Advertisement
Note for first time players #5: Yes there are direct flights from almost anywhere in America to almost anywhere else. However you will find that cheap flights are far from direct. As many of you will no, before Montana I was in
Macolm, Illinois. The journey to Montana was one of the longest and lamest I've had so far. It started with a 3 hour train right to the outskirts of Chicago where I stayed overnight with April's parents (thanks again). The following morning, starting at 8am, two separate one hour train rides brought me to Ohaire Airport. A flight from there to LAX, then from LAX to Denver, then from Denver to Missoula brought me to where i needed to be. Final plane landed at midnight, lame.
The thing about Montana, unlike for instance Texas (Who think they are the best and won't really bother arguing about it), is that the locals are very protective of their state. The question 'so do you think Montana is the best state in America?' will be asked many times and the thing is there is only really one answer. You answer in the negative and you are asking for a whole world of
hurt.
Truthfully though, Missoula is pretty freaking awesome. This is the heart of the Grizz Nation and everybody will let you know of that fact. a whole load of micro breweries, no sales tax and a weird mix of hippies (expected) and hipsters (not expected and not appreciated) in a glacial valley creates a really cool setting. Apart from a few hikes and packing Matties entire apartment up with some help from her old man (big-ups!), my time in Montana was spent at the bar with Matt Lippy, great guy, or Mattie Webber. Tamarack (the mother fucking place to be!) was the sight of at least six nights of drinking and frivolity., starting at
Apologies must go out to Mattie for missing her graduation, which was the main reason i was in the vicinity anyway. In my defense though, we had partied pretty freaking hard the night before. The other main reason for heading to the Zoo (Mi-zoo-la) was to attend maggot-fest. It's pretty much what it sounds like, a rugby/drinking festival involving beer taps along a fence that never runs out and a penchant for throwing beer at people. Suffice it is to say that there are
Not as offense as some but still epic! (Reads: Keep Honking, I'm reloading)
For the record, most offense sticker so far is 'If you don't stand behind the troops you should be standing infront of them' no photos from said event, nor should there be. To be perfectly honest we really shouldn't be talking about it anyway...
Bad weather report #4: It's fairly logical that given sufficient wind strength any tree can be completely uprooted. It is nice, however, for this to be illustrated for all of us to see....
Off topic but on theme is Jimmy Johns. There is a Jimmy Johns at the end of Mattie's streets and it is open till 3am. It also delivers till 3am, These facts, while epic, are not overly important. The salient point here is that a loaf of day old bread with cost 50c and there is pretty hilarious black dude that works the late shift most nights. It is self evident that due to much partying while in Missoula there were many late night visits to Jimmy Johns. Consequently on my last night in the Zoo I walked into the Johns at around midnight and the dude behind the counter smiles from ear to ear and says in probably the worst English/Aussie accent in history 'Do you want a Loooooooaf?'
Perhaps the most important thing to come out of my time in Missoula
apart from the reaffirmation of my love of beer was the purchase of the Green Machine (better nickname is pending). A 1998 Subaru Outback Wagon at a cost of $3200 has fundamentally changed the way I journey around the country, but more on that later. At this stage it should be important enough to note that it meant a much easier trip to my next destination
Walla Walla BITCH
After missing Mattie's graduation i made it a point not to miss Alie's. Not that I could have, even if i'd wanted to; 17 jewish relatives tend to get you to where you need to be, when you need to be there. It was good to see the Ventura crew again and have a few party nights out with them. But all in all my time in Walla was spent mostly getting to know the Kussin Gang (yes, i use the word gang intentionally). Also, big holla to my main man Low Key Hank, you know who you are.
For my troubles i scored a sweet 'Alie's Proud Family' Polo (yeah that shit is for real, no joke), an invite to a Bar Mitzva and a general feeling that even though Walla Walla Washington is in the middle of nowhere (on the east coast they say it during awkward silences, for real). The only real downside was a result of the fact that Whitman is a $55,000 a year institution trying to survive in hard economic times. Consequently the graduation ceremony itself was peppered with what I can only really describe as very poor tastes demands for money from the newly graduated students. A little bit of a disappointing thing to see at that kind of event.
The next step in the journey was a solo long haul drive 1000miles south-east. Roughly the distance from Adelaide to Melbourne and back. After that I would find myself face to face with some gun-totin democrat hatin 'Mericans, in
Colorado
More photos
available here
Advertisement
Tot: 0.21s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0406s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb