Helena and the Woodchopper

Well here we are on our last full day in Lincoln, Montana. It's been a relaxing, peaceful stay up here in the cabin in the woods. In the mornings Shan and I walk up to Ponder'Rose's and get a mocha and a chai and meander back to the cabin in time to either help with some small chore or relax under the pines with a good book and a campfire.

If it's been hot enough, we'll dip our toes in the creek, but it's actually been on the chilly side up here. Envy me all you Nebraskans suffering in the blistering heat and humidity. Muahahahaha.

Yesterday, Jo, Shannon and I drove into Helena to wander around the walking mall there and pick up some good bread from a very good bread place there whose name escapes me. We also stopped at Hastings and Shannon found the DVDs she'd been searching for dead cheap and I found a movie I've also been looking for, dead cheap. I also picked up the next Anita Blake novel - Tonga I couldn't wait to borrow it and I'm so out of stuff to read up here so I just bit the bullet and bought it :)

Here's a few pix of Helena:


This weird dog art thingie has a mural of Helena painted all around it. It's in the walking mall area. I thought it was bizarre :)


Another sculpture in the walking mall, this time of a couple miners panning for gold. This I didn't think was so bizarre, but I liked it.


This is one of my infamous 'hold the digi up to the bug-gut-covered window and snap a shot' pics. It was just some pretty scenery on the way back to Lincoln on Highway 279 somewhere. I'm not sure what mountain is in the distance, but it still has snow on its peaks.

Today, Shannon and I got lessons in splitting wood :) It's hard work, but oddly satisfying if you picture someone who bugs the crap out of you and need to take out your frustrations. Here's some shots of our lessons:


Shannon sets a determined face as she swings the old axe. The axe she was using is the one Aunt Jo and Tom used at their place in the Ozarks over 20 years ago. It's pretty cool.

Here's Tom showing us how it's done:


Showoff :)

Anyway, we're headed back to Great Falls tomorrow sometime and I believe we're going to watch the Great Falls White Sox play and have a sort of prenup picnic before the festivities on Friday. Tom and I are both ordained ministers so either of us could perform Gary and Char's wedding but Tom's voice is more ministerial :) So he gets to do it. I'm quite ok with that because I get too nervous and sniffly at weddings.

We might go to a reggae fest in downtown GF after the wedding but that's up in the air. Then Saturday it back on the road and home to Nebby. We're doing the drive in one go again so Sunday and Monday will be spent recovering from it.

Seeya!

Montana Redux

Well that was a bit of a break between now and the last post. I have no excuse other than general business.

We're in Montana again. We arrived here ummmm... very very late Thursday night (well, Friday morning more like) after spending 17 hours in a Highlander. That was quite the adventure :) but luckily our traveling companions all rock so it wasn't too bad. We hung out Friday morning in Great Falls before piling everything and everyone up in a couple of cars and heading up to the cabin in Lincoln, MT.

We are really just sort of relaxing and hanging out up here - meandering into town for mochas or heading down to the Blackfoot to wade while Gary and Hannah flyfish. The Blackfoots is the river written about in 'A River Runs Through It.' Oddly though, the water in the Blackfoot was completely tolerable for wading as opposed to Spring Creek outside the cabin which makes my feet ache it's so cold.

Weather's been just lovely. Not too hot, a bit chilly in the morning and at night so it's a good thing we've been doing the campfire thang :)



Jo completely demolished the old fire pit and rebuilt a new one several feet away because it was decided that the old one was just a wee bit too close to the very flammable trees for comfort.

So many a marshmallow was had by all - well by all those who like flaming marshmallows.



The first pic is pretty much everyone that's here. Let's see - it's quite a crowd this time - Jo and Tom, Gary, Nora, Gunter and Beca, Hannah, Shannon and me.

I think Shannon and I might go back to Great Falls tonight though and hang out there until Jo and Tom come back from the Cabin Thursday. Gunter, Beca and Hannah are heading back to Nebby on Tuesday, but then Gary's best friend Swi arrives in GF Wednesday for the wedding which will be Friday.

I think it would be cool to tool around GF for a couple of days, just me and the kid (Gary will be working I believe) and we can look for a nice wedding pressie for Gary and Charlotte.

Anyway, Shannon's waiting impatiently for me to finish so we can go get our mochas. More later!