It turns out I took an embarrassing number of pictures on the final day of this trip. Chalk it up to my knowing full well that I would not be seeing a sky this blue for a long, long time and to my playing with panoramas just a little too much.
Having packed the night before, we were ready and willing to hit our first breakfast since arriving.
Having packed the night before, we were ready and willing to hit our first breakfast since arriving.
We each had the Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Strawberry, and Kiwi. Can you do any less?
And we shared this Lemon and Blueberry Pancake. You read that right, lemon and blueberry. People throw superlatives around in regards to food, but I kid you not: Best Pancake Ever.
What do you do when you have less than an hour on the ranch? You sit on the balcony and look at the blue sky.
As a person who sincerely enjoys urban life, I have to say that the air, the actual air I was breathing while sitting on that balcony in the sunlight, felt good. I am not fan of being cold, but with warm sun on your skin and cool, fresh, incredibly pollution free air gliding into your lungs, it is impossible to not feel wonderful.
I never really got you a picture of The Granite Lodge from this side. Gap filled.
Around the property they have these signs up. I imagine they call them, "Ranch-Style Stop Signs" or something unpretentiously anti-urban like that. I referred to it as the, "Keanu Reeves Stop Sign." (It is necessary to have seen The Matrix to get that one.)
If you have known me long enough, this picture will look familiar to you. It will also look familiar if you look closely at the Colossal Waste banner at top. Apparently the only thing that has changed about me in 16 years is that I tend to be nude is public less often.
This is one of those shots from the moving car that you have to take, because, well, nature is beautiful.
When was the last time you saw a street sign in a river? That is right. Never.
The light shining off the river was so bright that the colors in this picture washed out. Sepia rescues.
This panorama was simply breathtaking in person. If you look to the upper left, below a cloud formation, you can see a snow capped mountain. I said to Barbie, driving along this road, "If we decided that we hated people and moved somewhere to live as hermits away from society, I would do it here."
Specifically, here. What better place to start a new life than a rugged log cabin in the Rockies?
Some views are too breathtaking to not pull out your camera. And believe me, I am delighted to be married to someone who is more than happy to pull over and take pictures in the middle of nowhere.
After taking the previous shot, this cow turned and looked directly at me. As soon as she did, I knew that she deserved to be a part of the Waste.
We soon arrived in Philipsburg, the "historic" town whose name you might have seen on the sign in the river.
We soon arrived in Philipsburg, the "historic" town whose name you might have seen on the sign in the river.
The name of this street is Broadway. I imagine New Yorkers would get a kick out of that.
In case you doubted.
An employee at The Ranch at Rock Creek suggested we visit Philipsburg. This, I believe, was an error. We almost immediately headed to Missoula to be early for our flight.
An employee at The Ranch at Rock Creek suggested we visit Philipsburg. This, I believe, was an error. We almost immediately headed to Missoula to be early for our flight.
This picture is only here for the loyal Colossal Waste reader. Compare this sky to the gray, cloudy sky you saw on our drive toward the ranch. Hard to believe it is the same stretch of road.
We are about to enter the section where I got overly creative with panorama effects. I apologize in advance if they make anyone carsick.
We are about to enter the section where I got overly creative with panorama effects. I apologize in advance if they make anyone carsick.
Two tilted roads, one sky.
Warped.
There were many, many more panorama experiments. Trying to match skies and roads is fun, but I am fairly certain I should keep these experiments to myself in the future.
The Missoula, Montana courthouse. Missoula is a very nice little city; home to the University of Montana and birthplace of a good friend. Obviously visiting Missoula on a clear, warm day is about the best way to encounter it.
We stopped in at Five Guys burgers. This is clearly the most diametrically opposed meal from those served to us on The Ranch that we could have eaten.
Any establishment that offers free peanuts while you wait is, in fact, awesome.
To paraphrase the theme song from Team America, "America! (Heck) Yeah!"
The pedestrian bridge to Jacobs Island Park, over the Clark Fork River.
Likely still muddy due to the recent rains.
The Missoula International Airport. Not a beehive of activity. The "International" has got to be due to some flights to nearby Canada.
Our ride to Seattle.
Barbie booked us through Seattle and planned a three hour layover. Because we are carry-on only people, it was extra easy to hop of the plane and walk to the curb where Josh & Alexis were waiting to eat a meal with us. Josh & Alexis move to Austin, Texas in a week. This was literally our last chance to ever see them in Seattle, and it worked out. How cool is that?
No pictures of Josh & Alexis, as I rarely put people on The Waste. Though I wonder why. Maybe it is time to start making this about people, too?
No pictures of Josh & Alexis, as I rarely put people on The Waste. Though I wonder why. Maybe it is time to start making this about people, too?
But I will share my dinner, BJ's Giant Baked Potato with Chicken, Broccoli Cheese & Alfredo.
And the Pizzookie.
Seattle Tacoma Airport, doing the public art thing.
One of those cool "window to the train tunnel" train cars.
An airport bathroom stall is the ideal forum for intelligent political debate.
Okay, so maybe I went on a bit much about Slingbox this trip. I know that we are very late to the Slingbox party, and that most people either have it and love it or have never heard of it and do not care to know. But let me add this. Our flight from Seattle to Los Angeles offered free WiFi. Barbie logged into the WiFi and launched Slingbox on her laptop.
Okay, so maybe I went on a bit much about Slingbox this trip. I know that we are very late to the Slingbox party, and that most people either have it and love it or have never heard of it and do not care to know. But let me add this. Our flight from Seattle to Los Angeles offered free WiFi. Barbie logged into the WiFi and launched Slingbox on her laptop.
We are on an airplane, 30,000+ feet in the air, with the cable box in our bedroom in front of our eyes on a laptop. Do not deny me this. This is huge.
The oldest parts of LAX are the most futuristic.
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