Day 28 – Missoula, MT

Don got up at his usual early hour.  I let him have a few minutes to get his act together, pour his orange juice, and get the coffee going.  I then presented myself to him in the living room, and requested that we get started on our morning routine.  I don’t know why, I just felt like doing it.  I usually wait and sleep for at least an hour before I make myself known, but for some reason I wanted to get an early start today.  He was gracious enough to accommodate me, and by 6:15 AM I had retrieved the paper, had my cookies, eaten breakfast, had more cookies, and went back to bed.  Not bad; might do it again. 

Back on our regular schedule, we had a fairly short but nice walk around the park, met a few nice people, got my bodily functions attended to, and back to the rig.  Don and I hung out until Geri was ready to go, and we all hit the road in the truck for an excursion.  Our target was Old Fort Missoula, and the historical museum there.  Geri and Don did a tour of the museum, then came back to fill me in on what they had observed.  Seems that the Fort was the institution that allowed people to feel safe to settle in the area, and they settled it pretty fast, forming the town of Missoula Mills.  For some reason they dropped the Mills thing, and became Missoula.  The soldiers from the Fort had some fights with the original locals, but finally settled with them by acknowledging that just about all the land up to Glacier National Park (which didn’t exist then) was reserved for them.  Seems to have worked out OK.  The troops had the only bicycle platoon in the Army, and they marched and drilled on their bicycles.  They even rode them all the way down to St. Louis to demonstrate the need for an expanded bike trail network, which they now have. 

As the rest of the Fort was spread out over a lovely grassy area, I was able to accompany them on the remainder of the tour.  We visited a display of an early lumber mill, which included a steam locomotive and log rail cars.  Don was very impressed with the locomotive, which he said was of an unusual design.  I think it reminded him of some of his unusual designs back when he was working.  We also found, in a collection of old road building equipment, a very early road grader built by the company that his Uncle Buck worked for in Stockton, CA.  He might have helped design it!  We explored a lot of old buildings at the Fort, including a Chapel, a schoolhouse, and a detention center where a large number of Italian citizens were incarcerated during WWII.  After the war, they were shipped back to Italy, but a number of them had such a good time in Missoula that they came back to live there.  There was a settler’s cabin, which had been moved to the Fort for display purposes, and it’s outhouse had accompanied it.  I was moved by the outhouse to perform a bodily function, which Geri tried to photograph with the outhouse in the background, but she hadn’t turned the camera on.  Another artsy shot lost.

Me and a big bird at the Museum

Don and I inspecting the locomotive

Nice piece of machinery!

Built by Holt Tractor, Stockton, CA!

Haven't been to Confession in a while

The Outhouse I didn't use

There was another Museum nearby, a military museum featuring Missoula people who had been in the military in various conflicts.  I couldn’t go in, but Geri and Don said that it had a large number of interesting displays, including an exhibit on the USS Missoula, an attack transport that participated in the Pacific Theater in WWII.  In fact, the first flag that was raised on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima was the flag from the Missoula!  You may be surprised at my level of knowledge and familiarity with details of that War, but don’t forget who I go walking with every morning; we talk about a lot of things. 

USS Missoula

Our next stop was the Elk Country Visitor Center, and we didn’t really know what to expect there.  One thing I was sure of was that there were going to be Elks in there, so all animals should be allowed in.  When I was told that any Elks in the building were sure to be dead Elks, and would I like to join them in that condition, I backed off.  After a half hour or so, they came back and told me that they had overloaded on Elk information, and would never look at an Elk the same way again.  Don even said that he intended to join the Elks as soon as we got home. 

After a quick stop at a Dog Accessories store, we headed for home.  I don’t know what they bought there, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon.  At the rig, Geri took me for a very nice walk, allowing me to receive the adulation of several people, while Don cooked up some salmon and tortellini for dinner.  Plates were good, Blog was worked on, TV was OK, and bed was waiting.  Travel tomorrow!