Blogs from Big Sky, Montana, United States, North America

We headed to Montana to find a city we could have our mail sent to and catch up with the world. We found White Sulfur Springs, MT. 40 miles from the nearest stop light! No phone service. Lots of horses in Montana. While there we took a day and drove to the capital, Helena, just 75 miles around the mountain. The population of Montana is less than a million people. The capital building has a statue of Senator Mike Mansfield (under President Johnson.) Today he would be a Blue Dog Democrat. There are spectacular sunsets in Montana. Guess that's why they call it BIG SKY! Next we headed to Glacier National Park where we will meet up with friends Bruce and Sandy and doggy Tag. On the way we had a 25 mile slow-go behind combines ... read more

We reach the RV destination! On Wednesday, we made the 11 hour trek out of Yellowstone National Park to Clarkston, WA. (remind us to tell you about the “shower incident” when we return). On the trip, we went through Montana, Idaho and into Washington. We had a great time that evening at Steve (Patty’s 1st cousin) and Stephanie Heflin’s house in Clarkston, where we had cold Margaritas and great fajitas waiting for us. We had a great evening on their deck and under the stars. Our kids had a great time playing with Steve and Stephanie’s kids - Rhett, Logan and Lindsey. On Thursday morning, we left Clarkston and went 1 hour up the road Moscow, Idaho to see another of Patty’s 1st cousin’s family - Beth and Greg Papineau. We spent the day with them ... read more

On the first night in Montana, we drew straws to figure out where people would sleep—since Ted was sleeping in the master bedroom, the 7 of us split up into 3 rooms: Room 1: Me, Yuriko and Soon Hae Room 2: Chiaki and Shin Room 3: Yu and Yuki The problem with this setup is that there were only 2 beds in our room. Feeling immensely chivalrous, I offered the two women the beds and slept on some window ledge/couch/bed hybrid (actually I was just fucking tired and didn’t care where I slept). It was skinny enough that one (skinny Japanese) person could lie on it with some degree of ease, but definitely not two. It was also immensely cold since it was pushed up against the chilly window. I passed the fuck out, huddled under ... read more

While everyone back home is enjoying the sunshine and warmth of an Australian summer Fiona and I are enduring the hardships of a vicious Florida winter. Surprisingly it does actually get cold here, but unlike most of the US it doesn't snow. Neither Fiona or I had tried Skiing or Snowboarding before so we thought we should head north for the winter and get a taste of some serious snow. Some of the guys who had been here previously had visited a place called 'Big Mountain' in just south of the Canadian border in Montana and said it was great so decided it was the place to go. We spoke to a couple of friends over here and soon there was 10 of us booked in and ready to go. We chose an absolute pearler of ... read more

Next stop was with more gracious and hospitable relatives in the small farming community of Glentana, North East of Ford Peck Indian Reservation. This whole area is grain country, and according to an article in the Great Falls Tribune on 4th August, the quality of wheat grown here is ideal for making “big, fluffy buns” as used in McDonald’s Big Macs. Glentana has a permanent population of only 12 residents, but has its own church and post office. This used to be a thriving little community, but like many similar settlements in this area it has declined in recent years, as individual homesteaders are no longer able to compete with the big land owners. There are several derelict buildings, including an impressive old school house and a few deserted homesteads, complete with old, rusting farm machinery. ... read more