PORCH PONDERINGS

The Memorial Bonnie Hike

Wednesday we made a trip to Gardiner. This has become an almost yearly event since we left the motel there. If you want to stay in a small, family owned motel with clean comfortable rooms, no bells or whistles, stay here. The room we are in has a back door to a patio overlooking the patio. I can open the back window, turn on a ceiling fan and enjoy the cool mountain air. No a/c needed here at night. Right now I hear some birds at the bird feeder, the river running below. Hubby has left early to do some fishing in the Yellowstone River before we head back to Roundup.

http://yellowstonerivermotel.com

The Yellowstone River Motel was one of the first in Gardiner. It is family owned still to this day, and strives to not be the biggest or the fanciest, but to give you a clean room at a good price. And who really needs a nasty waffle for breakfast? Go to the grocery store in town and use the money you saved on the room and buy some breakfast food. Alright, done preaching about the chains.

The trip here was uneventful. We did have a mission on the way, though. Minwax, Sedona Red 222. This is a stain hubby needs to finish the woodwork in the current remodeling project and the next room on the first floor. Seems Minwax has redone the formula and removed this from their inventory, so you have to find the old product. None in Billings, we've looked. None in Roundup, we've looked. But we finally found probably the last quart of the elusive shade in a little Ace in Livingston, MT. Ahh, little hardware stores. A treasure.

So the trip here was nice, it was cooler by a few degrees on Wednesday. Have you ever played the license plate game? Well here are a few I wrote down: ID, IA, IL, UT, AK, NJ,SD, PA, CO, WY. But I think I will win the game with this one: MANITOBA! Ha, when is that last time you saw that license plate? And do you even know where that province is? Geography lesson here: http://www.manitoba.ca/index.html

There is extreme fire danger now. It has been very hot and very dry. There are signs along the interstate, no stopping off pavement.

As we go further West the dark clouds gather. Then it rains for a few miles then sun again. I see snow in the Beartooth Mountains still hanging on even into August. Nice. The Yellowstone River runs from one side of the road then to the other. Lovely river. It is the longest undammed river in the lower 48 states. Hubby can't wait to get to Gardiner and go fishing.

We finally make it to Livingston, MT. This funky little town sits on I-90 and is a gateway to Yellowstone. We stop here, where we find the elusive wood stain. We also like the food store here, Town and Country. It has a special local ketchup made in Bozeman, and a spice mix, Montana Mex made in Livingston. So some food purchases, a quick trip to a most excellent thrift store, and then a late lunch at the Rib and Chop house. After that I need my stretchy pants!

From Livingston it's an hour's drive to Gardiner. I remember the first time we drove down this stretch of highway. The Paradise Valley is the most beautiful drive ever. I was instantly in love with this area. That was many years ago and the love has only grown. Of course, there are many more people now and more coming all the time. But the mountains have not changed.

Gardiner is busy, even with the burnt out restaurants. Tourists everywhere. We love this motel, it was our home and job for eight years. We visited with the owner's daughter as we checked in. The challenges they have this year with all the Covid-19 has really knocked back the business, but they are still hanging on. Albeit by a thread, but still in the game.

Yesterday we drove to the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness trailhead. This hike is a favorite of ours, it goes to Knox Lake. Roundtrip is about 8 miles. Some maps say 6, some 7 but the trailhead says 8.2. So I call it 8. I proposed yesterday to name this our "Bonnie Commemorative Hike". We lost our dog about a year ago. She loved to hike with us and loved this particular hike with the stream crossings. We hike with a gun and bear spray. But yesterday the only wildlife we saw were one mule deer and some Clark's nutcrackers.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Clarks_Nutcracker/id

It took us about 6 hours. Not bad, considering we don't hike often any more. But boy we sure were sore when we got back to the room. But a nice soak in the bathtub helped.

So now hubby got up early and wandered down to the river. He wants to get a trout to take home. Nothing like a baked trout dinner. Excellent eating, my friends.

It rained here several times. A few thunderstorms came through and now it's sunny and cool. It has been smoky from fires nearby. That seems to be continuing this morning.

Love the mountains, miss the mountains. Wish I still lived here, but Roundup is now my home. Time to start heading that way.





Queen Norma Jean