The Farmer in the Dell and the Boys in the Market

We went to the Farmer's Market, which wasn't much more than a couple of vendors selling some fabulous zucchini, potatoes and a couple of handicrafts. One of the crafts worth mentioning from the Deer Lodge Farmer's Market were these really cool bags. We were told by the vendor and then later by the boys themselves, that the boys made them. Their secret, even though they freely offered, will be kept safe with us.

The bags are wonderful, what a neat way to present something to a loved one. They are at once creative expositions for what can be done with a piece of scrap material and a plain paper bag on a lonely street in Deer Lodge Montana. It'll keep them ON the streets.....in a good way.

I will always remember the man who told us "I hope your truck doesn't get fixed too soon, so you get to stay a while here in Deer Lodge." Well, the time spent here so far has been pretty good, save for one probably racist waitress. But let's not spoil the time we had here with bad feelings. You know she had bad feelings for us, but I feel that in this case, just because she doesn't like us, wasn't reason for us to dislike her. Why give her reasoning credibility?

Buy her a bag and keep them boys on the street. So if you're ever in Deer Lodge, MT on a Sunday Morning, head on over to the Farmer's Market on Main Street. You can't miss it, it's the only place you'll find a bunch of boys sittin on the street...in a good way.

Improvise, adapt, overcome

"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people."

Well-said by George Bernard Shaw. (And is that why we say his middle name every time we say his name?)

Another topic another time. For now, lets look at the picture attached to this post. During our recent stay in Deer Lodge, MT during which our broken alternator was replaced, we discovered much to our dismay that there was no coffee maker in the room and no coffee shop open on this Sunday. Ah, well, in the spirit of Recon Platoon (see link attached to the title of this post), we improvised, adapted and ultimately overcome the coffee dilema.

Safeway had the water, (no telling what you will find in water in a mining state) the coffee and tea mugs, the sugar packets, the coffee and the cup strainer. Our somewhat sparse room had the microwave and the T.V. to while away the time.

If you too become stranded without proper caffination, this will do:

Get the one cup strainer. Buy a favorite coffee and grind it in store at perc level so that the grounds don't fall through the strainer. Buy some water so you're not stuck drinking what people 50 years ago mined up from the depths of earth. You insert the grounds in the strainer which has a lip to keep it on top of the cup. You microwave the water in a second mug. Once you get it nice and hot, you pour it through the strainer resting on top of the second cup. Voila!

Ahhhhh.........caffeine she murmurs..........and the truck waits......and we have become "unreasonable."

Bill's Automotive in Deer Lodge

I have to hand it to Deer Lodge, Montana. If you're going to get stuck with car trouble, they provide you with a world-class garage for fixing your vehicle. We made a promise to ourselves that we would put this out there for everybody to see, so that Bill's Auto Repair would prosper from all the help they've provided to us. So if you're ever stuck in Deer Lodge, MT, about 44 miles west of Butte, head on over to Bill's Auto Repair. We did, and by sheer luck, he helped us get from the highway gas station over to his shop and then found an alternator on Sunday Morning and fixed it up for us. We'll never forget the hospitality offered from Bill and all the friendly people who waived at us from their yards as we walked around town. Everybody seemed genuinely friendly. The hotel, the downtowner, is ok, not super accommodations, but it did the job. Just bring your own coffee maker because we had to improvise. Deer Lodge, you also should know that Sunday is a good day to drink coffee but if you're not from here, you need the local coffee/espresso/bakery to be open for you...just a thought.