This post covers me and my mom driving up to Red Rock, Montana to see the world-famous Aunt Barbara, my cousins Ed and Mike, and Mike’s wife Barbara.
Days 1 and 2
Southwestern Montana is a solid day and a half drive from Southern California and that’s exactly how long it took us. The first day we made it all the way to Pocatello, Idaho. On the second day, we stopped in Idaho Falls and got some steaks, potatoes, and veggies for a dinner I was going to cook on Sunday night. Aunt Barbara has more than enough groceries at her house and gets mad if you try and bring any. So, this was the compromise. I could bring a meal, but not general groceries. We arrived just after noon on the second day and were happy to have a rather event free drive. Everything was as I remembered it with beautiful scenery and even Ziggy the dog greeted us.
Ziggy is a very friendly and social dog and he loves everyone. Even cats. Here he is nuzzling with Kitty Boy the cat.
We spent the rest of the day socializing with Aunt Barbara and Cousin Ed, and Aunt Barbara and I were able to get in a few games of cribbage. On this visit we played a total of 45 games, and the final tally was close. It will be revealed at the end of this post. While planning this visit, Aunt Barbara and I both admitted we had not played cribbage since the last time we visited each other, which was over 3 years ago. We agreed to each find our own computer version or app of the game to practice so we both could hopefully be at the top of our respective games. As we were discussing what we used to practice, it turned out we had both downloaded the same game app, “Cribbage Classic.” And based on how close most of our games were, it was a good app for refreshing one’s cribbage skills. Out of 45 games, there was only one skunk, and I’m the one who was skunked. Aunt Barbara won one game by only one point, and I won two games by one point. Most of the games came down to the wire. If you are interested in downloading the game, there is a link at the end of this post.
We finished the day with a delicious dinner prepared by Ed, and our first of three games of Mexican Train Dominos. A game that was won by my mom, much to her delight.
Days 3 and 4
After a leisurely start to the day, my mom and I headed into the town of Dillon, about 25 minutes north of us. We wanted to see if the “Mexican Food Bus” was still in town and just as delicious as we remembered. The answers were “Yes” and “Yes.”
The food was better than I remembered, and we had a fantastic meal. They do not have a website, so I have included a link to their Yelp page where they have over 100 reviews with a 4.6 rating. And I’m sure you know where to find the link.
We returned to Aunt Barbara’s, played some more cribbage, and had another great dinner prepared by Cousin Ed. Once again, we ended the evening with a friendly game of Mexican Train Dominos. Aunt Barbara was the victor this time.
The next day we just hung out, socialized, of course played some cribbage, and in the early evening, I BBQed some steaks and made dinner for everyone, including Cousin Mike and his wife Barbara. We had a good meal and great time. After Mike and Barbara went home, the rest of us played another domino game called, “Chicken Foot.” Ed and Aunt Barbara had never played it before, but they both caught on quickly. Too quickly if you ask me. Aunt Barbara won the first game of Chicken Foot she ever played. That also made her the first person to win a game of Mexican Train Dominos and Chicken Foot.
Days 5 and 6
On Monday, I followed Ed into Dillon so he could drop off his truck to get some work done on it. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and watching a pretty heavy rainstorm that was over the Clark Canyon Reservoir, just north of us.
We had a really small amount of rain ourselves as the storm stayed mostly to the north of us. Once again, Ed made a great dinner, and we finished the evening with our second game of Chicken Foot. Of course, Ed had to win the second game of Chicken Foot he ever played. Even though I had yet to win a domino game, I was very competitive in each game, so clearly it was only a matter of time before I joined everyone else in the “winner” category.
The next day, mom and I headed back into Dillon so I could visit the Beaverhead County Recorder’s office. I needed a copy of some official land documents related to our property in the Red Rock area. I have dealt with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s office before, and that was a very frustrating and expensive all-day affair where I still had to wait several weeks for my requested documents to be mailed to me. We got into town early in the hopes of not having to spend all day trying to get these documents ordered. Inside the office, I was the only person there. I explained what I needed and the person helping me went to a computer, found the documents, printed them out, and handed them to me after a paid a huge fee of $2.50. The total time in the office was less than 10 minutes. More proof of how messed up California is. We did a little shopping in town and headed back to Aunt Barbara’s house for another delicious dinner from Ed. The evening game of choice was Mexican Train Dominos, but we only played half a game, with the goal of finishing the rest of the game the next night. At the halfway point, mom was in first, but I was only a few points behind her. I couldn’t wait to finish the game.
