Capitol City!

When we got up in the morning, we were able to see how truly beautiful this area is. The river was surrounded by sheer rock cliffs with pine trees gracing them (does that sound like a tourist brochure?). The highway driving was a little more challenging as well—there were hills, and turns, and other cars… a big difference from Eastern Montana that is so under populated that it has been proposed to entirely depopulate the area and turn it into a wildlife refuge. There wasn’t any civilization, so we decided that with no breakfast, coffee, or showers we didn’t want to try hiking right there. (With all the driving, heat, and class work, this vacation hasn’t turned into the Great Athletic Event that we’d hoped.) We decided to head to Helena.

The capitol city of Montana is the first place in a long while that really seems like a nice place to be. It’s surrounded by mountains, has a reasonably historic downtown (as historic as you can get in the West), plenty of churches (including a gorgeous cathedral), friendly people, Obama bumper stickers, and Starbucks. There were even some vegetarian food options! Bozeman is nice too, but Helena has resisted the urban sprawl and strip malls Bozeman is succumbing to. But since it lacks the university, I imagine Helena lacks the night life you’d find in Bozeman or Missoula. There seems to be fewer cowboys here as well, and we’re ok with that. At heart we’re more mountain people than prairie people. This is still in the land where trees only grow if you specifically plant and water them, so you can see every neighbor for miles around. It’s a naked feeling when you’ve grown up on a damp coast!

After we got into town and found the Starbucks, we looked at the historic down town for a bit then went up to see some of the historic buildings. (Everything is within walking distance in this town!) We ended up at the cathedral right around noon, so we stayed for mass. It was a peaceful time of reflection and separation from the busy life of the wearied travelers. I vaguely recall some of the features of the building (like the Rosary window) from my last trip here when I was 6. I didn’t appreciate the rest of the architecture, statuary, and stained glass as much then as I did this time.

In the afternoon we retired to the library where we worked on job applications, the budget, class work, and the blog. I was afraid this trip would turn into a tour of the internet cafes of the West, but the library is situated on the Common and we’ve been able to people watch all day. We even saw a group of teens playing guitar and mandolin on the lawn.

Cara’s at the knitting store right now, getting some technical assistance on sock construction. I’m not sure how far we’ll get tonight or where we’ll stay, but we want to be in Deer Lodge tomorrow (to see several museums and a jukebox connection of my dad’s). Friday we’ll look around Butte, and we’ll be back in Bozeman on Saturday or Sunday to prepare for next weeks’ class (Life in Extreme Environment).