July 3, 2008 Thursday - Ennis, Montana
We had a lovely ride this morning through Bozeman, Montana and into Ennis. Our GPS directed us right through the downtown area (luckily the lanes were wide!) which gave us a nice view of the older, refurbished western town. At one point I asked Bruce if there was a college in town. Some towns have a certain feel about them and this place had that feeling. The streets were lined with funky coffee shops, café’s and boutiques…fun atmosphere for progressive minded people who are mindful of life.
Our road out of Bozeman followed the curves of the Madison River. Floating rafts and drift boats full of thrill seekers and hopeful fishermen meandered down the River. Clarity was again an issue with silt and murky conditions due to winter weather obvious. The terrain reminded us of eastern Oregon along the Deschutes River… grasslands with rocky out-croppings.
Approaching Ennis we were surprised by the rather steep and abrupt “Norris Hill.” Towing this trailer was easy, but definitely SLOW moving! I’m not looking forward to our return trip and facing that hill again!
After settling into our camp spot we took off to get our bearings of the community and locate where my friend Ann Burdett-Leonard and her husband Larry's cabin was.
The town itself is a mere two blocks long with mostly café’s, bars and real estate offices. Two banks seemed to balance two sides of the street and a fly fishing store seemed to keep things “in line!” There was one grocery store, a couple of gas stations and shops to supply the ranchers with their needs.
The town was making last minute preparations for the 4th of July festivities. Preliminary rodeo events in the evening fine tuned the competition for the next day.
We had a lovely ride this morning through Bozeman, Montana and into Ennis. Our GPS directed us right through the downtown area (luckily the lanes were wide!) which gave us a nice view of the older, refurbished western town. At one point I asked Bruce if there was a college in town. Some towns have a certain feel about them and this place had that feeling. The streets were lined with funky coffee shops, café’s and boutiques…fun atmosphere for progressive minded people who are mindful of life.
Our road out of Bozeman followed the curves of the Madison River. Floating rafts and drift boats full of thrill seekers and hopeful fishermen meandered down the River. Clarity was again an issue with silt and murky conditions due to winter weather obvious. The terrain reminded us of eastern Oregon along the Deschutes River… grasslands with rocky out-croppings.
Approaching Ennis we were surprised by the rather steep and abrupt “Norris Hill.” Towing this trailer was easy, but definitely SLOW moving! I’m not looking forward to our return trip and facing that hill again!
After settling into our camp spot we took off to get our bearings of the community and locate where my friend Ann Burdett-Leonard and her husband Larry's cabin was.
The town itself is a mere two blocks long with mostly café’s, bars and real estate offices. Two banks seemed to balance two sides of the street and a fly fishing store seemed to keep things “in line!” There was one grocery store, a couple of gas stations and shops to supply the ranchers with their needs.
The town was making last minute preparations for the 4th of July festivities. Preliminary rodeo events in the evening fine tuned the competition for the next day.
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