From Bozeman

This second post begins with a re-work of an early effort that didn't get published until now.

Our apartment is upstairs again, smaller than last year but still quite nice.  The stairs are outside, the advantage being the first thing I see outside our door is the spreading branches of an old oak tree while a pine aroma wafts over the place.

It feels so good to be back in Bozeman!  The downtown has some changes.  A nice restaurant we liked last year is now gone.  In another space, a place called "Bisl" popped up.  If you know Yiddish, you'll recognize the meaning, "a little".  Had dinner there last night.

It's very nuevo cuisine, familiar ingredients combined in unique ways.  For their website click HERE.


Other storefronts are being remodeled.

Our favorite breakfast place Nova Cafe always has a wait for a table, as usual.  The omelettes can be eclectic, incorporating kale & other such healthy ingredients.  We ordered from the ordinary selections and upon finishing the servings we decided they were well, ordinary.  Maybe not so favorite anymore.

A history lesson.  Albert Gallatin (1761 - 1849) was the Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson.  In 1803, in his totally unknown behind-the-scene role, he scraped up the $3 mil (in those days a huge amount for a young country) to pay Napoleon for the Louisiana Purchase.   His somewhat better known role was to finance the Lewis & Clark Expedition, but still that wouldn't have gotten him much notoriety until the expedition found the source of the Missouri as three unnamed rivers, now appropriately known as Three Forks, not far from Bozeman.  I wrote about it last year & will visit the site again this trip.

Anyhow, Merriwether Lewis decided to name those rivers after the three most important men to him in the federal government.  Jefferson/President, Madison/Secretary of State & later President, and our guy, Albert Gallatin.  Lewis did not explore those rivers so he had no way of knowing how big or long they were.  Well, the Gallatin River starts 120 miles south in Yellowstone National Park and flows north through Gallatin Canyon up to Three Forks.  (We took that drive last year to a place in Big Sky to order the disappointing walleye, beautiful.)

And Bozeman is the county seat of Gallatin County.  So out here in the west, good old Albert (who lived 40+ years after the discovery but never came here) is a big name.  And all he really did was to push a quill pen around and make some transactions just as President Jefferson asked him to.

Here's to Albert!!!

Sorry for the reflections in the photo.

This portrait is part of the Bozeman Historical Museum, which served as the county jailhouse from the 1870's until 1982.

An 'only in Bozeman' story:

As we were leaving the museum, a very nice lady was entering & the usual friendly greetings morphed into a standing-on-the-stairs conversation.  (Bozemanites love hearing good things about their city from visitors.)  She graduated high school here, a very long time Bozeman resident.  So long, in fact, that when the conversation came around to the jail-now-museum, she said (and I kid you not) "I remember when this was a jail.  My husband spent several weekends here and I came to visit him."

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OK, back to the present.  Here's an update on the Green Coalition, also posted on Facebook.


It turns out The Coalition is the local Democratic Party's reaction/alternative to the Tea Party. It seems back in 2009 the TP was determined to hold a 4th of July parade in Bozeman. The Dems felt that Independence Day was for everyone, not just the TP. Long story short, TGCOGL4J now obtains the only available Independence Day parade permit, then does not hold a parade. The TP relegates itself to a city park.

This fellow sells t-shirts & bumper stickers; any proceeds exceeding expenses are donated to the local food bank. He's also running for county commissioner as a Democrat.
How could we NOT join such an effort??

We decided Susanne will be our family representative to The Coalition.

For the full inside story of The Coalition written by the very nice man in the photo above, check out this LINK.

Another update...we went back to Three Forks, toured the L&C area, then went into town and had walleye at their most famous hotel, the Sacagawea (known to locals as 'The Sac', built in 1910, remodeled a hundred years later).  But this time I tried a better way.  Before we left home I was in communication with the chef, so when we ordered the walleye, he served it (i.e. he brought it to our table) just the way we wanted it...fabulous!  So fabulous that we dug right in & forgot to take pics.  Oh well, next year.

We did remember to shoot the creme brulee avec chocolate spoon.

