Hippie/Cowboy/Scholar Funkytown

During my recent visit to Montana, I began to suspect that every single Montanan I spoke with was a Chamber of Commerce or Visitors Bureau plant.

It started in Billings with Carol, the owner of the KOA where I stayed. And then there was artist Tracy Linder, artist in residence at the Yellowstone Art Museum.

Bozeman rest stop.

Eileen, manning the coffee.

Next, on my way to Missoula, I pulled over to a rest stop. But it wasn't a typical quick pull off the freeway on the right and merge back on. No. I had to exit, wait at a light, turn left, go back over the highway, turn left again, then pull around to the parking lot of the prettiest little rest stop I have ever seen. Inside the lobby area (yes, there was a lobby area) were two tables set up with pastries, Danishes, muffins, doughnuts, coffee.  Steve and Eileen were manning the tables that day for the Lions Club of Bozeman. Steve told me that they do this every Wednesday and Thursday during the summer as a fundraiser. The Lions, in turn, donate eye glasses and hearing aides to students who need ,and award a scholarship each year to a graduating senior.  They have also given books to every single student in the primary grades for Christmas. I guess Montana doesn't have that church/state thing going on. My own dad was a Lion, and when Steve learned that, he admonished me to tell my father to "get active again." Ok - Dad - get active again.

View from the "M" on Mt. Sentinel above Missoula and the University of Montana.

But Missoula is by far the funkiest Western city I have been in so far.

A girl wearing dreds and riding a skateboard barefoot down the street, waves good morning to a guy in a suit, stops and talks briefly, then they both go on. It is clear that neither one knows the other.

Mattie, a University of Montana graduate, moves to New York City, dances professionally for five years, moves back to Missoula and opens a high-end women's clothing store. (And trust me, it's high-end. The lovely silk dress I lusted after was $625.) Not only is his business thriving, he's built a loyal clientele, just bought a house and dances with a local company.

Marilyn Parker, a charming lady I met at the U of Montana bookstore while she was looking for a Grizzlies t-shirt for the first football game (it had to be white because it is so hot at those first games - and she got sunburned last year) told me that there is no place better on earth. She's biased, of course. Marilyn was head of admissions for years once her husband stopped moving all over the world. (He was with the CIA. We can say that now that he's retired.)

And Chris Williams, owner of Alpine Canine, a dog hiking service. You make a reservation, Chris shows up with his burnt orange panel bus, loads up your dog with several others and takes them all up in the hills/mountains for a long-ass hike. The whole pack sleeps tangled up together during the ride home. He says he can't imagine being anywhere else.

Eric, who works in graphic services at the U, was kind enough to try to answer my questions about the University of Montana press. He said that he and his wife and kids moved back once his children were old enough to start school. He said he wouldn't live anywhere else.

And downtown Missoula is a real downtown. The original big square 19th century buildings are still there, with a few new ones thrown in, or extensive rehabs on the old ones here and there. I did not see a Walmart (important). I did not see a Bed, Bath & Beyond. I'm told that they're there somewhere. I just didn't see them.

The University of Montana was founded in 1893, its first five red brick buildings designed by the same architect. University Hall and its similarly styled siblings are happily situated on an oval, the U's version of a quad. Mount Sentinel rears behind University Hall and its still-working clock tower. The mount is adorned with a gigantic concrete "M" that the Forestry Club members formed in 1908.

University Hall at University of Montana in Missoula.

My last day in town I hiked the "M". The trail climbs approximately 620 feet up with 11 switchbacks. It took me about 20 minutes to get up there. Gasping. Then I decided to go on to the top of Mt. Sentinel. I didn't quite make it because I had to get back to the hotel and check out. But I know I was close.

Oh, by the way - the University of Montana has a first class Creative Writing department. I need more publications before I can be considered as an instructor, so instead I'm gunning for the University Press. Suffice it to say I could see myself in Missoula.

Next, on to Whitefish and Glacier National Park.