After a restful night at Missoula Walmart we headed over the the University of Montana. Parking is quite an issue anywhere near the campus as even in the summer a visitor pass is required and all the neighboring residental areas demand permits as well. The campus wasn't anything special so we left and went to the library to send off a few quick e-mails, like warning Sara that we were coming tonight (Sara is a friend in eastern WA and was the only girl in Isaiah's preschool class with a Jersey accent). It was there we realized stupidly that Montana is an hour ahead (also no sales tax, yeah!). That explains why everything seemed so off schedule last night. After quickly changing our schedule to match the actual time we drove to the Smoke Jumpers visitor center.
Smoke Jumpers hold one of the most dangerous jobs in the world with many injuries but only 3 total deaths since it first came to be in 1934. Since jumping straight into a wildfire isn't necessarily everyone's idea of a good career move there are only 300 Smoke Jumpers in the states. Amazingly the pay is only $14 an hour! Certainly makes you wonder why anyone would do it. We took a tour around the small visitor center and the base viewing the ready room, parachute loading and checking rooms as well as the air strip. The Missoula Smoke Jumpers base is the largest with 80 jumpers stationed there. Our tour guide was sweet and knowledgeable but not the best at giving detailed information without prompting. It was however free and we learned a lot so well worth it.
Just down the road is the Big Sky Brewery which gives four free samples (6 oz. glasses!) each day per person. Since I was driving Isaiah got to have most of my samples and though it wasn't the world's greatest beer it was certainly worth trying Moose Drool Brown Ale for free. They are also hosting a Bob Dylan concert in August, go figure.
After a four hour beautiful drive along the Lewis and Clark trail we finally got to the town of Pullman., WA to a warm welcome from Sara. Not only was it a treat to see her but she has the cutest house in town too. The evening was great what with getting to take a shower (the shower head is huge!), meet her funny cats (see the picture of Willis below who lays on his head if you scratch his butt) and sleep in her very comfortable guest bed. What a treat. -A
A sign in downtown Missoula
Smoke Jumpers sign
Big Sky Brewery
Willis the crazy cat
No comments:
Post a Comment