Days 15 & 16 - In and around Missoula

Saturday was the first day of the trip where I didn't set an alarm for the morning. It was nice to just wake up whenever, and have a morning of just lounging around drinking coffee with no real agenda for the day. Late in the morning, I decided that even though I wasn't feeling that great, I should get outside for a bit. The rain had cleared out, and the sun was shining, so I decided to take a walk downtown. Downtown Missoula has a bunch of neat shops, restaurants, bars and breweries... and a bunch of coffee shops... a BUNCH. Almost pacific northwest numbers. 

Kate had told me that I needed to find the squashed cat sculpture while I was here. I wasn't too sure where in Missoula it was, so just as I pulled out my phone to see where it was, I just about walked right into it!

From Roadside America - "Officially named "Cattin' Around," the big feline was sculpted in 1992 by Mike Hollern. Seven feet high, 18 feet long, made of 1.5 tons of concrete; its concave back serves as a birdbath. Critics say the cat looks as if it's been run over by a truck, hence its adopted name." It is no where near 7 feet high, maybe 4 - guessing they meant 7 feet wide?

I made my way down to the riverfront, as I was told I needed to watch people surfing Brennan's Wave on the river - there was nobody in the river that day, but this is what they are talking about: Surfing Brennan's Wave.

I walked down the riverfront for a bit and stopped into Imagine Nation brewing. It was very slow for a Saturday afternoon, so I had a chance to talk to the bartender quite a bit about the brewery and their commitment to the community of Missoula. Great beer and a great place. Check out what they are doing here - Imagine Nation Brewing

I still wasn't feeling that great, so I went back to the AirBnB to just relax. I napped off and on, before just deciding to call it a night.

The next day I thought I would get out of Missoula to see if I could get into a better mood. Being stuck here not able to continue the trip and not being able to do anything about it was really starting to get to me. Nothing against Missoula, but I am really ready to be out of here.

One of the places Kate had found that looked neat was the Old Montana Prison in Deer Lodge, MT. This was about an hour drive away, so I decided to check it out. The sun was shining again, and it was a really nice drive through the mountains to get to Deer Lodge.

The prison is a self guided tour, which I like as you can spend as much or as little time as you like. They give you a printed tour guide and just let you wander around at your own pace. 

I thought it was nice of them to give Corporal Klinger a job operating the prison switchboard when he got back from Korea.

This is one dentists' office that I certainly wouldn't want to visit!

Not a bad view from the prison yard (those mountains didn't have snow on Thursday)

There wasn't a whole lot of printed material (other than the paper guide they give you) so there was no explanation for this super creepy sculpture sitting in one of the solitary confinement cells - I have no idea what the hell this thing is or is supposed to be, but I am sure I'll be seeing it for the next few nights in my dreams.

The main cell block looked a lot like the main cell block at Alcatraz

Even in Montana, I can't seem to get away from work:

Attached to the Prison museum, there is also an auto museum (no idea what the connection was). They had a really nice collection of all kinds of different cars from the 1900's to the 1980's. They had one of the nicest collections of mid-50's Chevrolet Bel Airs that I have ever seen.

Just outside of the auto museum, there were two locomotives and a GIANT railroad spike. This was a monument to commemorate the last spike driven to connect the Puget Extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. This final extension connected Chicago and Seattle by rail in 1909

As I was leaving Deer Lodge, I made a quick stop at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site. This is a HUGE cattle ranch that has been in operation since 1862. The photo below in no way represents the size of the ranch - there were many more buildings on the complex. This one just had the best view.

This rail line took cattle to Chicago for slaughter. I am facing west (toward Seattle) here... maybe I should just walk?

I left the ranch and drove back to Missoula. I stopped by Kettle House Brewing on the way back to try another brewery. It was a really neat space, but didn't like their beer as much as Imagine Nation. I did finally figure out why every time I go to a taproom in Montana they give me a little slip of paper when they give me my beer - the second photo below will explain.

No wonder there are so many breweries here! You can only have three pints at each one! I think you can have three pints and then get a growler to go. Everyone in here had a pint in front of them and also had an empty growler.

Not a bad day.