Montana 10/13

The cabins we stayed at were nice.  They appeared to be made completely of wood and stone with the exception of the wood-burning stove and kitchen appliances.  There were curtains that could be unrolled to create a bed room with the 2 bunks, but with 14 of us that option would have just been silly.  It was very spacious and cozy—I’d go again if given the chance.

My only complaint would be that the hot springs were tapped and poured into swimming pools.  A natural setting would have made it perfect.  Still, the scenery and atmosphere made it a memory I will not soon forget.  Some of us went into the bar and had a couple drinks to support the owner as we found out that AmeriCorps has good standings with him.  That’s how we got to stay with minimal labor as payment.  Anyhow, I learned that the Tigers made it to their league’s championship and my Spartans won their homecoming game.  It was kind of like most RPGs or books where the barkeep knows all sorts of things.  Now I have to start pondering what to do in the event of a Tigers and Cardinals championship.

After a hearty brunch of bacon, eggs, multiple kinds of pancakes, and a couple of cookies we split up into groups to enjoy our day.  I went with Dan, Ben, Whitney, Lili, and Liana to the elusive Butte.  We started at Goodwill as throughout our time in Montana people have found awesome deals there.  Not being a shopper I wasn’t sure what brands to look for.  I ended up buying an Adidas, Nike, Under Armor, and some fishing shirt for about $15.00.  I think I did pretty well, although I didn’t find a windbreaker like I had originally intended.

Next we were contemplating going to the cemetery where Evel Knievel was buried.  It started snowing though so we decided against it.  Instead, we went to the brewery.  Earlier in the week I had someone go into town and pick me up a growler of their seasonal beer.  It was called Iron Stone and it was delicious.  The perk about going to the brewery is that they let you taste test everything.  Unfortunately, it was Sunday and the Brewery turned out to be closed.  This was the story for the majority of the shops in Butte.  We tried their distillery just in case.  It was open!  After we walked through the doors we realized we didn’t want anything and awkwardly shuffled out.

With next to nothing open aside from churches, our group decided to head back to HQ.  On the way back there was a lot of singing along to the radio.  My favorites were the Radioactive song by Imagine Dragons and this song I hadn’t heard before by One Republic.  It had something to do with counting stars I believe.  When we got back I sharpened axes for over an hour and then talked to Haley for a bit before dinner.  Not working was surprisingly exhausting so I chose to hit the hay instead of watching A Beautiful Mind with most of the others.  One more day until we head home.

Thought I would take a moment to introduce one of our gifted photographers I've been borrowing a lot of pictures from.  Sean Kerr is the perpetrator on the right.  Liz (person to his left) was his partner in crime in felling this tree via crosscut.  I believe this shot was taken on Sean's camera, but the one behind the lens remains a mystery.