– Montana Re-visited – 1 –

First Entry of Montana/Wyoming Trip

PHOTO HEAVY!!!

Thursday, Sept. 23rd,,Son #1, Son #3 and I boarded a plane at Chicago’s Midway Airport in the late afternoon and departed for Bozeman, Montana by way of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dinner and a lay-over in Minneapolis, the drive from the airport to the motel in Bozeman and it was almost midnight.

Friday morning we headed for the Museum of the Rockies. The museum has an extensive and excellent collection of fossils.

After the museum we stopped at the Yellowstone Park Foundation for information and then went to lunch.

Son #3, my youngest son, had said that there were a few things he wanted to do on this trip of ours. He wanted to see buffalo, elk and bears. He also wanted to try buffalo meat.

After leaving the Yellowstone Park Foundation office we stopped for lunch at Bob’s Burgers. As we walked in the door of the restaurant I got a little nervous.

A sign in the window proclaimed “Sorry, We’re Open.”

The apology was un-warranted. The place was great.

The three of us ended up ordering Buffalo/Elk burgers.

They were “GREAT!”

After lunch we went to a “Sporting Goods” store.

Son #1 wanted to try “Fly Fishing.”

He explained to the guy behind the counter that he was a complete novice as far as fly-fishing was concerned.

He asked “What are trout hitting on now?”

The salesman showed Son #1 what trout had been taking the past few days

He asked what type of fly rod Son #1 would be using.

Son #1’s reply went something like this: I picked up an inexpensive rod to learn on but someday I’ll be using the rod my Grandfather had.

Oh, an antique, the salesman said.

Yeah, Son #1 replied. It’s at least 70 years old.

What kind of rod is it, the salesman asked?

“A Shakespeare split bamboo, my son replied.

I won’t tell you what the salesman said but he paled and his eyes bugged out.

We went from the sporting goods store to a bookstore to pick up some maps. Then we went to the Forest Service’s Bozeman office and we picked up a map of the trails in the Gallatin National Forest. I also asked about any restrictions regarding the spreading of cremains in the national forests. The Ranger we talked to said he knew of none

We then took off for the Madison River area.

We put on a bunch of miles starting on a major highway and going on down to gravel roads and Forest Service roads. We finally arrived at a lake with a convoluted shoreline. There was no place on the lake shore from which you could see the entire lake.

Son #1 tried a little fly fishing but didn’t have any luck. He isn’t yet accustomed to using a fly rod. That will take a little time. As for my fishing abilities, I hold the family record for drowning worms.

To be continued!