Search results

Totally forgot about the "Old Jules" recommendation. Mari Sandoz was a fine, fine writer, and her father Jules Sandoz was a mad genius (and by mad, I mean miles beyond eccentric, complete with violence inflicted upon his family and many others). I expect you'll enjoy "Old Jules". Try and find...

Jerry, we arrived in Big Sandy at around 9:30 am on a Sunday and if anything was open, we didn't find it (and, as you probably realize, ain't anywhere for an open business or center to hide in Big Sandy). We hooked a U turn at the highway rest area in town, toured the bathroom facilities...

Your posts stir up good memories of a fine 3 days of our 2020 trip to that area! We'd camped out at a motel in Great Falls for a couple of nights and on the day in between we went to see the Ryan Dam, thence up to Fort Benton for a couple of hours (a rodeo was under way at the fairgrounds!)...

Interesting to know of the demeanor of the Carter Ferry operator. We found the McClelland Ferry guy to be amiable and the Virgelle Ferry lady operator to be downright effusive. Heads-up on accessing the McClelland Ferry, especially from the north. Both directions are very steep, and the north...

We had a first look-see at what geologists call the "Island Ranges" of central Montana back in 2020 just before or after you were there for the ice caves, the Colony, etc. We passed through part of the Bear Paw mountains and had good up-close looks at the Highland Mountains and more distant...

Thanks for the preview of Lennep, Castle Town, etc! We'll be there next month as we wander around the Little Belts, Castles, and Big Snowies. Because of your expert suggestions, we'll spend a few days at Crystal Lake (assuming we can get a campsite) and take a shot at the Cascades trail. I...

The cabin looks great--you missed a great career as a builder! My point on "taking a trip and never leaving the farm" was less a comment on how things may have to slow down some (and for better or worse, most of us experience some degree of slowing down before checking out entirely) than it was...

As mobility and range of travel tends to decrease with increasing #of birthdays or any other reason, ability to "take a trip and never leave the farm" becomes more relevant. Apologies to the late Charlie Daniels for stealing a sample of his lyrics. Great looking work! Foy

The one in the last panel is easy to translate: "Your car's warranty is about to expire". You're welcome.

For admirers of strong women who grew up or lived on ranches and farms in the West I heartily recommend "Leaning Into the Wind: Women Write From the Heart of the West". The book is a collection of nonfiction short stories about life in the West and includes writings about periods from the early...

I rather think you'd recall the Nebraska Sandhills if you'd been there. The Sandhills are a unique landscape of grass-stabilized sand dunes forming a range of jumbled hills and ridges 200' to 400' over intervening streams and pothole lakes. Early cartographers mapped the region as the "Great...

I became a fan of Mari Sandoz's work about a dozen years ago while engaged in map study of the Nebraska Sandhills and the Panhandle. My Nebraska DeLorme showed her family's Sandhills ranch so I started looking her up. I read "Old Jules", the story of her family's history including her own...

FYI, regarding the signpost pertaining to "Shallow Seas", some of the limestones now outcropping in the Beaver Dam Mountains of SW Utah are the lateral equivalents of the Mississippian Period (323 to 359 million year old) Madison and Mission Canyon limestones which so prominently outcrop in...

Yes, Bill Kennedy Shaw's writing was of a style which I much enjoyed. I'm sure I've read his LRDG book 5 or 6 times. Some of it probably wouldn't pass muster under the microscope of political correctness these days, but he was likely true to his generation and his upbringing, education, and...

Splendid report of your travels in an area I've only read about: First in William Kennedy Shaw's history of the LRDG raid on Murzuk in 1941, which included a planned rendezvous with the Free French from Ft. Lamy in Chad, and passing through to Zouar following the raid, then online in various...

Montana? Nope, nothing to see there. Flatter than Nebraska. Blistering summertime heat. Locusts. Tornados. Trolls under the bridges. Best to not waste your time. They're full. Try Wyoming. Foy

I'd have to say 37 years with the USGS qualifies you as a Class A Senior Geologist! My mineral exploration career lasted a whopping 6 years before I went back to school and changed professions. So, is your academic background geology, hydrology, engineering?

Foy, I will have to look into the MT geology Facebook page! Thanks for the insight. Have you heard of the Tobacco Root Geological Society? They do annual field trips and are a fun group of folks. I am going to order the MT and ID updated Roadside Geology books. Thanks again for letting me...

Dale, I somehow missed your reply to my mention of a geology-focused tour last month. I'd like to say that your participation is ROF-style trips is one of three primary inspirations for my own thoughts on the matter. The second is an ongoing appreciation for the Montana Geology Facebook page...

I went to AAA RV Premium when I was told by AAA that my regular membership didn't cover towing on my F350 simply because it was an F350. Mine is a single rear wheel and is in every meaningful way identical to an F250 of the same model year (2002) but AAA wouldn't budge on their "policy"...