Some Sac photos.  It was 8pm, the sun was about to set...the exterior color is really quite white.

Traveling throughout Montana we saw signs about something called a "buffalo jump". It wasn't until we stopped to read one that we discovered what it was.  Back in the 19th century and probably for centuries before that, the Native American tribes lived off of the buffalo; hides, meat, everything.  Killing them with bows & arrows had to be extremely difficult.  They figured out a much, much easier way.  Why not simply herd them and drive them off a cliff?  (Yikes!)  Well, they did that and those sites became known as 'buffalo jumps'.  On our way to Three Forks, we saw such a sign and decided to check it out.  It was further back in the hinterlands than we expected but we finally got there.

A few pics.

Just a big, ole cliff.

Susanne likes to shoot what I call "micro-pics", shots of small things & small areas.  Here's some of what she's done:

She really doesn't like insects unless they're seen through the camera.

See the spider?

OK, I've got to get organized for tomorrow.  We're heading to Missoula, a bit over 200 miles to the west.  A larger city with a bigger tango community and two restaurants we really enjoyed last year, one French, the other Italian.  Our first love is Bozeman, but a couple of days visiting our second love ain't too bad either.

Bye!!!

Delayed Bozeman Post

We're way more than halfway into the trip & I haven't done post #1.  I hang my head in shame!

Actually, I'm beginning to understand what "writer's block" is.  I just haven't been inclined to do the work of processing the photos and doing a write-up.  I'm now forcing myself to do something.  

The weather is delightful.  It's in the high 40's to high 50's in the early morning, then in the high 70's to mid '80's in the afternoon.  The locals complain about the heat.  Susanne & I roll our eyes.

Earlier this week, we packed up some homemade tuna salad sandwiches & headed out to a reservoir nestled in the mountains about 45 minutes from Bozeman.  A lovely place as you're about to see.

The reservoir from our picnic spot.

Looking up:

And looking back:

Close to every picnic table is an elevated fire pit for cooking.  But that's alot of work.  I remember as a kid, the family saying "Let's have a picnic.  Should it be a cold picnic ('sambiches' & cole slaw/potato salad) or hot (burgers, hot dogs & beans)?"

The reservoir empties into a stream that flows through a canyon heading north towards Bozeman.  The drive mostly follows this stream, beautiful!

Note the Starbucks cup, lower left.  We disposed of it.

Nothing more beautiful than the sound of a rushing stream amid the aroma of pine trees.

Every city no matter how small has a famous citizen.  In Bozeman, it's Gary Cooper.  You do know who Gary Cooper is.  High Noon his most famous, now ancient movie.  Anyhow, here he is from his Bozeman High School photo, class of 1922.

Yeah, w-a-a-a-y back there under the red arrow.

We timed our trip for the Bozeman Sweet Pea Festival.  It's food, music, kids' theatre, arts & crafts.  One of the great things they did was to unload a huge pile of scrap lumber, lay out a table with hammers & nails, then tell families to have at it....build whatever you want.  Here are some pics:

I wasn't able to catch the exact magic moment, but here's a father/daughter just after high-fiving the completion of their table of-sorts.

Every Thursday evening in the summer, the city shuts down a stretch of Main Street and we have "Music on Main".  Out come the folks, the food trucks, and the bands.  Here's a small part of it.  Note the old buildings on the right.  Bozeman is trying very hard to retain the architectural character of this old western town, founded during the Civil War after gold was discovered in a town south of here.  They're not succeeding entirely.   Two of the recently built bank buildings look really out of place.

Also, out comes a bit of strangeness.  Here's an organization that covers all the bases.  They're selling t-shirts with their name.  I didn't check them out last week, but if they're there tonight, I'll mosey over.

I want to get this post off.  I'll try for more but we've got busy times coming up.  Tomorrow night there's a milonga at the local teahouse.  Then Saturday we head to Missoula for a milonga there, returning Monday.  And Wednesday we have a very early morning plane back to hot country.

Bye4now!

