Epic Summer Road Trip 2019 (Day 50 - 53): Montana & Homeward Bound Part I

Without saying "hello" or "goodbye" to Yellowstone NP, we started our journey after enjoying blueberry pancakes and some hash browns which had been small potatoes from the meal the previous night.  The plan that day was to travel out to a little town just south of Missoula, Montana called Lolo to visit our friends Charity and Patrick Parenzin who had moved out there the previous year or so from Seattle.

We drove on I-90 for our first extended trip using that road as we had previously stuck to back highways which had made the route more scenic and quiet.  You can still usually drive about 70 mph on the back roads which keeps your pace moving along, but you usually don't have the luxury of cell service or regular gas stations which could put you in a pickle if you happen to have a problem.  As long as you plan ahead, my recommendation is to take back roads.  Being able to drive through some of these small, rural towns along with seeing indigenous wildlife gives you a better sense of what life is like out in the country.  We slowly drove by a herd of cattle that had gotten out of their fence and watched the ranchers drive quads (ATVs) to round them up.  Modern day cowboys.  That is something you won't see while driving on an interstate.  

Downtown Philipsburg

At Rt 1 near Anaconda, MT we hopped off the interstate and listened to the radio (I couldn't use Pandora anymore as I had used up my T-Mobile roaming data) when the DJ started advertising for a band which would be playing in a historic theatre in town.  I think it was a radio station from Butte so it was pretty cool to hear about an event that was taking place in the small town we were currently driving through!  The reason why we hopped off the freeway was to visit an old Starbucks co-worker of mine, Gina Vale, who lives in Philipsburg.  Gina reached out to me via Facebook when I was planning the trip and gave me a bunch of recommendations to see as I drove through Montana.  We unsuccessfully tried to drive to a place called Ringing Rocks outside of Whitewall, MT under Gina's direction, but it was too rough to drive for us dragging a camper.  Apparently, you can knock on different rocks and they emit unique sounds depending on which rock you strike.  I'm bummed we missed out.

Having fun at the Law Enforcement Museum

Now, Gina has lived quite an eventful life since leaving Starbucks in 2008.  Her and her then-boyfriend stumbled upon Philipsburg on a road trip and completely fell in love with the town.  When Starbucks went through a round of layoffs in 2008, she was already planning on moving out to P-burg and so she volunteered to be laid off in order to save another co-worker's job.  Starbucks gave her  a decent severance package which allowed her to move out there and take a year off before eventually looking for a job.  She and her boyfriend-soon-to-be-husband purchased a house for only TENS of thousands of dollars and settled in as locals.  Unfortunately, Gina's husband passed away a few years ago, but she was able to find solace and community by working at the local brewery.  The beer didn't necessarily bring her therapy, but the human connection with patrons and staff certainly did and she was able to get through some rough times.  I'm not quite sure when, but Gina inherited some land from her uncle in Minnesota which she really had no interest in keeping so she sold it and bought a large parcel outside of P-burg which included a cabin with no utilities, an old saloon (not in use), and an ENTIRE GHOST TOWN!  Yes, Gina owns a ghost town.  

About four years ago, all of the staff at the local library quit after the mayor started asking questions about improvements to the library so the town was left without a librarian.  Gina decided to step up and is now the town librarian.  The library recently received a HUGE grant from a local resident so Gina is currently in the process of expanding the building and the library facilities.  It is a match made in heaven since Gina was a buyer at Starbucks in the Store Development department and has extensive knowledge of building construction and design.  If you're ever in Philipsburg, MT make sure to visit the library and give the librarian a hug from me.

Mining for Sapphires

Now, Philipsburg is quite an intriguing place.  This western town is a bustling hub as the county seat with every storefront being used and heavy traffic from tourists and locals.  With all due respect, it shouldn't be very prosperous since the main industries are ranching, tourism, and a little bit of mining.  Most of the mines dried up at the turn of the 20th century and P-burg could easily be a ghost town today if not for a few stubborn locals.  The local music festival sold nearly 5000 tickets!  The town has a very famous candy shop, a cool sapphire you-mine store, and, of course, a town library.  We enjoyed local BBQ and Gina gave us a tour around town where she's referred to as the "library lady".
Gina took us to the local sapphire mining shop where we were greeted by the 13 year old running the place let us mine for sapphires by sifting through rocks.  He showed us the technique and we used tweezers to pull out little sapphire stones.  This boy only has 7 kids in his 8th grade class and all of them are boys.  There used to be two girls, but they both moved.  I'm pretty sure I know why.  Two of the sapphires we pulled out were large enough that they could actually be baked and cut if we so desired.  The candy store was closed that day, but it really didn't matter.  Philipsburg is truly is a gem of a town - pun intended.   

Off to Lolo, MT!