Off-Trail Tales

Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone Nat. Park

Ducks on the Snake River - Idaho Falls

Utah's State Capitol.



Hello from Missoula,

Originally, we had not intended visiting Bozeman, MT. Truth be told, we did not know such a town existed. We stayed 6 nights and could have remained longer but needed to move forward. This morning, Wednesday, after watching the stock market plummet over two hundred points, we boarded the Ford and began the next leg of the journey. After an hour on the road, we were curious about the direction of stocks, so we pulled into a coffee shop, fired up the laptop and did business for the next two hours. (Our wish list includes having power points and printers at the coffee tables—it would make things very convenient.) We mentioned previously that we had been selling to the ‘bulls’, hiding from the bears (grizzlies) and wondered when we would get a chance to buy back some stocks. Maybe today was the opportunity, then again maybe not. Anyway, we are very suspicious of the financial leadership of the country so we bought other currencies and oil—the dollar worries us.

We arrived in Missoula, MT, settled in and made plans for the next day’s hike plus the period following. We think we have exciting ideas for the next few days. We are off to a place we have not considered before. It seems that on this trip we have done everything contrary to our original plan. We are very pleased we did not cast our itinerary in concrete or else our editor would have been hammering and chiseling more than climbing. We spent a week in Utah, could spend nearly two weeks in Montana—yet the original idea was to visit mostly Idaho and Wyoming.

Today was about business, traveling and that old summer standby for Montana. It rained along the way, sometimes very heavy. It is a beautiful state but we are wondering that if it snows all winter, rains most days in summer and hails in between, when does one go to the beach. ‘Oh!’ Thanks to the editor—she tells us there’s no ocean here. This is an example of some of the important issues we face on the journey—and people think it’s all about enjoyment.

A frequent thought we do have is of the early pioneers. When we see the roadways crossing mountains, deserts, lakes and rivers, we think of how people traveled before the advent of the macadamized system, before the mechanical horse. We are in awe of the courage, the energy and the endurance of the early settlers. They certainly make us look like a very soft bunch. ‘Pass me another Coke, please, it’s getting unpleasantly warm in the car; turn up the air conditioner; change the channel, I’m bored with that music. Are we there yet?’ Yes, we ought to feel embarrassed, or at least most humble, when we consider the efforts and achievements of the pioneers. They struggled to cross the country with great purposes whereas we: ‘Hey, Jen, why are we doing this?’…

A good Shabbos to all,
Jenni and Jeffrey

PS We have attached a few photographs from non-hiking days as your muscles might be aching and you definitely need a rest from us, too.