home again

We are back home after a lovely interlude in the mountains of Montana. Yesterday we drove over to Big Sky, a ski resort about 30 miles from Bozeman. There is massive development going on; cushy condos perched on the side of the mountain, restaurants, mini-malls. In the middle of the town is the Huntley Lodge, named after Chet Huntley, he of the Huntley-Brinkley team. Actually, his family home is around the corner from Mike and Cait's house.

We took the gondola ride up the side of Lone Mountain, elevation 11,000 ft., but the gondola stops at 9067 ft., just at the edge of the tree line, which is plenty high for my taste. From the observation deck you can see all across the valley, down into the little town of Big Sky. When we got home I logged on to VRBO to see what might be available for rental. There are about 200 listings for condos, homes, chalets, cabins, just about anything you could imagine for both summer and ski-season rentals. It would be a beautiful spot for a week's vacation any time of the year.

Last night we saw another beautiful Bozeman sunset before turning in early in anticipation of an early departure this morning.
We got out of Bozeman without any trouble, but we were the very last passengers seated on the flight to Sacramento out of Salt Lake. The only reason we made it was that two passengers were no-shows. Ah, the excitement of flying standby!

We made it home before noon. First chore: mail. Then laundry. Then a nice long nap. Weather here lovely, too. Bozeman put on her best show for us; warm, breezy, clear. Salt Lake was very hazy since the entire state is on fire. But right now the central valley is having perfect summer weather.