Follow up on Folk Festival

It was a fun day spent with friends Steve and Marilyn, listening to good music. As simple as that. We were there for about 4 hours and I believe we saw 4 performances, on 4 different stages. (The views of the valley were spectacular and I should have taken more photos of everything!) It was unanimous that we liked guitar-fiddle-mandolin-banjo music so we were drawn to those stages. It was also a hot day - 80-ish (it's all relative I know), spent walking the historic district of Butte. The architecture and the old buildings were remarkable and brought back memories of a college class I loved - Architecture History & Appreciation. (Also loved Art History & Appreciation!)

Scott Fore & Spencer Strickland

Eddie Pennington

The Quebe Sisters Band - Yes, we liked them so much in Dillon we had to see them again! Fantastic group! The Seldom Scene
Anyway, the 7 venues were spread out amongst the city blocks of Butte, far enough apart so the performances didn't intrude on each other and far enough apart for us to get a little exercise. There were a variety of international flavored food booths, artists, and craftsmen. There were a variety of performers with something for everyone. The event was free and fun. If the stars align and all is right with the universe next year it probably will be an event to go see again. You could easily spend the 2 1/2 days at the Festival and not see all the performers.

This is a link to a website where you can see biographies of some of the Festival performers and you can also hear their talent. Scroll down the page a little and click on their names - if you want to. http://www.visitmt.com/musicplayer/folkfestivalmusicplayer.html

After writing this I feel I haven't given enough recognition to the enormous amount of talent that was at the Festival. We only touched a tip of the offerings. Having reviewed the Festival websites again, after the event, I realize the gathering of performers was unbelievable and next year we will see more than our usual favorites and step into other music worlds. The National Folk Festival may be an event to take the motorhome to and spend a week in the area. Butte was famous for mining and is deeply rich in history. Spending some time exploring the area would definitely be interesting. Maybe we'll see you there next year.

70th National Folk Festival

Butte, Montana is hosting the 70th National Folk Festival and we are going! Yippeeee! More culture! No really, we are looking forward to what looks like a fantastic event. We are making the trip with friends Steve and Marilyn.

Butte is hosting the world famous event for the next three years. There will be a wide variety of music, dance and tradition from across America. This is the first time in 40 years that the Festival is west of the Mississippi River, and the first time ever in Montana. There is an extensive list of artists and performers who will be showcased on 7 stages. And it's being held in the historic district of Butte which will be something to see all by itself.

Their website gives a good example of what we will enjoy and experience. http://www.nationalfolkfestival.com/ You can see or hear excerpts from many of the performers on the website.

I hope you check back to read about the event. You know I'll have photos!

Went to Town for a Little Bit of Culture

You don't have to look far to find local entertainment, culture, performing arts, an arts district, or local theatre performers. You just have to 'get off your river' and look. And many small towns and large cities advertise on the Internet. You can do a Google search by city and check out their Calendar of Events to find something to fit your style. Like Dillon's Lunch in the Park.

Picture a breezy day at the park, green grass, young children with their parents & grandparents, and a large red and white tent. The Girl Scouts were selling sloppy joe lunches, the local animal shelter had puppies to adopt and a couple of artists were showing their talents. Yesterday we went into Dillon for some culture and had so much fun listening to a musical group called the Quebe (Kway-bee) Sisters Band. They're 3 young sisters from Texas who play fiddle and sing vintage-style 3-part harmony, along with a lead guitarist/fiddler and a bass player. And they were fabulous! All 5 members of the band are accomplished musicians, the 4 fiddler players are state/national/world champions. You can hear a bit of their music and read more about them at http://www.nationalfolkfestival.com/festivalinfo_performers/quebesistersband.html or at their website http://www.quebesistersband.com/ Here's a sort video clip of Red River Valley that's a good example of their style http://www.mcguckinpr.com/mcguckin/quebe_sisters/quebe_RRVvid.html I think it captures the local spirit of the event. There were children dancing to the music and older folks (like me) clapping and tapping my toes. I believe each week there is some type of event in the park, from music to Shakespeare - Montana style.

