Going out we started slow, stopping in Spokane for the night. We stayed at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park and it was pretty nice.
Spokane is pretty boring (or maybe it's us... no, it's Spokane) so I just took a picture of the river in the morning and then we had to move along.
From there we headed for the town I lived in for about 11 years growing up, Bozeman, MT. It's a great little town so of course I didn't take ANY pictures.
While we were there we visited Ted's Montana Grill, which is apparently owned by Ted Turner... I had no idea until I looked up the website today. At Ted's you can get most of your beefy food items in either Beef OR Bison. My companion chose the former and I the latter. Both were excellent.
Not that we actually chose the restaurant for the meat selection. I was actually hoping to catch a glimpse inside my favorite restaurant from back in those days, The Bacchus. The building that houses Ted's, and formerly housed The Bacchus is The Baxter Hotel and looking at their site it seems like their may be a Bacchus return in the works. It certainly didn't look it when we were in town though.
It's hard to say why I remember this place so fondly. The memories I have include the slightly creepy monk head carvings spaced along the walls, amazing soup and bread combos that came out steaming hot with the bowl set neatly inside the carving board formed specifically for the task of holding both components of the meal, the aged brick wall that divided the restaurant and the coloring page for kids that featured the god Bacchus (I'd totally still color that picture).
Those things by themselves don't add up to much but it was a great place to go for a bite to eat. Always comfortable, always quality. I even miss the old-timey fountain directly inside the entrance to the hotel itself, which has since been turned off and a plastic plant dropped into the bowl.
Had we had more time to spend in Bozeman I'm sure that I would have noticed other things that were missing or altered - as it was, there were some very noticeable (to someone who has these details fixed more-or-less firmly in mind) changes.
At the mall, the taxidermied Polar-Bear-Killing-a-Seal that used to be so proudly displayed at one entrance is long gone, as are the mounted animal heads and stuffed fish that lined the ceiling of the other. My favorite Mexican restaurant is also gone. On Main Street, one of my childhood favorite places for sandwiches and candy, Charlie's, has given way to a Sport Chalet. In my old neighborhood the house with the grass roof was gone (or no longer had a grass roof) and the house that used to have the best child-size train running through the yard is now train-less.
For all the things that I note as missing, there were of course things that were still there. The Campus Theater, where I first saw E.T., and subsequently became so frightened that I tried to hide under my seat (while my mother laughed!), is still operating, though I am not too sure about the fantastically dingy candy store that lurked behind the building. Also still in operation is The Pickle Barrel, serving up some the finest (and possibly largest) sandwiches this side of anywhere, out of the same location since 1976.
Beyond the gastronomic tour, there were other note able highlights such as the Sourdough Creek Trail where I used to play as a child, all of the parks around town, The Leaf & Bean, Cactus Records and the porn shop across from The Baxter Hotel where we used to get Popsicles and soda during the summer, though it has a new name.
After 2 nights in Bozeman at the Hilton Garden Inn, which was very nice, we headed on to Helena, MT.
Helena is the Capital of the state and also the home of my Grandparents. It's been quite awhile since I have seen both of them, my Grandmother makes the trip out to the NW once of twice a year, but my Grandfather has trouble traveling now that he is on oxygen.
They live on the farthest outskirts of town and it can be beautiful or quite desolate depending on the weather. Of course we were visiting during August and, discounting a few scattered raindrops (and a few giant thunderheads), the days were nice.
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Gathered in Helena were all the immediate members of my family, save my sister who elected to stay home to do some car show modeling, and my cousin Ryan who is currently serving in Iraq. It's been 10 or so years since we were last all together and it was good to catch up.
On Sunday night salmon was purchased for dinner and I was alarmed to hear that my mother had no real plan for the preparation. We decided to take on the cooking that evening and made Baked Salmon II, which turned out nicely even if it was a tiny bit overcooked. If anyone tries the recipe plan to cook the salmon for at least 5 minutes less than indicated in the instructions.
We whiled away the evening chatting with family and doing Happy Birthday cake and song for my Grandfather. We returned to our massive room at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel. I looked at the fire escape plan on the door and it really was the largest room on the floor. It was sort of weird.
In the morning we headed out of town as soon as Starbucks was open, and were home by 3 PM. It was a beautiful drive, even though everything was flying by at 80+ MPH most of the time. Nothing terribly remarkable happened on the way back to Seattle, except that I drove the entire way myself (which is sort of amazing considering how much I dislike driving, especially on the freeways).
When it was all said and done it was an oddly emotional journey, this being my first time back with any sort of perspective. I was moved by a lot of things I saw and things I did not see. I will go back sometime in the near-ish future because I remember now why I loved it so much when I was young.
"Montana - It's Hot There!" - Stacie Wilson
