Journal of Don and Josh’s Montana Trip
July 23 to August 3, 2012
by Daryl Todd
(with contributions from Don)

July 23, 2012: Monday - On the road - traveled through Nevada, stopped for the night in Idaho Falls, ID. The next morning, Don and Josh found the house where Don first lived before getting back on the road for Montana.

- Don

July 24, 2012 - Tuesday: Don and Josh arrived midafternoon. We got them settled into the apartment and got supper started. Stan barbecued a whole chicken with Don and Josh’s help. Stan said next time he would have it figured out how to do it without dumping the chicken onto the grates! It had a little black around the edges, but was hot and juicy!!

Wednesday: It was a ‘take it easy’ day. However Stan got Donald working on his ’48 Chevy truck and worked on getting the lights working. Stan needs it ready for the Sweet Pea Parade on August 4th. Don got stuff off the internet and got it working and Stan was SO IMPRESSED. He made sure I knew where to go so Don bookmarked the page on my computer. I left the guys on their own for supper and went golfing with my ladies golf league. I had an appointment with my doctor before league so I left about 3:30. They fried up some hamburgers and they had everything all cleaned up when I got home. GOOD JOB guys!

- Daryl

July 26, 2012 - Thursday: This is the day to go to the rifle range. But, Don and Stan still had some work to finish on the truck. We had lunch and got ready to go. We stopped at Yellowstone Sports at Four Corners to get a fishing license for Don and Josh and they didn’t sell them. Stan was picking up some targets and other stuff and I realized he had forgotten targets, staple gun, spotting scope, etc. so, we went to another fly fishing store at Four Corners to get the license and went back home to get the stuff we had forgotten. Like Don said -- we had left ‘half-cocked!’ Consequently we didn't get to the range until about 4:00. Their .22 kept jamming so they shot our .17 gauge and decided they liked that rifle a lot. Joshua is a pretty darn good shot. He said that comes from his Philippine heritage, that they were the best shots in the War. When I told Don what he said he said Josh was pretty proud of his Philippine heritage, and I said he should be--we both agreed. It takes about 30 minutes to get from the range to home so we left about 6:00 and went to The Game for steak night with the Wilson Creek neighbors. Don and Josh got to meet a few of them. Then we went to town so they could see David’s condo. I had some things to do there so it was a dual trip. Don took a bunch of pictures and then the guys climbed down into the crawl space to check the humidifier fan. They all agreed it was the cleanest crawl space they had ever seen. We left and headed home. Right by Bill Streets house there was a "dog" coming down the road and as it got closer we realized it was a wolf! It was black with brown like the others we have seen. We are looking forward to hunting season when they can get that population knocked down.

- Daryl

July 27, 2012 - Friday: This is the day we head for Glacier Park. Shucks, Josh......you don’t get to sleep in! We took Don’s truck and it was pretty comfortable. We stopped in Missoula and had lunch with Mitch and Lauren (Mitch’s girlfriend). Then, on to Whitefish. Everyone got acquainted and we sent Don and Josh down to Blanchard Lake to fish and we order Chinese food in. All they caught was those long green things (lilypads). Better luck another time. Off to bed to get up early and off to Glacier Park.

Saturday: Stacy and Doug took Don and Josh to Glacier Park and along the way Don got pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Don lucked out by not getting a ticket and they continued on to the Park. At the park entrance, Stacy sweet talked them into letting two vehicles go in on one pass (you go girl!). Stan and I had a memorial service for a friend in Big Fork and we went off to that and Doug, Stacy and Katy went to a memorial service at Apgar for a friend that lost a 13 day old little girl. Don and Josh got back from the Red Bus Tour thru the Park earlier than we did – so we fixed a late supper when we got home – yummy flank steak with veggies. Don hooked up his computer to their TV so we could have a slide show of the tour. Doug was delighted to see how to do that – so it will be something they can use often. Off to bed after Don helped Stacy with getting her iPad working. Sure is nice to have a "techy" around!

