Friday, May 15, 2009

Road Trip #2: Going to see me Ma

I ventured to Malta which I mentioned last week to see my Mother and buy her dinner for Mother's day. I took over 100 pictures from the driver's seat of the griz-wagon and they were all keepers. Fortunately for the five or so people who read this drivel I narrowed it down to what you see below. Get a cup of hot joe or an adult beverage, depending on the time of day (or not) and dig in to follow me on yet another spectacular journey in the 41st state.



Golf clubs? Check! Shotguns? Check!



Old dogs get to ride in the front seat. Sad story for my best friend and companion of the last 12 years. My old girl is almost completely deaf and it almost brings tears to my eyes. She looks at me not with the adoring excited face that I've seen but with a puzzled glance of "why won't you talk to me anymore?"


The next three pics are a series. When you are just getting on the highway to drive for the next 4 1/2 hours and you hear this song you know it's gonna be a great trip.





The Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone is the longest continuous flowing river in the United States. By that I mean there is no dam. Just in case a liberal stumbles across this blog I have to keep it simple.



You have to like the Crazy Mountains. Just spectacular.



Storms like this one were ever present on my trip home. I didn't have to run my wipers much though as I seemed to always be between them.




This is the wind farm by Judith Gap. I took a better picture on my drive home which is posted below. I'm not quite sure but I believe these towers are 150 feet tall.



This is the griz-wagon parked in front of a blade from the previous photo. This gives you some perspective of how big those towers are. There's still about 10 feet of blade not pictured.


Eddies Corner!!! We're halfway to Malta. Pretty good grub here. They used to have the best hot beef sandwich on the planet but have slipped a little It's the quality of the meat!!!! Don't let me down like this Eddies. The high-light of my drive home is stopping for a hot beef and a 20 minute nap. Please don't make me drive through Lewistown for a Big Mac. I beg of you!!



In case you forgot where we're going its Malta. Capitol of the Hi-Line. Center of the universe.



The Mint Bar in Malta. Usually the first place I go when I get home. Every town on the Hi-Line has a "Mint Bar". Or a "Pastime" or a "Stockman's". Hmmmmmmmmm. Wonder if I know anyone in there. Better check it out. Looks like my brother won't see me until the morning.



Marion Hills Golf Course. I took a triple on number three for a 42. Shouldn't have got greedy and tried to cut the corner. Dammit!!



Looks like nephew Spencer shouldn't have had that last beer. Kid finished his dinner and just curled up and went to sleep.



My dear sweet mom with her twin granddaughters Sidney and Sammi. Or is it Sammi and Sidney? Couldn't keep them straight all weekend.



Dyer Coulee . Yeah, you can bury me right here.



You don't see Beaver Creek running with this much water very often. It's a beautiful sight. If it gets 80 this week up there you'll be able to watch the alfalfa grow from your front porch.



Sidney, Sammi and Spencer. Or is it Sammi, Sidney and Spencer. Dammit, dammit, dammit I can't keep them straight. You can hardly see the horns growing out their heads.


This used to be St. Mary's Catholic School. The scene of this story and this one. I almost have to brush memories away from my face when I drive by here.


The football field at St. Mary's where I honed my skills. You couldn't throw the ball towards the kid I was covering. It was a bad mistake and six going the other way. I was All St. Mary's for four years and All-City for longer than that.



Just a picture of an old house we used to live in in the 60's. I only put this up because I know my oldest sister in NYC is a faithful reader and thought she would enjoy this. LP, don't forget to tell me who to take in the race tomorrow.


I stopped by these old corrals on my way back to Bozeman. They are about 50 miles south of Malta. About 30 years ago I carved my name in them somewhere. I looked for about 20 minutes and couldn't find it anywhere. Some of the boards have been replaced. Along with one of my memories.



The Missouri Breaks. This is where the big elk live. And big rattlesnakes. Jim Craig (not the guy from Snowy River) and I killed seven in one day moving cows back in 1981. Seven. That's all we could get to. Killed them with rocks and our ropes. I hate snakes.


A storm looming over the Crazies.



A better picture of the wind farm. You can really see how many towers there are in this photo. This picture probably has almost 3/4's of them in it.





Well that's enough. I made it home and back safe and sound. Got to see my family and some good friends. Took the kids to breakfast without their mom and dad. It was our first outing together without their parents and we had a great time. They love their Uncle Chip and he thinks they're pretty great as well.

My next scheduled road trip is to Columbia Falls over Memorial Day Weekend. I'm going the the northwest part of Montana. In the heart of the Rockies. Some great scenery there, great golf as well and the best part is that I'm not driving so I'll be able to take better pics. Everyone have a great weekend!!

11 comments:

Kymical Reactions said...

Milky - this is a great pictorial of your trip! I love your dog. I know what you are going through about her getting old. Mine is 10 and her poor hips are getting bad. :(

And those windmill propellers? They are something else! I know just how huge they are - I've driven next to flat beds on the highway and have them as the load. I thought it was an airplane wing the first time I saw one.

Did you get to do any shooting on your trip? What gun do you shoot? If I were going to take a guess, I'd say a Remington 1100 12guage.

Enjoy your weekend.

Milk River Madman said...

Kim,

Thank you for the nice compliment.

My old dog is doing well otherwise. It is sad though because I almost scare her when I come home and things like that. I rescued her 12 1/2 years ago from the Humane Society. We've been through mast cell cancer twice and a couple of incidents but she is tough and loves people.

I'd like to have the math skills to calculate how fast the blades are traveling when I drive by the windmills.

I have a Remington 870 pump and a Stoeger over/under with 12 gauge barrels and 20 gauge barrels but didn't get to shoot it this weekend.

h said...

God's Country. Beautiful. Gosh, I wish Captain Clark had staked a claim there for me!

Did you do anything useful with the remains of the big nasty rattlesnakes?

Pam said...

Wonderful photo essay of your trip. I especially like the dinner with mom part. And choice of driving music

Ree said...

I love it - it's like traveling along with you!

Milk River Madman said...

CT,

Left the snakes as they lay. After cutting off the rattles of course.

Pam,

Mom is 77 and doing well. Remarried 5 years ago to a wonderful man. Nice to know she has a good companion in the twilight of life.

Ree,

Thanks for the kind words. I attempted to build a blower box from your sight today but had to make some modifications to fit my little townhouse. I have pictures of progress but probably won't have the final story for a couple of weeks. Want to get flowers planted and blooming and still to cold at night here for that.

Ralph said...

Chip, thanks for the pictures. I really miss Montana. The pictures of Saint Marys are awesome. I would kindly take expception to your coverage skills however. It seems once again your memeory has failed you. (Like the alumni wrestling match.) Oh well at least some things are a constant in this life

Milk River Madman said...

Ralph,

You probably don't remember my coverage skills because you were to afraid to line up across from me. You were always across from Frank Jenkins.

Ralph said...

Lets leave the Jenkins out of this. What did they ever do to you anyway? I was usually double covered during football, box in one zone during basketball, way deep during baseball, you get the idea.

Milk River Madman said...

Shhhhhhhhhh. Everyone. Lets not wake Ralph. He's dreaming again. Just let him sleep.

Nan-Nan said...

Milkman- how lucky are we that we get to travel vicariously through you and your posts?! Never been to Montana, but wow, what gorgeous country. Looking forward to the pot about your Memorial Day trip. Thanks for sharing.