Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Less smoke; more deer

The early driving on the Pintler Senic Highway was delightful, highlighted by an awesome waterfall on the Flint river. We stopped for breakfast at Stack State Park, site of the huge (66 foot diameter) stack that used to vent gasses from the Anaconda copper smelter. The stack is all that is left of the complex, and the Anaconda cityfolk have made a very nice park viewing the stack and giving some of its history, and that of the company and people who worked there.

A stiff wind blew the smoke away, but probably wrecked our mileage, blowing on our nose for a couple of hours; then blew on our side the rest of the day, making our lane-tracking less than perfect. This part of the state is agricultural, sprinkled with cattle grazing, hay fields about to be cut, cut and drying, or cut, dried and baled. Pretty patterns in the fields.

We stopped for lunch at Prairie Dog State Park, but the dogs, after scurrying across the road in front of us and beside us when we drove in, mostly stayed in their tunnels until we drove out, when they again came up --- to wave goodby to us???



Our campsite in Billings is the same place we stayed in 2001, with grandson Jeff II with us. The fields on both sides of the park seem to beckon deer, as we saw 11 or 13 tonight, depending on whose count you believe. Makes you feel calm and relaxed just watching them be calm and relaxed.