Shifting Sky View From Mount Sentinel - Missoula, Montana

Even though Mount Sentinel's M trail is less than a mile long, the 11 switchbacks and 620 feet in elevation gain make for a decent little hike. (Okay, I understated there - it's really a huffer-puffer! Unless you are one of the very fit 20-something athletes who lapped us - running! - both up and back before we were even all the way up.) 
But the Big Sky view is worth every demoralizing wheeze - or, rather, "views", plural, from the lovely little rest-&-view-the-vista benches mercifully situated at multiple switchback turns.
Overall, a good time was had by all - and we wisely balanced out the activities with a stop for handcrafted ice cream a la Sweet Peaks.

Comfort Food for My Soul - Bitterroot Valley, Montana

Familiar vistas spread before my eyes

Revealing layers of consistent beauty 

Never cease to calm, inspire, refresh

During our annual visit to Big Sky Country, Gary (MWH aka My Wonderful Husband) and I take every opportunity to just be outside. Breathing in the fresh air under endless blue skies, savoring views of rolling plains edged by mountainous peaks, or meandering along the river's edge.  

We return home refreshed in body and soul.

- Pat Richards

(A big thanks to Sis 3 (aka intrepid traveler Pat Richards) for sharing another guest post from their 2018 visit. Current crisp autumn skies look just about the same today, but with added swathes of yellow tamarack in the mountains.)

Prison Made (Not the Zephyr) - Helena, Montana

The 1948 Lincoln Zephyr's detailed trunk latch is pretty sweet - but just as intriguing is the vintage Prison Made license plate.
Montana issued its first “Prison Made” vehicle license plate in 1928, pulling production from costly out of state makers. 
Check out Sean R. Heavey's colourful plate sampling here in his post from February 3, 2017. 
Even though the “Prison Made” stamp was only a feature from 1939 to 1957, Montana Correctional Enterprises at Deere Lodge state prison continues to manufacture the ever-expanding variety of Montana license plates - and a host of other products that you can view here.

Zephyr Unity Lights - Helena, Montana

Like a siren call, I was drawn back to a few shots of the 1948 Lincoln Zephyr we saw at an estate auction earlier this month, in Helena, Montana, so please bear with me. 

The detail of the chrome engraving is such a thing of fine beauty - it speaks of time when careful attention to detail was more the norm. I like to think it was a more gracious time in general - a distinct contrast to the caterwauling going on in our present-day media and politics, which saddens and annoys me to no end. 

But I realize it was also a harder time for the bulk of people in our countries. Maybe that's what's missing - a drastic decline in hard physical labour and deprivatious conditions allows for.excess foolish and uncivil blather...but I digress, and so leave you to ponder the calming chrome - engraved with the one elegant word: Unity.
(Hmmm...shinier shades of the Lorax, perhaps...?)

Really Red Was the Colour - Missoula, Montana

Yes, these leaves were really this vibrantly red! 
Actually, a bit more so - they had their own little glow going.

Fences Not For Sitting Upon - Bitterroot Valley, Montana

Today's view is a guest post courtesy of Sis #3, whose recent activities noted at www.journeyswithGod.com underscore that she definitely has not had time to sit on a fence of indecision, or even the more pleasant kind with a view.Thanks, sis, for sharing a fond family legend (which may exist with different details in the minds of other siblings!)

This barbed wire fence with aging fence posts caught my eye and stirred me to pondering.   

Fence sitting has long been eschewed as the trade of procrastinators and slackers. But maybe those who have never sat upon a fence,  contemplating their options, enjoying the activity around them, have only ever had a prickly uncomfortable fence at their disposal.  Think about it. 

TBLSE (The Best Little Sister Ever) reminded me of a fence-sitting incident from childhood which was all fine and dandy ... until I attempted to dismount the fence I had chosen to perch upon.

Our weekend-farmer father was doctoring some yearling cattle, dispensing medicine and ear tags, and cutting horns. Perched atop the rail fence,  his curiously observant offspring had been strongly cautioned to remain quiet and still so as not to startle the already freaked-out steers, who could bolt and cause bodily harm to our Dad.

My 9ish-year-old-self decided to quietly climb down off the rail fence, not noticing the coil of barbed wire on the fence post, the end of which somehow caught under my jacket and deeply scratched my tummy.  The scar remains to this day - but I am proud to say not a peep escaped - I remained quietly weeping crocodile tears until the work was finished and Dad could safely doctor my wound.

Lincoln Zephyr - Helena, Montana

A few days after I returned home from India, The Best Husband Ever had a wild hair to jaunt over to Helena, Montana, and check out an estate auction that included numerous classic cars which had been stored in a barn for decades. 
Jet-lag stupour not-withstanding, of course I said yes! -  partly because I was intrigued as to what could induce a man who shies obsessively away from buying stuff to subject himself to an estate auction! (Turns out, he'd never been to one before....)

A good time was had by all - and we did not bring home a classic car project, or anything else, for that matter ( whew!).
(By the way, the 1948 Lincoln Zephyr V12 went for $42k or thereabouts - a little rich for us.)

Dreamy Haze - Missoula, Montana

Well, I suppose it's been an eventful fall thus far...and it's rather interesting how much can change in a few weeks' time.

When I flew out to India early in September 2018, the Missoula-area mountains were layered with drifting smoke from regional and faraway wildfires (pictured).
In the few weeks I was away, I missed out on the gentle early-stage transition of summer to autumn, hallmarked by sunny days and crisp, clear evenings. 
But there remains plenty of gorgeous, leafy colour change to enjoy, even though skies are now defaulting to cloudy - to which my inner Pollyanna says, "At least there's no more smoke from fires!" (You go girl.)

If the mention of India travel caught your attention, you can check out some of our trip highlights at www.JourneysWithGod.com.  I'm still processing the nudging changes God continued working in my heart during this journey. The trip was amazing, yet it's good to be back in Montana. And it seems a bit unreal that I was ever away across the world enmeshed in a whole other experience of daily life - kind of like the dreamy, hazy view in today's pic. 
Anyway, in the midst of my ongoing mental masticating, I'll endeavor to more regularly share views of this gorgeous place my heart calls home.