- Daryl

July 29 2012 - Sunday: Time to head back to Gateway. We stopped in Missoula and got Mitch. Lauren’s birthday was Friday and she got a puppy for her birthday. We got acquainted with Trapper and they fed us lunch. They weren’t sure about leaving Trapper for any length of time and it was easier to have us eat there. We left and headed east and wanted to stop at the Ringing Rocks off Pipestone exit. Stacy had looked up the directions on the internet and the directions were way off. We fooled them, though, and got there anyway. What a hoot! The road is pretty rustic but with a good driver and an excellent truck we made it. Don had a hammer and tire iron that Josh could pound on the rocks and made beautiful music. It was pretty cool, and it is something that hardly anyone knows about. Don and I got some great pictures. We stopped in Belgrade at MacKenzie River Pizza for supper. It is a restaurant that is only in Montana so we wanted them to experience it. They have great food – and glasses you can purchase – so Don got a couple for souvenirs.

- Daryl

Mitch took Don and Josh down to the Gallatin River for a little fishing where they each caught a fish.

- Don

July 30, 2012 - Monday: This is the day to explore our heritage. We went to Ennis and met Jane Rybus. Her mother is Winifred Ennis Jeffers who is a cousin to Grandpa Lovell. After a great visit with her we went to Jeffers and to the Episcopal Church there – Trinity Church. The Deacon was there and had a nice visit with him. Then off we went to the Lawrence and Jo Jeffers ranch out of Jeffers to visited with Shirley Gustafson, their daughter. Jane is 88 and Shirley is 86. Some of the true pioneers. Lawrence Jeffers and my Grandma Bertha Davis were brother and sister. Then we went to Nevada City and had lunch at The Star café there and toured the buildings that have been restored there. I showed them the Switzer house that was taken from Jeffers and rebuilt there. The first time they put the notches the wrong way and I couldn’t tell if they just left them that way or redid them. ???? Then back to Virginia City to wander the streets, get ice cream, check out the candy store and then we spent a lot of time in the Museum. That was very interesting and Josh said that was the best of the trip. Donald tried to take a picture of a picture that had Nathanial John Davis in the front row. Hope it turns out. We left so we could get home to eat the spaghetti dinner Mitch had fixed for us. He is a true Italian – he can make great spaghetti!

- Daryl

July 31, 2012 - Tuesday: This is the day for Yellowstone Park. Sorry, Joshua, you don’t get to sleep in AGAIN! We left about 9:00 so we could time it so we could see Old Faithful erupt. We just got thru the Park and they were holding up traffic for the chip sealing they were doing. After traveling at 2 miles an hour it finally opened up. It was for the seven miles between the entrance and Madison Junction. There were tons of people in the Park (as always in the summer). We went to the Old Faithful Lodge and oohed and awed over the building and grabbed a fast bite and Don and Josh headed for the geyser. They got to see the old girl erupt right on time and Don got some great pictures. Then we headed for the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. After a couple of stops we finally found the spot I wanted them to see – where Lower Falls tumbles down thru the Canyon. Don went down to a closer look-out and came back up huffing and puffing saying "I really need to get in shape". It was an easy walk down but a tough walk back up!!!! (You notice that nobody volunteered to go down with him!) We stopped in West Yellowstone at the Outback for supper and then on home. We saw bison, an elk and people!! I got home about 9:00pm.

- Daryl

August 1, 2012 - Wednesday: The serviceberries are ripe and ready to pick!! So, I cornered everyone and gave them buckets and the five of us picked for about 1½ hours and I got lots of berries. Now I have to make jelly! Don helped Stan finish up the wiring on the truck and got all the lights working, Mitch and Josh split and stacked wood and Don showed me a bunch of stuff for my computer. It is going to be neat to have two screens to work with! I went golfing at Ladies League and when I got home they had a fire going and ready to fix S’mores. I got home just in time. On the way home the moon was gigantic and so beautiful, it was a wonderful night to sit around the campfire. Don commented quite a few times about our beautiful Big Sky. Montana sure showed off nice weather for them while they were here – clear blue skies and warm weather and waited until nighttime to have the thunderstorms.

- Daryl

August 2, 2012 - Thursday: Had to say goodbye to my favorite nephew and his son. What a joy to get acquainted with them on a different level. The only thing that could have made the trip better was to have Mary with them. Next year?????

- Daryl

Thursday: On the road just before hitting Idaho Falls, we had a little problem with a tire. While in Idaho Falls, we checked out the King Tut exihibit. Stopped at Twin Falls for a couple pictures of the Snake River. Made it as far as Elko NV for the night.

- Don

August 3, 2012 - Friday: Back home.

A big THANK YOU to Daryl & Stan and to Stacy & Doug. We very much appreciated all your hospitality, the visiting, the sightseeing, the Red Bus tour, uses of the canoe, just everything. We look forward to visiting again soon.

- Don & Josh.