Big Sky, Thursday, 8/7/14 and Friday, 8/8/14

Thursday, August 7, 2014

 We had a leisurely morning and didn’t check out of the hotel until about 11:00 a.m.  We stopped at a shoe store and Cindy bought some new tennis shoes, and then we headed south to Big Sky.  Big Sky is a ski resort area about 35 miles south of town.  It took us about an hour to get there as we were going through the mountainous terrain of the Gallatin National Forest.   

Big Sky evidently caters to those folks with lots of money as Chuck looked at a real estate magazine and saw condos and houses in the one to four million dollar range.  There were lots of summer activities available including archery, bungee trampolines, zip lining, mountain biking, etc.  We took a 30 minute round trip ride on a ski lift and soaked up the scenery.  The air was fresh, cool, and smelled of pine.  We rode to the elevation of 9000 feet, and it was 60 degrees when we started down.  Some of the chairs had been replaced with bike racks so people could take the lift up to the top and ride their bikes back down the mountain.  That seemed to us like it would be a treacherous ride.  We saw several of the ski runs including one that looked really dangerous named, “Buffalo Jump.”  Libby’s father is a member of the ski patrol at Big Sky on weekends during the winter, and she often skis there.   She said she has taken the Buffalo Jump run many times. 

We returned to Bozeman at 2:00 p.m. and headed to Costco to pick up a few non-perishable items.  Since we had plans to meet the inn mates in Bozeman tonight, we had lots of time to kill.   We went to a huge western store, the mall, and Wal-Mart before meeting the kids at a Japanese steak house.  It was almost 8:00 p.m. before they arrived, but we were seated immediately at the Hibachi grill.  We were honoring Daniel and telling him goodbye as he is leaving us next Monday.  The food was good, and we all enjoyed the cooking show.  We had bought a decorated cake for Daniel when we were at Costco, so the waiter brought it out and served it after the meal.  They mistakenly thought it was Daniel’s birthday, so the cake was accompanied by drum banging and the singing of “Happy Birthday.”  When we told them it wasn’t his birthday, they continued singing “Happy Special Occasion—you got a cake.”  We all got a big kick out of the singing. 

 We left the restaurant at 9:15 p.m., and Chuck narrowly missed hitting two deer on our way home.  We all arrived safely back at the Bonanza Inn around 10:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, August 8, 2014

 It was in the seventies and overcast all day today.  Chuck worked at the Nevada City museum, and Cindy worked at the Virginia City depot.  There was no excitement to report.   

We got off work at the usual 6:30 p.m. and checked in with the inn mates.  Libby has gone to a Bluegrass music festival in Wyoming and Connor’s mother and sister from Helena were out with him.  That left Jaimi, Elise, and Daniel wondering what they were going to do.  Chuck wanted to wash his truck at the self-service car wash in Ennis, so he told them they could ride along with us to eat pizza and then wash the truck on the way home. 

While we were waiting for our food, Connor and company came into the restaurant to eat with us as the eatery where they first went was closed for the evening.  We spent a good while regaling his family with stories from our summer together.  His mother was impressed that all the inn mates have taught Connor how to boil water, use a microwave oven, grill hotdogs, and eat vegetables. 

 Upon our return to the Bonanza Inn, we all had a piece of leftover cake before retiring for the evening.