More Big Sky Summer of '22

We hadn't picnicked at Moose Creek this summer, so we made sure to do that on the day before we hit the road east.

The weather could not have been more perfect.  With low water levels of late August, we only saw one raft drift by, although perhaps that had more to do with timing than the water level.

We had two more meals with Darlene and Brooks.  At their house Darlene made a delicious Mexican food feast, including Carne Asada, beans and rice, tortillas, ground beef, homemade salsa and much more.  Our nephew BG3 joined us for that meal.

On our final day, after attending church at Soldier's Chapel, we met them at Highway 191 Diner for another great meal.  I wish we had known about that place when Karen and Randy were in town.  

The final concert in the park we attended for the season turned out to be terrific, with the local opening act and the featured band being led by strong women.

Amanda Stewart is a solid songwriter who stays primarily in the country folk lane.

The headlining act, Kaitlin Krisko & the Broadcast proved to be rockers with a wide variety of great songs in their arsenal, including three impressive covers, which she called sing-alongs.  When Kaitlin said she was going to do a song by the band that taught her how to belt out rock like she does, I expected a song by Heart, but instead she did an amazing vocal of a Led Zeppelin classic.

On our drive east, we happened to change drivers at a rest stop in South Dakota where another powerful woman stood tall above the Missouri River in the form of a statue called Dignity.

It's a beautiful piece of art featuring a native American woman.  The statue is said to be 50 feet tall, she seems much taller when standing before.

We had a couple of nice hotel stays on our drive, including the Kelly Inn, which had a vibe more like a mountain lodge than a roadside hotel.  

We had stayed at another hotel close by on a previous trip, so we knew we could walk across the road to Blarney's Irish Pub, where we had a great dinner.

I had country fried steak, mashed potato and salad, while Julie ordered fried green beans.  Adding a couple of big mugs of Guinness for me and a White Claw Black Cherry for Julie, and we slept very well that night.

In the morning, we had breakfast and coffee before hitting the road at 7 AM, and impressively early departure considering we lost our first hour time change heading east.

Ousel Falls One More Time

A Few More From Here and There

Trail Off Chief Joseph

Wes on Chief Joseph trail cutoff

Moose Creek Picnic View

Dignity On the Missouri River