Montana 10/12

Well, today was supposed to be a day of service, but there was some miscommunication with dispatch.  Poor Dylan (turns out his real name is Joe) is running the radios on his own because of the whole government thing and he relayed to us the day of that we weren’t allowed to use chainsaws at Elkhorn.  We already had a team at Elkhorn with our non-power tools… so instead of us heading over and standing around due to a skewed tool to person ratio we got the day off.  

Ultimately we all wanted to hit the hot springs, but there was a town on the way notorious for its taco bus.  The town’s name was Dillon.  It was a quaint little town.  You could tell it was a small town because all of the store owners opened their shops whenever they pleased.  When we rode into town there were only six places open.  I started at Padagodia, which was far too pricey for me (even when discounted) before moving onto the bookstore.  There wasn’t much of a selection, but in the teenage reading level I did find some Dungeon and Dragons books detailing the adventures of different parties of four.

The place was too quiet for my tastes though so I headed toward the taco bus.  On the way I stopped at the ALCO store and bought a snack to pass the time.  The gentleman at the checkout told me that he lived in Columbia, Missouri for a couple years and was glad to get away from that 10% sales tax.  Here in Montana there is no sales tax.  We parted with a handshake and he told me he appreciated all that I was doing for our country.  Got me feeling all fuzzy inside.

The taco bus was just what it sounds like.  The back of the bus was converted into a kitchen and the front had two tables running parallel to the windows.  The wheels, stairs, and walking space were all painted gold, the flakes of which hinted that the vehicle hadn’t moved in some time.  I ordered a Chorizo Breakfast Burrito that was a little potato heavy but still very good.  Surprisingly, the two ERT members that went to the Chinese buffet were the ones that ended up feeling sick.  I thought for sure I was going to have a long night.

After we had our fill we were back on the road to Elkhorn hot springs.  Along the way, there was an amazing sight.  The farmers must have missed the weather report as the temperature was below the freezing point.  All of their sprinkler systems were diligently pumping water but were ultimately covered in ice.  The plants the spray reached were frozen as they stood—a sparkling crystal menagerie.

The winter wonderland continued that night at the hot springs.  While we were all sharing embarrassing stories and enjoying a couple of drinks it started to snow.  Delicate snowflakes nestled into our hair and kissed our shoulders before disappearing. Woah, my bad.  A friend read to us a rather intimate moment from a book on the way here and some of the language must have lingered.  Let's try that again. Looking up it felt like I was in a sci-fi movie traveling at warp speed through space.  Better?

After the staff closed down the hot springs for the night I saw a fox.  He was just sitting outside of the cabin we were staying at.  Its fur was fluffy red with a white tip on the end of its tail to match its chest.  We just stared at each other as the snow cemented our feet to the ground.  The fox scrambled away when the door was closed, but man it was a majestic creature.  

The first picture is one of mine.  The one of the fox was taken by Ben Barber just outside of the cabin we stayed at in Elkhorn.