There was a lot more to Montana than I realized. I did go through a very small portion of the state when I was 5. We were moving from Kentucky to Washington by car. I don't remember much of what I saw of MT back then.
It was unusually hot over there, and the smoke had made it's way to it, too. Perfect for vacationing there, right? Well, we would have gone through similar weather back home, so that part wouldn't have mattered. Actually, the air quality and smoke were much worse at home, so we were lucky that way. The smoke was from all the wildfires in Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and Montana. We're all on fire here and there's no escape. It's much better today, and the air quality is finally in the 'good' category, but this may change on Monday.
The cats went to their own 'hotel' called Alder Creek Pet Lodge. We had the most trouble with getting Rosie in the carrier. She has to have gone through some sort of trauma in the past with them, because she has such a visceral reaction. She struggles, cuts up the person who's trying to get her in, poops and pees, makes herself heavier, etc. I actually feel sorry for her. It shouldn't be such a scary and panic-inducing thing. I think she thinks that we'll abandon her if she's in it, too. Tasha was the most vocal on the way to and from it. She doesn't have such an issue with the carrier, but not knowing where she's going gets to her, I think.
Tasha has joint problems, so she ended up in a 'cat condo' that's level and at the top, so she probably could watch the birds and lord over the other cats. It had a little cubbyhole for a bed, a partition separating the bed area and food/water/litter box area. Seemed actually pretty nice. She didn't have to jump.
Rosie had a condo that was like a cage on wheels. There were a couple of platforms to jump onto. She doesn't like to jump often. I noticed they added another one to help her get around. Her litter box and a bed were on the bottom level. Her food and water were on the first platform. She was on the top platform when we came to pick them up. She kept rubbing me, too. I brought 4 toys for them. (2 for each.) They both got their stuffed carrot toys. Rosie's is a lot more beat up, and most of the leaves are gone. Tasha's just has bite marks. They both love their own carrot. It's cute. Anyways, Rosie had hid her carrot in her bed. She really didn't want anyone else to have it. Tasha didn't hide her toys...
They're so happy to be home now. I think the staff at their hotel treated them well, but they really just wanted to be home with their humans. At our hotel in Butte, MT, the housekeepers were weird. They asked if we wanted them to clean our room while we were away a couple of times. They didn't seem to do this to other people.
Perkin's was in the same building as the hotel. That was somewhat dangerous. Perkin's is like a Shari's. They're also known for their pies and other baked goods. Their cookies, 'mammoth' muffins (they weren't as big as the muffins we get at home), and pies were very good. Pancakes were weird. Too salty and not cooked enough. So, I ended up having a muffin and melon for breakfast for a couple of the days. You could make your own breakfast, where in addition to eggs, you can choose what you want from the choices. I did this once. I chose a muffin, hash browns, turkey sausage, and melon. Seemed pretty decent, but a little too big. They apparently eat their muffins with butter, which was interesting. Also, they seemed to eat pies with a spoon. A little odd, but makes sense. There were subtle differences like that. Everyone said 'guys' a lot more often. It's considered neutral over there, too. I was surprised by how often they used it.
We went to the World Museum of Mining. They had an interesting exhibit on dollhouses. There was also one on minerals. There's an area just outside the main building of the museum called Hell Roarin' Gulch. It's a recreation of an 1890s mining town.
We also went on an underground mine tour. (It's also connected to the museum.) It was in the Orphan Girl mine going down to the 100 ft level. Apparently, we were the last ones to go down that far. It was starting to flood there. They can't stop it from flooding like that. I think the guide even said they don't really know the exact cause, but the water has been coming in gradually over time. It was fascinating down there. The only issues I had were how slippery it was at a certain point, the water dripping into my hair and down my arm, and feeling like I almost fell out of the 'cage' (it's like an old version of a lift) while looking up at the sunlight coming down from the surface. We had to wear hardhats with lights. We were given dog tags as souvenirs.
Went to a pasty place after that. Miners used to grab them before or after they worked in the mines. The one I had had a filling of beef, potatoes, and onions. I liked the crust a lot. Just not the filling so much. The meat had turned into a block, there wasn't much seasoning, and it just wasn't that great. I ate about 2/3 of mine. Some people get it with gravy or chili, but it should be able to stand on its own. I have a feeling it was just that place's version of it that wasn't that good. I've had hand pies locally before, and they're amazing!
We went to the Copper King (aka W.A. Clark) Mansion after that for a tour. That was definitely a highlight of the trip. There were a lot of cool and fancy things to see. It's apparently a bed and breakfast, too. I don't think they showed the entire house. We met the current owner, and had quite a conversation with her before the tour started. The tour guide was actually only 13 years old. Quite young for something like that, but she did well. She has 14 siblings, and is number 7. That's a lot of kids! Clark was a great great great grandfather of hers. (If I remember correctly...) So, it's been kept in the family. He also had many more mansions in places like Paris, New York, and California. Some have been destroyed. I wanted to tour the Clark Chateau, which was his eldest son's place. Just didn't have time right after the mansion, and it wasn't open when we were more free. Oh well.
