Camping it up
Have safely arrived in Spokane, WA and now seems about the right time for bringing this thing up to date (god - blogging is such a commitment, kind of like owning a hamster or something) anyway...
We were up campingly early for our last morning in the Tetons and treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast in the park's Employee Dining Room (may write a travel guide: Scrounge Your Way Around North America) and then bid a slightly reluctant farewell to Lily and her co-workers. Am seriously thinking about trying to wangle myself a National Parks job for next summer.
Our route took us straight north into Yellowstone Park which was pretty impressive but by this point we were fully paid up members of the Teton fan club and so marked their more famous neighbour down for being more crowded, touristy and scarred by forest fires. So, we basically drove through, spotting steaming geysers, a Bison, something that we identified as a possible Pronghorn, and a mini-bus load of Amish folk. No sign of Yogi (just yet).
The drive into Montana was completely spectacular - craggy ravines, ranches and Big Skies. I took no photos because I was so overawed by the scale but I warmed to the iPOD when it randomly selected "I Understand It" by Idlewild with its opportune opening line "Mountains wouldn't part for me..." - a good and memorable moment. The journey to Missoula passed without a hitch (hard to get lost when you take one road all day) and I was even permitted to take the wheel at one point but felt rather like I was taking someone's only child bungee-jumping or something. So I was relieved to hand over controls again after my complete failure to master cruise control.
Upon reaching the edge of Missoula we ran into some difficulty locating the "Outpost Campground" we had planned to stay at, finally arriving at a scruffy looking shack on the edge of the highway after driving past it four times. We exchanged worried glances before venturing into the "office", noting the pet piss smell, aggressive notes from the 'Manger' and a crotchety old woman stumbling into view. Still we gamely signed up, handed over $15 each and were told to "camp anywhere." Behind the office we were unnerved further by the discovery of a completely deserted but pretty permenant looking trailer park. Chlelsea asked me if i'd seen Deliverance, which I haven't, but apparently it was like that. In short, rather terrifying. So we sped off down the road to the almost sickeningly wholesome "Jellystone RV and Camp Ground" - resplendent with pool, mini-golf and plastic yogi bear statues. The friendly owners helped us contrive a cover story and we bravely returned to the Outpost to get our money back - successfully - and pitched our tent on the 1.5th attempt, feeling much safer and less in need of firearms. The night ended watching the sky fade from gold to purpley blue and humming along cheesily to "America" by S&G while digesting the mammoth helpings of Buffalo Ribs, potato salad, BBQ beans and corn bread I had put away at the nearby Truckers' Plaza.
We spent the next day in Missoula proper, taking a campus tour around the University of Montana in the morning as C is thinkng of applying to their MFA program. The tour guide's opinion of everything the uni has to offer can be summed up in one slightly overused word - *AWESOME* - fact: U of M is the only US college to own the side of a mountain. We spent the afternoon hanging out downtown - Missoula is thrift store heaven and reminded me of a cowboy-style and slightly less pretentious version of Ann Arbor. The highlight of the day was stumbling across a weekly food/beer/music event where I ate dee-lish chinese food and a portion of shaved ice the size of a small dog, while watching hippy moms and their cute kids dancing to the blues band. We rounded off the day with a swim at Jellystone Lap of (not proper) Camping Luxury and enjoyed another classsic sunset while swigging the 1999 Merlot Daniel had given us from its bottle.
Right now we're checking out Eastern Washington Uni near Spokane, staying with some very hospitable friends of Lily's. Last night saw the AMAZING Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also witnessed the madness of Harry Potter book launch parties. Off to Bellingham and Seattle next.
We were up campingly early for our last morning in the Tetons and treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast in the park's Employee Dining Room (may write a travel guide: Scrounge Your Way Around North America) and then bid a slightly reluctant farewell to Lily and her co-workers. Am seriously thinking about trying to wangle myself a National Parks job for next summer.
Our route took us straight north into Yellowstone Park which was pretty impressive but by this point we were fully paid up members of the Teton fan club and so marked their more famous neighbour down for being more crowded, touristy and scarred by forest fires. So, we basically drove through, spotting steaming geysers, a Bison, something that we identified as a possible Pronghorn, and a mini-bus load of Amish folk. No sign of Yogi (just yet).
The drive into Montana was completely spectacular - craggy ravines, ranches and Big Skies. I took no photos because I was so overawed by the scale but I warmed to the iPOD when it randomly selected "I Understand It" by Idlewild with its opportune opening line "Mountains wouldn't part for me..." - a good and memorable moment. The journey to Missoula passed without a hitch (hard to get lost when you take one road all day) and I was even permitted to take the wheel at one point but felt rather like I was taking someone's only child bungee-jumping or something. So I was relieved to hand over controls again after my complete failure to master cruise control.
Upon reaching the edge of Missoula we ran into some difficulty locating the "Outpost Campground" we had planned to stay at, finally arriving at a scruffy looking shack on the edge of the highway after driving past it four times. We exchanged worried glances before venturing into the "office", noting the pet piss smell, aggressive notes from the 'Manger' and a crotchety old woman stumbling into view. Still we gamely signed up, handed over $15 each and were told to "camp anywhere." Behind the office we were unnerved further by the discovery of a completely deserted but pretty permenant looking trailer park. Chlelsea asked me if i'd seen Deliverance, which I haven't, but apparently it was like that. In short, rather terrifying. So we sped off down the road to the almost sickeningly wholesome "Jellystone RV and Camp Ground" - resplendent with pool, mini-golf and plastic yogi bear statues. The friendly owners helped us contrive a cover story and we bravely returned to the Outpost to get our money back - successfully - and pitched our tent on the 1.5th attempt, feeling much safer and less in need of firearms. The night ended watching the sky fade from gold to purpley blue and humming along cheesily to "America" by S&G while digesting the mammoth helpings of Buffalo Ribs, potato salad, BBQ beans and corn bread I had put away at the nearby Truckers' Plaza.
We spent the next day in Missoula proper, taking a campus tour around the University of Montana in the morning as C is thinkng of applying to their MFA program. The tour guide's opinion of everything the uni has to offer can be summed up in one slightly overused word - *AWESOME* - fact: U of M is the only US college to own the side of a mountain. We spent the afternoon hanging out downtown - Missoula is thrift store heaven and reminded me of a cowboy-style and slightly less pretentious version of Ann Arbor. The highlight of the day was stumbling across a weekly food/beer/music event where I ate dee-lish chinese food and a portion of shaved ice the size of a small dog, while watching hippy moms and their cute kids dancing to the blues band. We rounded off the day with a swim at Jellystone Lap of (not proper) Camping Luxury and enjoyed another classsic sunset while swigging the 1999 Merlot Daniel had given us from its bottle.
Right now we're checking out Eastern Washington Uni near Spokane, staying with some very hospitable friends of Lily's. Last night saw the AMAZING Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also witnessed the madness of Harry Potter book launch parties. Off to Bellingham and Seattle next.
posted by Jen at 3:30 PM
1 Comments:
So glad we both survived Montana! I've stayed in a lot of shady neighborhoods, but have never felt as uncomfortable as I did driving through that awful scary campsite. God bless Yogi Bear! I'm still 200% about U of Montana. If I get in to their MFA program, you'll know I'm revelling in the awesome nature of campus and enjoying the campiness of downtown Missoula. Who ever thought Montana was so goddamn gorgeous?
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