Jul. 6, 2008 - We're Back!
We are home! Yay! I'll sum up our last couple days.
Friday July 4th
Dan doesn't have to work today so we are going for a drive! We went to Phillipsburg and had lunch at a cool drug store cafe. No one ordered the Buffalo Meatloaf, but the burgers were pretty darn good! After lunch, we walked around town a bit and talked to some people then we headed on down the road. We saw a sign for "Garnet Ghost Town" and just had to find out what that was. We headed in that direction and came to a dirt road up the mountainside. It was a pretty rough road. There were lots of ruts in it and it was washed out in parts from the snow runoff. Another truck was coming down the mountain and said that it wasn't all this rough, there were "a couple smooth places" (insert giggle). He had a 4x4 and we asked if our truck would make it and he said sure, people bring trailers up all the time so we should be fine. So we kept going. It was slow going but when we got there it was so cool. We started up the trail, following the signs, and kept hearing a rumbling sound. I thought it was a truck, like maybe they were working nearby. When we got to the top we found a cool mill and lots of neat stuff to pick through and check out. We also found a big scary black cloud and lighting. It was thunder we were hearing, echo off the mountains. A few minutes later it started to rain. Dan started hurrying down the mountain and then I realized why he was in such a hurry. We had to get back down the mountain before that rain washed out the road! We practically ran down to the truck. Dan drove as fast as he could down the road. You could see the rain coming down the places where the snow runoff had already been. It rained harder. And then it started to hail. I don't think Dan really breathed until we got onto flat ground. He kept picturing a flash flood coming off that rocky mountain and washing us down the mountainside. I took pictures! And the kids thought is was really fun!
Then we drove back around to Missoula in time to have dinner and see the fireworks for the 4th. The show was great. Tom and Jake danced and sang through the whole thing. I couldn't figure where they got their energy. The show didn't start until 10:30 since that is when it is finally dark!
Saturday July 5
We are heading home today but not until we stop in Deer Lodge and see the Old Montana Prison. It was pretty darn creepy. We got some ice cream and talked to some old guy about politics for awhile. Then we went across the street to "Prospectors Paradise". We talked to the couple that owned the store for a long time and bought some stuff and got some helpful hints about panning. Then we stopped at 4B's for lunch and headed down the road to California!
We stopped for snacks, bathroom breaks, and gas along the way. The kids slept in the bed of the truck when it got dark and Dan and I took turns driving and sleeping.
Sunday July 6
We are home! We arrived today at 12:15pm. We drove 4008 miles and 98 hours! Grandma was happy to see us and so were the dogs. We are still getting used to our house again. It is weird not to have to walk down the road to go to the bathroom. We all really loved Montana. I so hope we can move there someday!
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