Days 7 and 8
After another leisurely start to the day, my mom and I were off to Phillipsburg, to see a famous candy store and check out the historic downtown area. Plus, we were going to go to Gem Mountain and buy some mine tailings in hopes of finding some decent sized Montana Sapphires. The candy store was named, “The Sweet Spot,” and it was pretty good. It was huge and the selection of candy, fudge, taffy, and more, was amazing. Check out their link at the end of this post.
After buying our fill of candy, we walked around the downtown area and did some shopping. A block over was a really neat historic building with a copper roof that was in the process of being restored.
We had lunch at Doe’s Restaurant and Soda Fountain, which was really the only game in town. For some reason, it was the only restaurant that was open. Luckily for us, the food was pretty good. Since they do not have a website, there is no link for them.
On our way out of town, we stopped by the Granite County Jail. It was built in 1896 for an estimated $8,000. An amazing piece of history.
Our next stop was Gem Mountain to buy our sapphire mine tailings. Here is the front of the mine store.
We bought several bags of mine tailings and headed back to Aunt Barbara’s house. We had so much food left over from all of the great meals, we decided to have a left-over night and it was delicious. We finished the game of Mexican Train Dominos and what a difference a day makes. Ed came back to win the game and I went from a few points out of first place to dead last. That made Ed the second person to win a game of Mexican Train Dominos and Chicken Foot.
At least we were treated to a beautiful sunset after game night.
The next day was our search for sapphires. The bags of tailings are filled with dirt, rocks of various sizes, and hopefully sapphires. You need to wash the tailings to get all of the dirt off, then you hand search the rocks for sapphires. Here is Ed’s set up for washing the tailings.
Here are Aunt Barbara and my mom searching for the sapphires.
And these are a few examples of what we found. A few of the sapphires were decent sized. They still need to be heat treated and shaped, but the effort was worth it.
For dinner, we headed over to Cousin Mike and Barbara’s house in Grant, a 15-minute drive to the west. Their original house burnt down a few years ago, and this was my first time seeing their new house. It was very nice, and the views were incredible.
After a delicious dinner of elk burgers, I got to hang out with Dude the dog. Here we are with Aunt Barbara looking on.
On the drive back, we hit a Montana traffic jam.
That’s right, cattle on the roadway. We finished the night with yet another game of Chicken Foot. With her win, my mom became the third person to win a game of Mexican Train Dominos and Chicken Foot.
Days 9 and 10
Day 9 was our last full day in Montana. One of the lotteries was at almost a billion dollars, so we all pooled our money and ultimately purchased 27 tickets. Spoiler alert, we not only didn’t win the main prize, or a large prize, or even a smaller prize. We won a grand total of $4. The minimum prize. But on to the story of the purchasing of the unlucky lottery tickets. I needed to fill up the gas tank on the truck and get the lotto tickets. Since the town of Dell is a short 15-minute drive to the south, I thought I would save some time and drive down there to get the gas and tickets. And with a population of 35, nothing there should have been very crowded. I got to the Dell Merc, a combination gas station, post office, general store, and deli.
They have four gas pumps so you would think gas would be easy to get. You would be wrong. There were unoccupied cars at 3 of the 4 pumps, and the fourth pump had a large truck with a trailer containing farm equipment. It turned out the driver was filling the truck and all of the farm equipment. I figured the drivers of the three empty cars must be inside getting a drink or something and surely one of them would be moving very soon. I went inside the Merc and learned they do not sell lotto tickets. Oh well, at least I could get some gas. Nope. The three drivers were back at the deli counter eating lunch while their vehicles were blocking the gas pumps! I do not do stupid or rude well, so I left and went into Dillon where I easily got gas and losing lotto tickets.
Aunt Barbara and I finished our cribbage tournament, and drum roll please……..The final score was Aunt Barbara 24, yours truly 21. I vowed to get her next year. We had another outstanding dinner that Ed prepared and played our final round of Chicken Foot. This was my last chance to win a game. It was not meant to be. Mom won the final round, so if you were keeping score, Mom won two games of Chicken Foot and one game of Mexican Train, Aunt Barbara won the cribbage tournament, one game of Mexican Train, and one game of Chicken Foot, and Ed also won one game of Mexican Train, and one game of Chicken Foot. And I finished second or worse in all of the games. Stupid games I say.
Day 10 saw us getting up a little earlier than we had on this trip so we could drive down to Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah. Mom was flying home via Burbank Airport, and Cindy and Sylvia were flying in from Burbank so the three of us could continue on to our house in St. Joseph, Missouri.
The next post will cover our journey to St. Joseph, our stay there, and a quick trip down to Spring, Texas to see Corrianne. See you then.
LINKS