American Independence Day

Our Fireworks

A brown bear we saw on our way home

Our friends cabin

I spent Independence weekend with my close friends off the grid enjoying the smells and sounds of the Helena National Forest. My friend Albert, who lives above Marrysville, MT invited Michele and I up for the weekend, and we gladly accepted.

We left Great Falls after work Friday night and after stopping by Michele's house in Helena so she could feed the dog, water her plants and grab a an overnight bag we made it to Albert's around 9:30PM. Zack, Albert's German short hair dog greeted us at the door just in front of Albert. After a brief greeting we made our way into the sun room and saw the coffee table armed to the teeth, and though maybe it had a beef with the end tables. after a few hours of catching up on things we called it a a night and crashed.

I awoke Saturday to the fresh smell of moist pine coming it the guestroom window and Zoey, Albert's cat prancing around the bed. I crept down stairs and let Zack out and walked to a chair on the deck, sat down and enjoyed the morning sound of the wind in tress and and the birds in the sky. A while later Michele and Albert made it downstairs and I went inside to join them. After some morning conversation Albert made us breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, thick cut bacon, toast, hash browns, and orange juice with some good pulp in it.

after breakfast we just lounged around, Michele reading a book, Albert and I were chatting about a bunch of different topics. Some time later (never keep track of time here) we all got together and borrowed the guns from the coffee table and spend the afternoon and early evening shooting.

Michele hadn't shot a lot of guns, so we let her shoot about everyone that was present. Surprisingly she did very well, and enjoyed herself, We may have to get her either a 9mm Glock, or Sig. She thought the 357, .40S&W, and the .45ACP was a bit much. she did like the WaltherPPK .380 a bit.

After the shooting was done for the day, Albert made Steak, Baked Potatoes, and salad for dinner. We enjoyed the dinner very much, then afterwards we retired to the sun room and watched "Burn After Reading". what an interesting movie. About 12:30AM we decided it was time for bed.

Sunday morning I slept in til about 9:00AM. Again, I went out and sat on the deck and enjoyed the sounds, smells and a cool morning breeze. I soon hear the sounds of movements in the sun room and went in and greeted Michele and Albert. After the morning chit-chat I played fetch with Zack, while Michele read a book and Albert fixed a noon time breakfast. We had eggs, sausage, has browns, toast, and orange juice. I also opted for a can of Mountain Dew for my caffeine mix.

I decided to walk off my breakfast with a walk in woods. Michele opted for a comfy chair, sunshine, and her book. Albert was checking his emails.

Returning to the cabin after my hike, Michele and I helped Albert load the old batteries he had for his house power into his truck so he could dispose of them. They weighted around 130lbs each, and there were 8 of them. They got pretty heavy after the first two. Albert strapped them down and we returned to the cabin for a relaxing afternoon lounging around. We ended up shooting a .22 rifle for a couple hours. It was the first time Michele has ever shot a rifle, and again, she was damn good at it.

A few hours later it started to rain so we moved inside and played 6 games of YATZEE. It seemed to be Michele's weekend because she won 5 out of 6 games with Albert wining one. Yes, that means I didn't. It's OK, I don't care, it's just fun.

Decided after the Yatzee games we better make dinner and then back up and head for home. We finished up the steak, and had an artichoke with it. It was the first time Michele and I had eaten half any. It had kind of a nutty taste, and was good.

We cleaned up dinner and began packing the truck for the return home. Once packed , we thanked Albert for inviting us and said we have to do it again soon. he agreed.

We headed out the 1894 wagon rail road back to civilization.

As we were driving the road I spotted a brown bear and had Michele stop while I got a dark, grainy picture. He was a cute one, but as I opened the door to get a better shot, he ran off.

it was a great ending to our weekend