Bonus Post: How a Fireworks Display is Created

Susanne & I spent 4th of July weekend with daughter Carole & her family in eastern Kansas.  Her husband Jim's family has a tradition to put on a fireworks display each Independence Day weekend going back three generations.

Rather than load you up with tons of family photos, I decided to go back over my pics to gin up a post about how a fireworks display is created.  I wish I had thought of this before the weekend started...there are other photos I might've taken.

OK, here goes.  Fireworks are shot from tubes.  The first step is to examine the tubes to see if there is any deterioration in the tubes or the rack from last year.  Here they are, in the driveway waiting to be inspected.



Below you can see the tubes; they're upside down to check out the base which is a circular wooden insert and to remove the remaining paper from last year's charges.  You can also see the wood racks into which they are placed.

Then the tubes are loaded into the racks which are then loaded onto the trailer that will take them out to the farm where they'll be fired.  That's Jim's Dad, used to be in charge, now a helper.

The next big job is to wire each of these tubes to a central wireless control box.  These boxes are controlled from a safe distance from the fireworks to fire each tube separately or in groups.

It's all done by hand each year because the wiring is destroyed when the fireworks go off.  Here's a happy wire-er.

It's a big job.

This is what a control box looks like.  Multiple control boxes...wires everywhere.

At this point, the tubes are empty.  Across the state line in Missouri, fireworks can be sold without restriction.  A trip is made to one of the dealers.  This shot shows the end of the unloading.  I wish I had taken one as the unloading began.  There were lots & lots of cartons.  I also with I'd taken some shots inside the fireworks store but I didn't.  It's amazing; all kinds of fireworks from firecrackers to rockets all over the place.  In Arizona no fireworks are legal, not even sparklers.

That's Jim grabbing one of the last boxes.  He is the brains and inspiration of this project.  And man, it IS a project!

Each plastic bag contains one charge of fireworks.  They come in 3", 4" & 5" sizes and are placed initially on top of a tube of corresponding size.  On the left is Jim's son Shannon.  Someday, he'll be in charge.

Each fireworks charge is placed in its position on top of the tube.  The next step is to wire each charge to the control box.

The wiring phase is under way. 

Jim's daughter Rylee is attaching the control box wire to the fireworks fuse assembly.

The fireworks charge is inserted into the tube and placed at the bottom.  Because it's been threatening rain all day, an extra step was added...covering all of the tube openings with plastic wrap held by a rubber band.

And here's the finished assembly, out at the farm where the fireworks will be well, fired.

It's not just a family thing.  It's a "lots of friends and family" affair, complete with a picnic.  The food is beginning to be assembled.  I wish I'd taken more food shots...what this blog is known for.  Sloppy Joes & pulled-pork sandwiches, baked beans, green beans, salad, chips, beer, soda pop.

 Here are a few before-dark crowd shots.

This is the view, a fishpond.  The kids have been fishing; mostly little fish are caught but the city kids are thrilled.  The fireworks will be fired towards us from the far shore.  It had been gloomy & cloudy all day.  The tiki torches are lit now but will be put out for the show.

Two happy family occasions occurred during the weekend.  One of Jim's nieces is 18 weeks along with her first baby.  The gender has been determined and is announced by a mini-fireworks display at Jim & Carole's home.  There are two small smoke bombs, one pink and the other blue.  The corresponding gender bomb is lit.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Mama2B on the left, Daddy2B in the middle.  Antie2B on the right and Grandma2B in the back.

Jim's daughter Ashton has been dating a fellow for five years.  He wants to propose.  A quiet, private offer of marriage?  HAIL, NO!!!!

Instead, a fireworks display was built and lit after dark.

It says "MARRY ME ASHTON?"

She said "Yes"!

We've all seen fireworks displays...I'll just toss in three.

I can't stand it!  I've gotta throw in some family pics.

Bedtime stories.  Grandpa with grandson Noah and Aunt Susanne with granddaughter Sabra.

OK, that's it for the 4th of July.  Susanne & I are heading back to Montana towards the end of this month.  So I'll be doing a return blog from Big Sky country.