Red Lodge

After watching the pig races, sharing some stories, and meeting new friends, we drove to Steph's family's cabin in the town of Red Lodge.

Red Lodge is nested in the middle of a series of mountain ranges.  With a main strip dotted with mom and pop stores, the town had a great small feel that made it very accessible to someone not familiar with the area.  The main attraction seemed to be Red Lodge mountain which was a nearby ski resort.  Being late spring, the mountain was long closed and with schools still in session, the town was nearly deserted even on a Friday night.  I went with Steph, her brother Chip and his girlfriend, and two of Steph's friends to a bar in town to hang out and eat some much needed food.  

The cabin is a two story building with an inside complete with a loft, second floor deck overlooking the river, and the quintessential exposed wood beams.  The outside of the cabin had the head of some type of animal mounted on the front side of the house with a small skull and two long antlers jutting out the sides of the head.  Hunted long ago, it now welcomed strangers and guests, family and friends to the cabin.  The most exciting part for me was the back of the cabin which had a deck that was close enough for most people to jump into the river from the edge of its wood paneled floor.  Even from inside with the doors closed, you could still hear the roar of Rock Creek rushing by the edge only feet from the cabin's deck.

The next day was Saturday and I spent the day reading, writing, and relaxing.  It was great to be near water despite not being able to go fishing because of the water levels.  In the afternoon, I went with Steph and her family on a tour of the development's property to look at the scenery around the area.  Later in the afternoon, it was time to go to church.  

After driving 15 minutes into Red Lodge to the church we learned that there wasn't a mass because it was a church holiday that weekend.  Earlier I asked if we could tour Red Lodge brewery after mass.  Now that there was no mass, we decided to go to the brewery early.  

Red Lodge Brewery was recently relocated to a new building and is in a great location and unbelievable facility.  Walking into the brewery, there was the bar straight ahead with tables scattered in different areas on the concrete floor.  On the left hand wall after walking in, there were three raised tables against a glassed wall looking into the brewing facility.  It was very interesting to see the fermenters, tanks, and equipment needed to brew this decadent nectar we call beer.  I had the hefeweizen which was a great beer- cloudy in color and medium in body, the beer had a very smooth tone, not too cream but with a very nice citrus aftertaste.  I enjoyed it very very much.  In fact, Steph's brother and dad enjoyed it so much that they bought a growler for dinner later that night.

Dinner- this was probably the most unbelievable part of my time in Red Lodge.  Steph's mom cooked corn on the cob, potato salad, cucumber salad, and ribs.  Now, I am willingly admitting my ignorance when it comes to barbeque compared to my friends out west, but I will say this- the ribs I had that night were the best I've ever had.  It was the best bbq experience of my life.  Steph's mom boiled the ribs during the day and her dad grilled them later in the evening.  When I bit into the ribs, I immediately noticed an overwhelming tenderness of the meat falling off from the bone and melting in my mouth along with a succulent sauce that was not too salty but had an absolutely incredible sweetness to it that hinted at honey, and saluted to full bodied marinade.  The potato salad was full of fresh flavor without being overwhelmed by mayonnaise.  The dinner was simply spectacular and more than fulfilled my desire to have authentic "Western" barbeque.  

Now I know I'm a few days late on posts, but please keep reading- the next post is on my day on the Big Horn River complete with beautiful water, wonderful people, and monster trout!

-rob

Let the Races Begin

Bearcreek, Montana is a small town nestled in the Beartooth mountain region. With a tiny population and a deserted coal mine, this is the epitome of small town America. After a day in Yellowstone, Steph drove me to a wooden building almost resembling a barn in the middle of the town. On the side of the building in big black letters read simply "Saloon & Steakhouse". It was Friday and a yellow banner below the apparent name of the establishment had information about pig races every Friday and Saturday night. As I would find out, it would be a good night.

