Victoriaperkinsstudio's blog

Missoula is a town I come back to one day. It is a univiersity town and there is lots of positive energy. I headed off for breakfast on the recommendation of the Red Lion hotel manager. I got a recommendation for a good breakfast restaurant "on the bridge" but the manager couldn't figure out what that would be and I couldn't figure it out so I went to the Shack off at 222 Main St. On my gosh, what a lovely menu full of great stuff. It was nearing lunchtime so I combined meals and had lamb chops with breakfast. They were prepared perfectly and there was a side of grilled tomatoes.

I saw this cat in the locksmith's shop...a guard cat who takes her job seriously. I just loved all that was going on in the window...the neon, the art, the reflections, including my car...it was so layered...one of my favorites from the whole trip.

Leaving you with one more vision of the Rockies with this cool fence. It was a great driving day.

You know me, attention span of a puppy. As I was gliding through Lincoln I saw a high school football game about to start. I pulled in and settled in with the home team cheering section. The apple of Renae's eye (the woman seated next to me) is her 17 year old grandson with the black and yellow football shoes. they have so few players that they all have to play offense and defense. There is only one other player not on the field to spell tired or injured players. They were competing against Seeley. The Lincoln Bucks were leading handily 18-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The mountains present themselves in layers with subtle shades of grey blue.

After months of flat, the Rockies! There was a bit of field burning going on.

The hay was located in Sunriver, Mont....a little different than Sunriver, Ore. The sign, in front of a building is the whole town.

It was a beautiful day. Saw hay baled the old fashioned way against this remarkable blue sky.

I suppose I should have known that there would be some sort of karmic connection with "anaconda" and "snakes". When I got back to the clubhouse, one of the duffers came over to chat. He had seen me out there golfing and wanted to know how it had gone. I actually made my first birdie today! He then began to tell me stories about the rattlesnakes on the course! When I mentioned it to the manager when he came over to chat he said "No problem, they hang out mostly on the back nine." It is a good thing that I spend so little time in the brush. I was having a good driving afternoon. It was grand fun. Dang I like this golf! And the rib injury has disappeared which is a relief, so no pain.

Today I had a doodly day after a long drive yesterday. I decided that I wanted to get in a golf game so I headed off to the Anaconda Golf Club. I was told that the front nine was challenging because of all the trees and slope of the holes. It is a pretty little course but not as challenging as Bay Valley. There are a lot of trees, though. I managed to hit none.

As I drive through Montana it is clear that its income is derived from agriculture. Rumor has it that it has been a good year, although the rain early this spring destroyed about 10-15% of the crops. The prices for wheat has been good. I read this interesting article that talked about the fact that farmers buy local, not just for their agricultural needs but everything else...so when the crops do well, so do the stores that sell appliances, car dealerships and department stores. Another thing that I didn't realize is that this year the winder crops are late being planted because there hasn't been enough rain and they plant dry weather crops. They don't irrigate. So, if they can't get the winter crops in adequately, then they don't spend money, anticipating that they will have less to spend next spring when they harvest the winter crops. It gives me a renewed appreciation for all the hard work that goes into getting bread on the table. The infrastructure is right here outside Great Falls. It is what allows Great Falls to exist.