hoped to get to the first lake, but after about an hour we thought the clouds were gathering, and we had had a pretty good hike, so we turned around at that point.
On the return we took a short side trail to a waterfall. Well worth the tiny effort – it was quite something. I’m always incredibly impressed by the power and beauty of falling water. After that it was back to the car and back to Big Timber. Oh, there was a little rain, but only enough to make an already dusty, dirty car look even worse.
In Big Timber we went back to the Café for a coffee and, for me, some bread pudding. Just a little snack to get us to Bozeman. Sat at the same table, this time with Jake and Woody, who as always drew comments and complements from all who passed by.
The drive to Bozeman was all Interstate, and fairly short, thank goodness. There were several long stretches of roadwork. But it went quickly enough, and it was scenic, even for an Interstate. We checked in to the MicroTel, where we will be for 5 nights, and went in search of the local CostCo (!) before we went to the room – it was around 6:30, and we didn’t know what time they closed. We found it with only a little difficulty – they hid it behind a Target – but closing time was 6, so S-H’s glasses will have to wait until tomorrow. That little trip did locate the Outback where we would later have dinner.
Back to the room, unload and get setup, sorta, then to Outback, where we had a good meal and very good service, although the only hint of Aussie is in the menu. No accent, no pretense – clean cut American youth, mainly males, but they did a nice job.
Back to the room – tired – it’s been a long day. But a great day, another in a long line of great days, and it comes to a close in grand fashion.
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