Dust Buster Double Duty

Some RVers say that an item should serve two purposes if its going into the motorhome. I'm not sure we've done a good job at that! The handheld Dust Buster vacuum is one such item. When Rick said we needed a battery powered, rechargeable vacuum I wholeheartedly agreed, knowing that he likes to keep the floor dirt-free and he'd be using it often. But it also serves a second purpose! The Dust Buster also does double duty as a Bug Vac. It's very easy to vacuum those blood-thirsty mosquitoes that somehow follow us into the motorhome! The teeny-tiny midges (gnats) are attracted to the lights and can get through the window screens. These are also easily sucked up by the Bug Buster.

Have I mentioned that there are a bazillion mosquitoes in Montana and most of them like to hang out on our window screens while we are inside? Did you know that only the female mosquitoes bite you for your blood so they can nourish their eggs?

So Much Fun - With My Fishin' Buddy!

OK, maybe not fun for everyone, but Rick and I had soooo much fun fishing today! We went down to the river around noon, talked with a couple friends who were drifting through, and for as far as we could see, we had the river (almost) to ourselves. Based upon yesterday, I wanted to go across the river to the far bank. We have to wade through some pretty strong currents, but with our arms intertwined its not a problem. (I can cross by myself right now, but some are a little surprised at that. I'm almost 5'4" and it gets deep in spots.) Anyway, we crossed over (sounds funny) to fish where the water is smooth and deep. We stand on the edge of the strongest current and lean upstream into the push of the water. Not dangerous if you keep your feet on the river bottom.

Let me tell you! I wish you could have been there! There were fish everywhere. The fish were taking bugs off the top so we could easily see them and we put on dry flies (with a size 20 nymph dropper) and caught fish! Most of the fish were taking the size 20 nymph trailing the dry fly. A size 20 is smaller than a grain of rice. Good thing Rick was downstream from me, because he netted my fish for me - over and over again. He attaches a small net to the back of his chest pack for just such occasions.

I was upstream and using dry flies. Rick saw a couple fish downstream rising so he asked if I'd like to change places and move downstream. I saw a fish swirling right against the bank, about 35 feet from me. An easy cast, but I didn't want to snag the fly on the bushes hanging over the bank. On the second cast I hooked a really, really big fish. It 'ran' downstream so fast that in less than a minute (20 seconds ?) it had taken all my fly line (100 feet) and I was into the backing. Remember, I'm standing in fast currents and I got there with help. I told Rick that I was into my backing (something I never "let" happen) and he came downstream and held onto me. He thought I'd be unable to hold my footing. My rod was bent over, so tight. The fish stopped running and I gained a little line back on the reel. Rick asked if I wanted to cross the river. I didn't, but said I would. He was holding onto me, ready to walk me across and down river to gain more line back. In the next instant the line went slack so I reeled as fast as I could. The fish was off the hook. (Remember, my fly is half the size of a grain of rice.) That's what I call a really long distance release. I wish I could have seen the fish, but we both feel hooking a fish is the most fun.

We don't like to walk a fish downstream and will only do so if absolutely necessary. We both usually have our reel tension tight and are able to stand our ground. It makes other fishermen unhappy when you walk a fish through where they're fishing. With today's fish I was ready to take the walk.

The dry fly fishing comes and goes in spurts. On for 20 minutes, off for 20 minutes. Some say "it shuts down" and it did. So we changed flies and caught fish using nymphs (under the water). With nymphs you watch a strike indicator floating on the surface to tell when the fish take the underwater flies. We went back and forth a couple times, taking a few minutes to change flies. We finally left one rod with drys and the other with nymphs and we shared rods back and forth. It was soooo much fun! We fished almost side by side and were able to talk, look for fish, encourage each other, tease each other, and help each other. I love fishing with Rick! He's my best fishin' buddy!

