Day Six: Wyoming and Montana
Today was mostly a driving day, but we did stop briefly at the Little Bighorn Battlefield, where we wandered around a bit, and Jim busted out an old-timey picture-taking contraption that he claimed was a camcorder.
We spent the rest of the day making our way to the Stonehouse Inn in Virginia City, where we met up with Henry Larrabee’s great-granddaughter, Joetta, and her husband, Bob. Although it’s a tiny town, we somehow managed to get lost when we turned up one of the many dirt streets and failed to realize it actually went to the left and not up the hill. There was no way we really could have known this since it wasn’t marked, but who am I to say it should have had a sign? I, too, am from a town with dirt streets, and only one of them is marked with its name spelled correctly.
Our host, a former heavy equipment mechanic, sheep shearer, and cowboy named John, helped us get settled in our rooms upstairs. I got a pink room with a balcony and a giant stuffed bunny on the bed (hooray for me!). Jim had first option on it, but for some reason he passed. Since this is still the slow season for John and his wife, Linda, they let us spread out all our stuff in the dining room, and while Jim, Joetta, and Bob dove into the research, I filmed everything with my new camera. John and Linda were a tremendous help since they’re both knowledgeable about the area and involved with the local museum in town. After an hour or so of work, we all drove to a restaurant a few miles away. The community kids were putting on a fundraiser dinner for their FCCLA group. We were happy to support them, but I have to admit I felt a little despondent over the idea of consuming yet another steak. I’ve probably eaten the equivalent of the back half of a small steer since we left California last week.
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