Bozeman was the sexy dot on the map and I created a good amount of personal anticipation to get to know the city. I still didn't have a ton of expectations given my lack of research to this trip, but at this point I was a social sponge and ready to make friends.
I find it interesting that for a lot of people it takes getting uncomfortable and a raw form of lonely for us to really treat other humans the way we're supposed to. I've loved reverting back to the excitement of meeting strangers. I started making conversations with everyone: barista, grocery store clerk, people in the parks, stray dogs, you name it, I genuinely wanted to learn about them and connect on a human to human level. When padded in the comfort of your normal routine, friends and family, you lose the hunger of making new acquaintances and generally we're not as eager to be our nicest self.
There is a lot of talk about how Bozeman is outgrowing it's authenticity and investors are driving up housing prices, and while that may be true, as a transient, I loved the energy of the city. This is where I started to get a taste of the local food scene. I'm not speaking of simply trying a bunch of new restaurants but more so how the local farms supply the food network. Referencing the previous blog, after a few weeks of introspection, I realized my love of sustainability on a community and personal level. Years of growing a garden, recycling and sourcing my own wild game, I started to allow my interest to pursue and learn about that world in detail.
I stayed at the retro Lewis & Clark Hotel. It's a must in Bozeman.
I timed this trip to accidentally be quite floral
After hitting a healthy amount of breweries and going on enough regimented hikes, I decided to make a weekend of Missoula which is a couple hours Northwest up the Bitteroot Valley and uniquely scenic.
I was still flexing my camping muscle while exploring the cities
Going back in chronology, when I was staying in Gardiner I would post up in a quaint local coffee shop called the Tumbleweed that is full of used furniture for seating and bookshelves full of Western themed novels. The reason this information is important is that I met a couple there that mentioned they lived in Missoula and left me their number should I end up in that neck of the woods.
After having drinks with my two newest friends in downtown Missoula I started to brainstorm what a Western life would look like and how that fit into my scheme of newfound priorities.
Missoula is a small college town of 72,000 that is equipped with a large amount of dive bars, top notch breweries and great hiking 10 minutes away in every direction. On top of that, there is a big outdoors industry that exists there and one of the best farmers markets in the country. I was smitten.
I took notes, wandered the city and carefully inspected each brewery to get a feel for the persona that identifies as a local.
Jumping back in time to my time in Gardiner, MT again, the couple I stayed with there mentioned they were going to a remote lake in Northeastern Washington near the Canadian border that was owned by another sibling of the family and that I was welcome to join for the week of the 4th of July. Researching on the Google machine I discovered is was only a handful of hours driving distance away so I decided Deep Lake, Washington is a great place to celebrate our independence.
Driving there I got to meet the great mining town of Wallace, ID and drive by Lake Coeur d'Alene. Both recommended stops. Some of this area of the country I had been before but only via tour bus on the way to our next show back in my music days. This time I really was able to pioneer each area.
Deep Lake is a magical place but funny enough the lake isn't that deep. The lake is only 66 acres and holds around 60 cabins segregated to a North and South end. My favorite part is that there is no cell service and the only internet available is spotty satellite internet. What this combination of variables creates is tight knit community of neighbors where the only form of entertainment are small social gatherings. Additionally out of the norm, at these gatherings, there was no fomo (fear of missing out) and no one was incessantly checking their phones. It was fantastic to meet all walks of life and be a part of the family for a brief week. Conversationally, we figured out all of life's problems one beer at a time.
The lake is surrounded by thousands of acres of forest land and ancient cattle farms so elk, bear, eagle, osprey etc sitings are common.
For the Forth of July, a number of cabins around the lake invested in their own personal cache of fireworks and were determined to out-pyro the others. It was a special setting with the background of mountains and water while watching a myriad of explosives from all around the lake while sitting next to a campfire. Life was good.
New in my life: The stache is two weeks away. Don't buy stock in Greyhound. Who really knows what a huckleberry is anyways?
Keep smilin'
JM
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