Campground Review - Nugget Campground

When we first made plans, months ago, to travel from Washington to Montana we had mapped out a route. But as with many things in life, unexpected events delayed us in Oregon and we had to pass on staying in Washington as planned. If no one has told you yet, flexibility is a good thing to have when traveling in an RV.

When we eventually made the trip from Oregon east to Montana we modified our plans to stay at a couple campgrounds enroute to our Montana fishing spot. We had planned to drive for a few hours, arrive at a campground early, stay for a couple nights, and do it again, taking our sweet time. Rick calls it the 2-2-2 travel plan. Drive for 2 hours, arrive by 2:00 PM, and stay for 2 nights.

But once we were on our way, there was no slowing us down. We drove for a couple days, about 7 hours each day, and stayed at one of our planned stops - the Nugget Campground in St Regis, Montana on June 11. And it was a golden nugget! It was fabulous and we would have enjoyed staying longer. Their ad says they are the gateway to Flathead Lake, Glacier National Park, Waterton Lakes and the National Bison Range.

This is one of the most immaculate campgrounds I've ever seen! The grounds were very well maintained, the heated pool and playground were clean, and the bathrooms and showers were unbelievably sparkling clean. The Nugget Campground is a Good Sam park and they must be one of their top-ranked parks. They have rental cabins nestled amongst the pine trees, long full service pull-throughs, 50 AMP, propane, a convenience store, laundry, horseshoe pits, hiking trails, bicycle rentals, and gold panning at their own small ghost town. There's even a casino nearby in St. Regis. The area is well known for the great fishing, rafting, hiking, and boating. The one night rate was less than $30 and I'm sure a longer stay would be reasonable. The owners were friendly and helpful and I wish we could have stayed longer. (The community's electricity went out for a short time and the owners said we might have to eat all the ice cream in the freezer if it stayed out too long! Good thing it came back on a short time later.) While on a walk around the campground I saw numerous song birds and 3 young deer wandering among the rental cabins. They were precious! I hope you get the opportunity to visit the Nugget Campground. I hope we get a chance to return and stay longer.

Vacation would be over now

When we were working we had the opportunity to take a 3 week summer vacation before returning to work. I know some people only get one week or less and we were lucky to get 21 days. We've been in Montana for 3 weeks now and vacation would be over if we were still working.

We've been here for 3 weeks and this year is different. We don't know when we'll leave. For the past couple days it's been a mix of nymph fishing (when the fly is underwater) and dry fly fishing (when the fly is on the water). By far, dry fly fishing is more exciting! And it's been more challenging. We've been hooking lots of good size fish, but landing a fish is a challenge. We don't take photos of every fish because they all start looking the same. In fact, people used to look at our photos and laughingly say they were of the same fish. So we don't take many photos now - only if it's an interesting fish. Or a colorful fish. Or a really big fish! Over 20".

Over the past week I've found it interesting that some of the fishermen that I don't know offer to net my fish for me. Actually, it is a friendly gesture for someone to offer. But what I think is funny is when they say "I'll net your fish if you show me what fly you are using." Rick told a fisherman yesterday "Don't let her make you think she's helpless. She's very capable of netting her own fish." Of course he was just teasing and we all had a good laugh.

Everyday it seems we meet an old friend or make a new one. The majority of fisherpeople are very friendly. For the past couple days we've had fun fishing with a new friend, Sean, 14 years old, who loves to fly fish and has been fishing for years. He's a lucky guy because his mother brings him to the river for a few hours of fishing. Rick and I have both enjoyed sharing flies and our experience with him. He landed a real nice brown trout yesterday.

Yummy Grilled Trout!

This is for all of you who know we don't keep our trout from the river. Especially this river which has strict limits and besides, we practically get to know the fish by name.

Our neighbor in the 5th wheel trailer has a motorboat and goes out on the reservoir everyday. And catches lots of trout! And they know we fish the river (that flows out of the reservoir) and don't keep the fish. Sooooo, they were generous and brought us 5 big rainbow trout to eat! Rick filleted them and tonight Rick, the Grill Meister, is in his element! Nirvana! The Zone! Paradise!