The inside was just like an bar I've ever been in- bar and on the left with a small resaurant on the right. So far, I thought, I've seen the saloon part and the steakhouse part. I was anxious to see the pig races that Steph had been telling me about. We walked to the back of the bar to a deck on the back of the building and there, in all its glory, was the race track.

It wasn't much larger than the average in-ground pool with an actual starter box for the pigs. The race track was below a deck complete with pic-nic tables. A set of stairs on the right led to a lower deck on the other side of the track. There was a small crowd of people, maybe a dozen or so, and the races hadn't yet begun.

Each night, according to how much people bet, there are 12 races. The pigs, none of which are fully grown, are sponsored by local businesses, the same businesses whose advertisements were on the walls of the track. You buy a square, similar to bingo. Then someone rolls a set of dice and you either get a pig or you don't, depending on which square you chose and the outcome of the dice roll. So just because you buy a sqaure doesn't mean you'll get a pig. I bought a two dollar square but I didn't get a pig.

A man stood at the balcony, called off who sponsored each pig, called who won a pig from the squares, and then the pigs were placed in the start box. The pigs were corralled by a boy and a girl no older than 5th grade. As I later found out, the money earned by the gambling went towards a scholarship fund for students from the area. Once the pigs were in the starting gate, a recording of the trumpet sounding the start of race was played, the gate went up, and the race was on! It took less than 30 seconds start to finish.

I saw probably 5 or six races and as I watched I couldn't help but observe this community come together for an event offered twice a week that went towards a good cause. I later found out that the scholarship fund created by these races is today over 81,000 dollars! It was great to see the comradery built by the races. The crowd throughout the night grew to little more than twenty or so; but as these people watched the pigs race from the bar's balcony, I watched the sun set on the foot hills of the Beartooth mountains and thought of how fun this event was and how it served a good cause for the community it belonged to.

-rob

Yellowstone

Entering at the West enterance in the town of West Yellowstone and continuing through to Cody Mountain, I have experienced a gem in this country and in the world- Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is filled with it all- mountains to the sky, water for miles, and animals everywhere! Buffalo, bald eagle, wolf, deer, and moose are just some that we saw during our time in the park that are members of a huge family of animals that live in the park.

When we first entered the park I was able to get out of the car and take a picture of a bald eagle's nest. I was wearing my Saint Michael's fly fishing club sweat shirt and as I was walking to the nest a few yards from the car, another car pulled up beside me and slowed down.

"Saint Michael's College?" the driver asked.

It was a man with his wife driving a toyota not much bigger than a golf cart.

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"Vermont?" he asked.

"Yes."

"My son graduated from there in 2006." he replied with a smile.

In the middle of Yellowstone National Park it really is amazing how far the reaches of Saint Mike's can stretch. The alumni network, although I haven't contributed to it quite yet, has already showed benefits. As they drove away and Steph and I continued our journey, it brought a smile to my face as I realized this strong community that goes far beyond Colchester, Vermont.

It wasn't long after this encounter thast we were stopped in the road for close to 45 minutes. A buffalo heard! When we finally drove close enough to see, it was clear as day that a heard of buffalo decided to cross the road, so the dozens of cars in the road were forced to accomodate them. It soon became clear to me that similar to other parks that I've been to, here the animals still roamed the land and owned the area. You had to respect them and the rangers made it clear- upon getting our tickets to enter the park, the ranger handed us a friendly flyer reminding us that visitors have been goured by these big friendly fellows that can sprint up to 30 mph! Needless to say, I didn't get out of the car for these pictures!

We continuned on to the Paint Pots. These are geysers that emit hot gases and liquids and create a big "paint pot" of different colors. There was a great walking path, about a half mile, that went around to the different pots. They are filled with scolding hot liquids, as was the ground around the path, so staying on the path was essential. It was great to see the different colors that these "pots" created. Different signs around the geysers explained how the colors of the "paint" changed throughout the seasons. It was packed with all sorts of people and didn't take us more than a half hour to see everything. Speaking of geysers, next up was Old Faithful!!

