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!