August 1

Whew --my days are running together since the last post! We left Henry's Lake on Tuesday and headed to Mantle Ranch by way of Bozeman. Another beautiful drive from West Yellowstone to Big Sky to Bozeman, along the Cinnamon River. We got to Mantle Ranch in early afternoon--this is our 3rd visit with Renee and Kail Mantle, and all visits have been a blast. Check out all of the exciting thing Kail and Renee are up to at montanahorses.com

We had supper Tues night at the Land of Magic, which I believe is in Logan (across the road from the now deserted Weber mandolin factory). If you're ever in this part of the country and want a great steak, that is the place to be!

Wednesday morning Kail Mantle was kind enough to give horse riding instruction to grandkids Ian and Adeline--so special for them to get instruction from such a talented horseman--thanks Kail. Later is the morning we said our goodbyes to Sarah, Austin, Ian, and Adeline as they headed to Bozeman for their flight home. It was so great to share some vacation time out west with them!

After lunch we headed to the Missouri River and had a wonderful, lazy float for several hours (our truck had its first duty as an oversize load vehicle). We have floated the Missouri each time we have visited here, and it is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon after long travels. Kail and Renee hosted a party Wednesday, and we had a great time visiting and playing music.

Thursday was spent in Bozeman, with lunch at Bob Burgers ("Sorry, we are open" sign in the window). Had my first ever Huckleberry milkshake and it was great!! Amy got in the habit of showing off her cleavage while in Bozeman--see photo!

Wishbone provided a great supper at the ranch with grilled pork chops and then we proceeded to get at one hole champsionship in on the "Lame Burrow Country Club" on the back of Mantle Ranch. Thanks to Kail for providing an exciting end to our time at the Ranch. And many thanks to the Mantles for allowing our instrusion--wish you would come visit in NC!!

We arrived Friday at the Montana Old Time Fiddlers Picnic in Livingston Mt, and have met some of the nicest folks. A lot of changing weather here--intense sunlight and heat in the afternoon, cool night, and intense winds Saturday morning. We had wonderful jams Friday night. Whole different style of fiddling here!

Sun am we start heading home, first stop at Buffalo Wyoming. We are having a great time traveling with our friends.

I accidently deleted some nice photos--hope you enjoy what I do have of the last few days.

Tetons, July 27

July 27, 2015

Our group split up and left the campground at different times today. Russ, Billie, Sarah, Austin, Ian, and Adeline left the campground sometime after 10 and headed to Grand Tetons, with rain and clouds the forecast. It took forever to get through the West Yellowstone gate, and with the clouds we wondered how the day might turn out. When we got to the Tetons there was low cloud cover (their beauty was still visible, though), but by the time we got to Jenny’s Lake the clouds were lifting. It is no wonder these mountains are called “Grand”!!

We spent some time at Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitors Center (very nice) and headed back toward Henry’s Lake. We stopped off at the Grand Teton brewery. Sarah and Austin sampled the brew, and Billie and I had great fish tacos at a food truck in the parking lot. The kids had a great time playing outside with the dogs of an artist who was working on a painting of the brewery.

We drove through some beautiful Idaho farmland (Route 32) as we finished our day. It was pretty dark as we pulled into Henry’s Lake campground, but we could see snow on all of the peaks surrounding us—34 deg is the predicted low tonite!

We are looking forward to heading to the Mantle Ranch, Three Forks Montana tomorrow.

In case you might wonder what we have been listening to during these long days on the road:

I loaded a number of albums on a thumb drive before we left. One of the first things we listened to was Orthophonic Joy, the new cd commemorating the original Bristol Sessions. Highly recommended. We are so glad our buddies the Virginia Luthiers were included in the project. We also listened to some Guy Clark and Kathy Mattea albums.

We have Sirius XM in the truck, and it was a treat to learn that the British Open was being carried on the espn channel. I never listened to golf on the radio, but the last day, especially, was exciting to listen to if you are a golf fan—congratulations to Zach Johnson !!!
As you might suspect, we have listened to Bluegrass Junction on Sirius. Have been taking a break from it the last few days. I really enjoy listening to Chris Jones when he is the host, but there is one dj there who I don’t enjoy, and he seems to be on most afternoons when I tune in. As much as he thinks he knows, it would seem he could pronounce Gillian Welch’s name correctly.

I have enjoyed Willie’s Roadhouse (Classic Country), but the last couple of days I have heard some great programming on the Outlaw Country Channel. There was a wonderful 4 hours show hosted by Alamo Jones that had John Prine as a guest. I hope I can find it archived somewhere as I missed part of it.

On the Buddy Miller/Jim Lauderdale show, they re-ran a wonderful interview with Phil Kaufman, who has been road manager for folks including the Rolling Stones, Gram Parsons, Marty Stuart, Emmy Lou Harris, and many more. I read his book years ago (Road Mangler Deluxe), and Billie and I actually got to meet him at WNCW when he was there with Emmy Lou Harris. He is a very interesting (though x rated at times) man, funny, and appears to hold nothing. The program was re-run in response to Phil K totaling his motorcycle recently, at the age of 80! He’s still kicking and hopefully will recover from his injuries.

While they call the channel Outlaw Country, they play a lot of real country music that is being recorded today, but sadly does not find air play on the so-called country channels. Folks like Sturgil Simpson, Dale Watson, Emmy Lou & Rodney Crowell, Larry Campbell & Theresa Williams—lots of really good music.

Cheers

PBR

Yellowstone--

July 26, 2015

We had a wonderful bus tour (Buffalo Bus Tour, recommended) in Yellowstone yesterday (Thanks Claude and Elaine!). Our bus driver/guide, Graham, was a dandy who was both informative and funny.

Adeline and Graham

We saw bison, elk, grizzly bear, bald eagles, and the spectacular Canyon Falls. We had dinner last night at the Grizzly Bar and Grill before telling Gerald goodbye, as he headed to Jackson Hole. Great to have Yellowstone time with daughter Sarah, Austin, and grandkids Ian and Adeline for a few days. Will let the photos tell the rest of the story!



Sorry for duplicate photos--too much trouble to figure how to delete right now!!

PBR