Common to many Americans, Old Faithful may be the most popular geyser in the world and certainly is a top National Park desitination in America. Steph and I pulled off the road to the parking lot to Old Faithful. It was about time to use the restroom. We walked around for a bit before we saw signs for the "visitor's center". Here is when I became really surprised- it was more than the buffalo or the paint pots, it was the commercialism.

A huge visitor center with a food area, large gift shop, and an upstiars tackle area for fishing equipment, this place was so American! I'm not sure I liked the development. Part of me is disappointed that the park developed these buildings around such a beautiful area but another part of me is happy that, especially in the recession our country is in, these developments can contribute money and jobs to the area.

We walked over to where Old Faithful was and saw a sign that signified that it wasn't going to erupt for about 45 minutes. I'm still not sure how they do it, but the rangers can tell that it erupts X number of times per day- pretty amazing. We walked to the visitor center which reminded me of a Disney World gift shop, hung out for a bit, then saw the geyser erupt.

It was amazing, over a hundred feet in the air, the power that comes from the center of our Earth is incredible! I took a lot of photos and was joined by hundreds of others gathered for one of many eruptions during the day. Now, although I am currently unemployed, I will comment on the demographics of the park at this point in the day. I was struck by the large number of older men and women who were in the park and I couldn't help but envy their apparent retirement despite not even having started this forty or so long period of my life called a career. I'm trying, even at this current moment in the wee hours of the morning, to figure a way to bypass these forty years and go straight to the travel, eat, drink, and relax part of my life because I'll be honest, these folks were making it look pretty nice! If there are any suggestions, post a comment on the blog- I'd love to dialogue!

After seeing this amazing geyser flex its muscles, we drove about a half hour to Yellowstone Lake where we had lunch. Now, at certain points in this blog I've tried to comment on the amazing food and beer that I've been fortunate to have sampled during this trip. I'm going to comment on the food in Yellowstone Park by simply advising this: go into the park for the sights, for the animals, for the hiking, camping, and fishing. Don't go for the food offered in these "grills" as they call them. I haven't had a grilled chicken sandwhich that bad in a long long time. After a short fight with my stomach and a date with the restroom, we were able to continue our drive through the park on a road that wound its way along the side of the lake. The road hugged the lakeshore intimately with snowcapped peaks in the distance. Driving, I was looking at my camera getting ready for a shot when Steph, who was driving, yelled. I looked up immediately and, being from Maine, saw a familiar sight. A Moose! It was a cow walking in the middle of the road. Steph slowed to maybe 3 miles per hour as we passed. The moose was less than an arms reach from my window and, trusting these furry friends a little more than their Bison brethren, I rolled down my window for a better shot. Defininately cool and defininately one of the closest I've been to a moose.

The rest of the trip was without wildlife, but was packed full with amazing views, especially as the road wound through the mountains as we drove closer to Cody, WY. The roads laced around the mountains like the stipes on a candy cane and looking out of my window and down the shear cliff face made my palms sweat. As I've written about in earlier posts, this trip is reminding me more and more of my time in Tibet, just on a much smaller scale. At some points on the road in the park we came across ponds which were still frozen over and large amounts of snow covered land. Some of the time I found it hard to believe that it was almost June! It was also fun to watch the temperature gague in the car dip over 15 degrees as we drove up the mountains, and then down again.

We left the park soon after we descended from those mountains, but the images and experiences from the park will never leave me. Yellowstone is a land filled with adventure for everyone- from those who love to hike and wet line, to those who never want to leave the car, driving through the park is something I urge every American to do for it allows us, even if only a glimpse, an image of what this land was before man came. Despite now filled with the accessories of a capitalist society like the "grill" and gift shop, the park still offers innumberable oppourtunities for everyone to experience the wild and the untame. Just ask the buffalo!

-rob