 Most
of the day was spent driving. Montana is a big place. Luckily
the only gray dreary day of our trip was this travel day. Driving
all day isn't that bad when it is in Montana. Most of the western
part is very pretty to look at as the miles go by. This is just some
not very special place somewhere on the Flathead Reservation. |
 This
is the main street of Philipsburg.
I had known a bit about Philipsburg from mining sapphires near there as
a teenager, but couldn't remember what the actual town was like. Mr.
Buck, a net acquaintance, had said it was really nice, so we stopped
for an hour or so to see how true this was. I kind of liked it -
small, but big enough for a grocery store. The buildings on Main
are painted all sorts of pretty colors. They have a big gemstone
store that we were fortunately able to keep my sister out of. She
has a weakness for gemstones, and she has credit cards. They also
have a huge, amazing candy store that had an accordion player and totally
free coffee. Project Vote Smart
is also on some ranch near the town. Go visit it, spend lots of money,
but don't stay permanently. Cool places always get ruined once they
are discovered by the outside world and people flood in. My hometown
of West Palm Beach was wonderful in the '60's, but a million or so people
later it isn't nearly as nice. Even Bozeman is getting kind of irritating
with Wallmarts and malls and casinos and too many yuppies and styling itself
as "Queen of the Rockies" and all. And, always remember not to breed.
Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. End of sermon. |
 Even
the vacant lots in Philipsburg had a certain charm. |
 We
got to Mammoth late that afternoon. After working in housekeeping
there for 2 1/2 years, inspecting any hotel room or cabin I stay in is
now automatic. I found that the room attendants still hate to dust.
To be fair, the cabin had been slightly remodeled recently with nicer lights
and sink fixtures, and the only really nasty thing was the white spots
on the blanket. I kept the blanket folded away from my face that
night. It was a much better experience than the previous
trip. And, in the Snowlodge room we stayed in later they actually
dusted! |
 After
dinner we walked about the terraces and took lots of pictures. I
have so many of Mammoth already I will skip most of those, but Palette
Spring looked especially colorful. Maybe is was because of the approaching
sunset. |
 I
thought this shot was kind of nice with the variety of thermal features,
Mammoth Village behind them, and Mt. Everts still shining in the sun. |
 The
Main Terrace had some kind of big looking fractures starting in it.
It made me think of the Hoodoos. The Hoodoos are a bunch of travertine
blocks all jumbled together that slid down the mountain from some old hot
spring area a few miles south of Mammoth. I wondered if any big chunks
of these terraces had broken off in historic times. |
 As
we were walking back to the cabin in near darkness there were these two
rabbits. They were fighting. They did little actual clawing
and biting. Instead they mostly hopped around each other giving each
other hateful looks. Then one would suddenly jump several feet straight
up and startle the other. Then after more dancing around and staring
the other would do the same. It was pretty entertaining. |
 We
got treated to an extra brilliant sunset before retiring for the night. |