11.-17.06.2007: Missoula - Bigfork Our back battery didn't seem to be recharging, so we spent two hours checking the connections and cleaning both batteries. We also put on some new seat covers for the drivers and passenger seats that we had bought yesterday and threw out the old ones that were shedding their fur! On Tuesday we went to Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) to see Julie (Andrew and Rosemary's daughter) who works there. She was on her lunch break when we arrived and we had great fun observing everything that was going on whilst waiting. We helped out with MCT when they came to Álamos in March this year. It was the first time they had done a play in a "foreign" language and so it was quite an historic event! Kirsten took lots of photos and video clips of the whole week, from the auditions until the final performance and then handed out CDs or DVDs to the directors, and also did one for Julie. We met Julie and Teri (who also works for MCT) and had a great laugh with them. We spent 3.5 hours there and stopped them from getting any work done! We were also amazed to find out that we were quite famous - everyone knew that we were the ones responsible for all the photos and they were really impressed. We were given a royal tour and introduced to lots of people. We also saw huge boards with all the performances that are scheduled around the world until May 2008. The boards really do show how much work goes on in the background organizing all the teams of directors and the plays in so many different countries. The logistics must be a nightmare! We really enjoyed our short visit there and Julie told us about various sights we needed to visit whilst in Missoula including her husband's restaurant! We took a pleasant stroll along the Clark Fork River and went to see the carousel which is the first hand-carved carousel since the depression. Certainly a lot of work went into it. Then we went to Julie's restaurant - Sean Kelly's. It was quite full and we only just managed to get a table. Kirsten had shepherds pie and Helen had the cabbage and corned beef dinner. It was good, traditional Irish food and we were both absolutely stuffed afterwards! Helen didn't even have room for a pudding! The next day we went to the "Smokejumpers" centre near the airport and got on the first tour. It was very interesting. There are about 400 smokejumpers, 50 are women, in the US, who get flown to fires and parachute down to contain them by digging trenches to stop their spread. They need at least 2 years of forest fire fighting experience, and have to be able to carry a 110 pound pack (about 55kg) for 3 miles in 90 minutes. This is because after dealing with a fire they have to carry all the equipment out to the nearest road or track where they can be picked up (which can be 17 miles away!) and the equipment is heavy. We both tried lifting a 110 pound pack and couldn't even get it off the ground! They also need to be able to use a sewing machine to repair their equipment! We actually spoke to two guys who were repacking their parachutes and one told us that he learned how to use the sewing machines from the other guys!! Mostly they go out as two person teams and could be out for anywhere up to 21 days dealing with a fire. Cargo is dropped from planes which includes all the equipment and three days worth of food and water. After that there are more drops are made as needed, depending on how long they need to contain the fire. Afterwards, they have to carry all the equipment and unused food and water back out - hence the 110 pound test. Once the tour was over, we watched various videos and had a look at the exhibits and learned about the Mann Gulch fire in 1949 that claimed the lives of 12 smokejumpers and 1 forest guide. Our next stop was Hot Springs where we went to see Jim who had helped organize the MCT production in Álamos. He was the one who put us in touch with Rosemary and Andrew because Helen wanted violin lessons. We actually drove passed his place because there was a sign up saying "Welcome centre" and thought we could always ask there if we couldn't find Jim's house. As it turned out, that was Jim's house!!! It was good to see Jim again and he took us on a walking tour of Hot Springs which is only small so it didn't take long! Afterwards, we went to the local hotel for chicken teriyaki which was very good. On Thursday we drove up to Bigfork to see Rosemary and Andrew. The directions seemed a bit complicated over the phone but we didn't have any problems finding them. They have a really lovely house on Echo Lake, with a bald eagle nest in a tree above the house, and turtles that use their beach to lay their eggs. It is truly idyllic with views of the mountains and we were given five star treatment with our own basement with lounge and bathroom and stunning views over the lake to the mountains! We went out for a steak that evening. (It has been at least 10 years since we have had steak!) But this is Montana and steak country after all! The steaks were super yummy, with a baked potato and salad. (We shared a steak because they were far too big to have one each!) We were given a tour of the local area on the way back. The next day we went for a great hike with Rosemary and her local hiking group up to Bond Lake - 12 miles return. We were the youngest in the group who are mainly around the 60 and 70 year mark and it certainly wasn't an easy hike. There was at least 1,500 ft elevation gain to get up to the lake. We hope we are still that fit when we're that age!! They are a really nice group, there were lots of funny stories told and we had a really good time. When we got back, we had steamed salmon with potatoes and peas in a creamy sauce. Then we got a tour of Andrew's "Cave". He is quite a collector and has a lot of interesting artifacts. On Saturday we went into Kalispell and wandered around a sale at a sports shop looking for hiking boots - Helen's are falling apart and Kirsten's aren't the best any more. We tried on loads of pairs but they didn't have the colour we wanted for our size in stock. (What's colour got to do with it?? - well we want to look good too!) We had 25 cent hot dogs for lunch and went for a drive around. We made chicken casserole that evening and then tried to watch one of the DVDs that Andrew and Rosemary have. The problem was that they couldn't find the remote for the DVD player and so we couldn't change the language to English. The first one we tried was in French. The second was in Hebrew. The next was in English (hooray!) but was a boring film from the 1960s that we abandoned after 20 minutes! We finally settled for a 1975 film where Sean Connery dressed in Arab garb kidnapped Candice Bergman in 1904! Sunday was Fathers day in the US and Andrew had specifically requested Shepherds pie that Helen had made in Álamos for our goodbye meal. Rosemary and Andrew's daughter Julie came with her husband Tom, their daughter Jessica and her 6 month old baby, Mira. Julie is Helen's age and she is already a grandmother! Rosemary is a great grandmother! (Rosemary's mother is now 95 years old so there are 5 generations in their family!) We were busy in the kitchen making the shepherds pie whilst Rosemary made pecan pie and key lime pie. The Golf US open was on the TV to keep everyone entertained as it was raining outside. We all enjoyed the food - especially the dessert! The spoon trick obviously runs in the family!! Julie, Tom, Jessica and Mira had to leave to get back to Missoula and then we watched "Queen" with Helen Mirren who won the Oscar. (We'd given up with the oldies and rented a DVD from the local supermarket!) It is an excellent film and afterwards we had a really good discussion with Andrew about Iraq, politics, Israel and religion. Andrew knows everything about everything - he is a walking lexicon!