Missoula Montana open spaces

We really do enjoy our relatively open spaces here in western Montana. This is a photo of our back yard from down the road. It is a "stitched" photo from three shots taken at slightly different angles. (Click on photo to open large size view.)

Missoula, Montana Photos

View of Mount Sentinel and University of Montana mascot Grizzly statue.
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View of the M trail on Mount Sentinel, Missoula, Montana.

City of Missoula, Montana. View from Mount Sentinel.

University of Montana campus, Missoula. View of Main Hall and Oval from Mount Sentinel.

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Piggy Piggy a Penny More

There is just no way to replace the piggy savings bank with a credit union account and a passbook.
Then, when it is full, they get to take a hammer to it. Today's kids should not miss out on this wonderful tradition.

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Dad's Inlaid Coffee Table

This inlaid coffee table is the only piece of furniture from my Father's home that I now display in my own home. He did give me a home-made gun cabinet and a home-made wooden tool box, but that's not furniture.

The inlay features slices of agatized rock covered with a hard poly surface. The base is natural burl wood. I can recall seeing this in my Dad's various homes and apartments for the past 25 years. I don't know the story behind it and he is no longer able to tell me. I think it is a nice piece. It is very, very heavy. (Click on photo to open large size view.)

Whitetail Deer Are Fearless Eating Machines

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Photos from our window view and outside deck show Whitetail deer have adapted to human presence so well that we now often refer to them as "Urban Whitetail."

Sometimes they browse 20 feet away from a person working in a yard. The fawns become so comfortable around us that they fail to run when we walk nearby, often with our dogs, and that can be a mistake.

We have 30 to 40 head of whitetail in the neighborhood which encompasses about a one-mile by two-mile rectangle. They bed down in our trees and eat them too. They are notorious for eating yard landscape shrubs and gardens left unguarded.

Life in rural Montana. You have to LOVE it!

Northwestern Energy Far Afield

The subject of this photo is the very small image at "center right" which is a Northwestern Energy service truck with boom extended. The second photo below shows a close up view of the truck taken from the same location, although it is pretty grainy.

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We experienced a major 12-hour power outage recently and Northwestern Energy has been in the area for the past two weeks, with up to six trucks at a time, servicing pole transformers and even replacing some lines.

The logistics of working out here in the mountains is amazing. They do a good job.

Yellow Submarine? Experimental and Landlocked

I don't know WHAT to make of this yellow, deep submersible, submarine-type thingy, parked out in the middle of the Montana forest. The word, "Experimental" is imprinted at the right top edge. What gives? I don't have a clue.

Just another Montana quirky thing to ponder.
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Biggest Ponderosa Pine Tree in Montana

This is a 350-year-old, 200-foot-tall, GIANT! The largest pine tree in Montana is located at the Big Pine Fishing Access Site, adjacent to Fish Creek, four miles south of Interstate 90, at Exit 66 (about 35 miles west of Missoula). Rather than type all the pertinent information, I am including a photo of the plaque that is mounted on-site.
The FAS (fishing access site) includes a "primitive" campground which means you have to haul out everything you bring in. There is a restroom, but no garbage cans, no well water, and sure as heck no electricity.
(Click on photo to open large size view.)