We went to the Berkley Pit after the mansion. The water in the pit is toxic. It's been mined too much in the past. If nothing's done about it by 2020, the water will overflow into Butte's water supply. So, they're trying to solve that. The color of the water was kind of eerie. A very light green-ish blue. There were birds flying near it, by they didn't venture too far over the water. It's killed off nearby wildlife, and the only creatures that seem to be able to live in it is a certain bacteria.
The next day we went to Bannack. It's a ghost town. Only a few buildings actually impressed me. Most places were cleared out, and seemed almost identical to each other. The hotel, saloon, school, and a doctor's house were the most interesting.
The Beaverhead County Museum in Dillon was cool. I liked the bear, pianos, old camera, mammoth fossils, and a horse and buggy display. There was supposedly a lot more to the museum than that main building, but we only saw another old school.
Sparky's Garage was one of the best restaurants we went to. It's garage/car themed with some quirky decor. It's mainly a BBQ place. I got the BBQ brisket sandwich. Some of the meat was a little too tough to be in a sandwich, but it was great. The sauce was good. While we were there, a lightning storm started. There was a lot of wind, too. Most of it had stopped by the time we left. Made for a little show.
We went to Virginia City. It's a ghost town, but also a 'living' one. It's considered an open-air museum. The town was founded in the 1860s, and in the 1950s restoration started for tourists. There are 200 actual residents now. I liked what they did with that ghost town. Also, apparently it's extremely haunted. Didn't see any ghosts, but the mannequins were a bit creepy. They have things like restaurants, shops, and a still in use opera house in addition to the 'museum' stuff. The candy shop was huge, and people, young and old alike, were going nuts with the candy. The fudge and 'chocoholic' sections did look awfully good. In a different shop, I got prickly pear taffy. I hadn't had prickly pear anything yet, even though I've seen a few candies made with it. It tastes kind of like watermelon.
We watched a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde play at the opera house. Afterwards, they did a Vaudeville show. I love Vaudeville stuff. They really played off of the traditional old Vaudeville tropes, yet put modern spins on them. Most of it was silly, but nice. The last couple of skits were sad and emotional.
On the last day, we went to Helena. We first went the Montana Historical Society museum. That was really great. I like that they put some emphasis on the Native American tribes of the area, their history, and more. Many places just gloss over that stuff. I got wild huckleberry taffy at the museum store. It's strong, but good. After the museum, we saw the capitol building. That was very impressive. More so than I thought it would be.
We also went to a place for lunch called Benny's Bistro. It was jazz themed. There were portraits of some of the greats in jazz, including Benny Goodman. We sat in front of his portrait. He was one of the most famous jazz clarinetists. I tried using him as an example to get into jazz band, both in junior high and high school. Both directors told me that clarinets don't belong in jazz band. I could see if it was a brass jazz band, but it wasn't. It pissed me off back then. We wondered if the restaurant was named after him, but the waitress didn't know. There were instruments strewn about the walls, too. I got the Montana Rancher. It's a roast beef, pickled onions, horseradish sauce, colby jack, and lettuce sandwich. Very hearty. I ordered a half serving, and I can't imagine how big the full would have been. It came with a thick rosemary tomato soup, tortilla chips, and a madeleine. We shared a peach cobbler, which was one of their specials. It was good except for the bits of pit in every other bite. They didn't pit it well.
Dad managed to drive us all the way back home from the hotel in Butte in one day. Impressive. We started at around 9:30am. Got home at about 10pm locally. It felt like 11pm, because we started the day in Mountain Time. Locally, we're Pacific Standard Time. An hour difference, but I think I felt it. We only stopped for gas, rest areas, a really late lunch, and a ferry. We had pretzels from the ferry's galley for dinner. I had lemon pound cake for dessert.
While in Montana, at the beginning I thought I'd stick to my 'diet'. Ended up being too hard to stick to. I just tried not to eat everything on my plate instead.
I loosely followed it yesterday, and today I'm back to being strict about it. I feel better when I follow it. Again, it's sticking to a 1200-1600 calorie range (up to roughly 1800 for treat days), and keeping track of protein and other nutrients. Splitting the day into 5 meals, too.
My phone has been getting worse with its battery power. It goes way too quickly. Much quicker than it did just a few months ago. Made it frustrating in MT, since I wanted to at least take pics. Might next month look into upgrading. Apple doesn't even support updates to it, and I've heard it's hard to get any repairs or support for it as well. It's an iPhone 5c. I love my phone, except for this new battery issue and occasionally glitching out on me.
I spent a week away from studying Chinese. HelloChinese, the app I use for it, has a plant that you refresh with reviews and lessons. My plant was all shriveled up and dark brown when I finally got back to it. It looked sad. It's back now, but still sickly looking after the 2nd day back to it. I had a slightly harder time with pronunciation when I got back into it. Remembered a surprising amount, though.
I played my clarinet today. I think I might finally get back to practicing it on a regular basis. Managed to practice for an hour this time. It really was just the cork and pads falling off that kept me from playing that long before. I thought I just had to work myself up to it. It feels great to play it again. I played some klezmer, Mozart, a generalized solo book (lots of classical, but also other types of pieces), and a Duke Ellington song. Quite a bit. I played much better than I expected to at this point. I might not play again until Monday. I used to not play during the weekend, or at least not on Shabbat (Saturday). I might go back to that.
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