montanabirders: Travels with the Scotts

Since I have not posted to my blog for a long time, and since I have a lot of photos, I am going to make two separate postings so when you get to the bottom of this, keep reading [the Harvard Classics, Montana style!].
In between all the great projects Scotty did for us while they were here, the four of us took some trips to see some of the local sights. Montana is such a huge state, there is no way we could have hit anything but the local high spots.
One day we went into Missoula, had lunch downtown then went to a carousel near by. You need to have visitors that look up local stuff, because I did not even know it was there. I had never ridden a carousel but got lucky and caught the brass ring.
Another day we went to the Daly Mansion, a beautiful place built by a wealthy early settler to the Bitterroot Valley. The group who runs it has been fortunate to get some grants for renovation as it is a wonderful example of local history.
From our house we can look up and see St Mary's Peak. One day we drove to near the top and looked down at our house [our house is 3600 ft and the peak is 10,000]. One of the local delicacies are huckleberries which grow on bushes at higher elevations, and are a favorite of bears. We stopped and picked some, although there weren't a lot [not sure if it was the bears or the tourists that ate them!]
Anne is the one who got me into wood carving [although I have not done much in the last year] so one day we went to the neighbor's yard and looked for cottonwood bark that is a favorite of carvers. Anne had gotten some different and interesting pieces of wood in her western travels and started experimenting with them. She also got a new camera while here, and was trying it out. In between all this we did some cooking, ate some good food, drank some beer [guys] and wine [girls], told and heard some great stories and all in all, had a great time.