He's grilling 3 different fillets 3 different ways. One fillet is with butter and lime juice. The second fillet is with Moho Griollo, a marinade we've used on chicken. And the third is with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic mustard. We'll wrap them in foil and put them on his shiny new stainless steel barbecue. He's also grilling a few pasilla (green) chiles and his famous jalapenos. I know it's going to be Yummy!

ps: I liked the soy sauce and ginger and Rick liked the Moho Griollo. It was a feast!

The Wind is My Friend

That's what I keep telling myself - "The wind is my friend, the wind is my friend." But the wind can put a crimp in your casting ability. And knots in your fishing line.

Just yesterday we started dry fly fishing (yipeee!) and it's all about seeing the fish and putting the fly where the fish is. Most afternoons here in Montana the wind starts to blow - and blow hard! Yesterday we watched the tent campers almost lose their tent to the wind and another pop-up trailer's awning looked like a wind-filled spinaker on a sailboat. We've had to pull in our window awnings for fear that they would be ripped off the motorhome. (the wind is my friend)

When the temps get warm enough in the afternoon, the storm clouds build up to the south of us and we can see it coming. Since we are carrying graphite lightning rods as fishing poles, we stop fishing when we see the dark clouds headed our way. And we're headed for the motorhome when we hear the thunder. The lightning isn't too far behind the thunder. Of course by then the wind has made it difficult to cast a fly to a rising fish. Even with the wind blowing us off the river, we each managed to land a few fish on dry flies. (the wind is my friend)

The campground owners usually put on a huge 4th of July barbecue and spectacular fireworks display. For various reasons they did not host the barbecue nor the fireworks this year. And we think that was a godsend, given the dry conditions and extreme wind. There are enough wildfires in the west.

And the wind is not limited to the afternoons. A couple nights ago the wind continually pounded the motorhome while we slept. The back end of the motorhome is pointed to the south where the storms have come from, so we're not getting hit by the wind as we would from the broadside. But even so, we were gently rocked to sleep. And the wind is my friend.

Celebrate!

"And she catches fish, too."

A couple days ago Rick hooked a big trout and since I was close by I stopped fishing to net it for him. (Something we do for each other if we are close and not hooked up to a fish.) So I netted the fish, gave him the net to hold and retrieved the camera out of the pack. It was a nice fish so I wanted a quick photo. Another fisherman had been watching us and said to Rick, "That's pretty good. She can net your fish and take your picture." Can you guess Rick's response? He smiled and replied, "And she catches fish, too."

For some odd reason, that reminded me of a saying Rick gave me a long time ago and I've always kept tucked away.

A woman can be taught to cook, mow the lawn, wash the car, and tie flies. She can be trained to clean the house, carry out the trash, walk the dog, can albacore and smoke salmon. Through practice, she may even improve her facility at certain more personal marital duties.
But if she doesn’t clean fish before you’re married, it’s a cinch you’re not going to get her to do it afterwards.

Our dog - for the summer

Some of you have asked if "our dog" Clover is here at the campground with us. You see, we don't have a dog, but there is a dog at this campground that every year becomes our pet. He's a border collie and one of two dogs that belong to the campground owners. He's the smartest dog we've ever known, loves to play ball and loves to go to the river with us everyday. When we're at the river we play fetch with sticks and he loves to go into the water after them. He brings the same stick back, almost without fail.

While we're fishing Clover lays next to our backpack or walks along the river bank to be close to where we are. Every so often he will attempt to follow Rick across the river. Thank goodness he's not interested in the fish, but loves to welcome everyone who comes near. He sleeps under our motorhome and hangs out around our campsite. You can tell he's become protective of us and keeps other dogs away from our site. He follows Rick wherever he goes - to the flyshop, to the mailbox, to the showers, everywhere. Clover loves kids and when he sees them he's off to play fetch with them. He returns to us when he's finished welcoming all the newcomers to the campground. He puts a smile on our face.
(Play the video for a smile of your own.)