The Big One!

Hello from the Treasure State,

Montana is quite a state. Three months of summer and the rest of the year, a combination of winter and…more winter. I suppose that keeps the skiers happy—good for them. We are in a small city, Bozeman, some 100 miles north of Wyoming. Wait for this. It has a ballet company and the symphony. We might arrive back in San Diego quite cultured. The beauty of Montana captivates us or, at least this area does. You have heard us mention beauty so often. However, when you see it, enjoy it.
We have decided to put down temporary roots for at least two more days or so in Bozeman but we hope longer. We also moved accommodation because we found something more suitable. People might think it is painful moving so often. However, we are used to it by now. Our editor carries all the heavy bags and bins and we hold the door open to make it easy for her. The system is satisfactory, we think.


Today was incredible. The bears didn’t get us but the weather did. We handle the weather much better than the wildlife. It rains each afternoon in this town. Today, we were in a storm with lightening, rain and hail. We are thankful there was no snow—it is a possibility in August. Our hike took place in the Hyalite Canyon and surrounding mountains. We hiked twelve miles, a big one for us, with an elevation gain of over 2,000 feet. We walked through streams, viewed ten waterfalls, colorful flowers, trees in the thousands and the very attractive mountain range.
Many times, we stand before these overpowering slabs of rock and marvel at Hashem’s grand architecture. It makes the heart flutter and the soul feel alive. At the top, we sat at Lake Hyalite and enjoyed a quick lunch. Our editor spotted the dark clouds forming and so we got the usual nudge and off we went. A man gets little time to rest these days—we are so looking forward to our next vacation. Where to go?

We often meet interesting people on the trail, some with fascinating stories. Today, we stopped to speak with Chris and Daniel, two scramblers. We had not seen this before, the riding of motor cycles up the paths.
At first, it is easy to think that they are a little on the ‘tired’ side. However, much skill is required to keep on the narrow, bumpy and dangerous tracks as well as to ruin the paths for the hikers. If not the skiers than it’s the bikers. It turns out they are fun-loving, highly skilled and extremely brave. Chris was saying that after the ride he was off to climb boulders and mountains. The youngsters have a lot of courage. We spoke of the balance between playing on the mountains and work. They think Monday to Friday is for mountains. We did not have the gumption to ask about the weekends. We wonder if people spend too much time accumulating assets and not sufficient enjoying the world. Who knows the answer to that? We did not discuss with them time set aside to study Torah, either. Once in a while, we display the right amount of tact.



Our editor showed her usual courage on the long hike. She was not intimidated by the rain as, in her words, ‘I’m not scared to get wet.’ Lightening, of course, is a different story. B’H’ we made it down safely.
We drove the car back to town like a real Montana dude—no shirt and soaked pants. Then we met the bikers in the laundry. The one looked like a bigger version of Anthony Sclar, so we approached him to begin a conversation. We were very talkative today. There was a difference from Anthony, though. He was also without a shirt allowing us to view the pictures or tattoos covering his body.
When he walked around the laundry, we thought we were at the movies. We received a good tip from the biker, fortunately. He showed us a quick way to sort colors from whites. Our editor is going to be happy because her whites won’t be so ‘pinkish’ in future. Anyway, he told us they are en route to the annual bikers ‘get together’ in the Dakotas. A half-million will meet there to do what bikers do at these ‘conventions.’ We don’t want to know. We suggest to all our friends that they skip their summer holidays in the Dakotas this year.

Jenni and Jeffrey