One Last Look at Dillon

I have just recently been thinking about Montana.  Okay, I am ALWAYS thinking about Montana.  After all, Montana is our home, and has been for the last 12+ years.  And even though we travel all across the country, there is no place quite like home.

I finish my travel assignment in Ventura, CA in two weeks.  So during the past weeks I've had to decide if I should stay (in California) or go (back up to Montana or Idaho).  And let me tell you that the choice was a tough one.  Even though it's still winter in Montana, it seems I just can't get enough of the clear, blue streams and the vast wilderness that I claim as my back yard.

It made me take another long look at Montana, and in doing so, I came across a few photos from our time in Dillon, MT.   We were in Dillon for six months last year and had a great time, but we were so busy that I didn't have much time to blog.  So I thought  that Dillon, Montana deserved at least one last blog...

Bob and Pam Meyerson hosted us at the Dillon KOA for the season and were wonderful hosts.  The KOA was paradise for the pups and about a million birds.  We saw waxwings and tanagers, osprey and nighthawks, humming birds and gold finches.  You just name it.  And with the Beaverhead river running through it, was a great way to melt away the stress of the day fly fishing after getting home from work.

Dillon, Montana is a rural town in the southwestern part of the state.  It sits at a mile high and can get snow any month of the year.  Spring was a long time coming, but gave way to a beautiful summer and fall.  We stayed until the snow began to fall at the upper elevations of the Pioneer mountains, then bid farewell to the ranch town and flew south with the geese.  Our time there went by so fast that it felt almost like a dream.

Maybe that's why I still think so much about it!

And here are some photos to show you what you missed when we were in Montana.  Around Dillon!

Here's to a New Year!

Well 2011 has come and gone and we survived.   It has been a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs, but we have come through it and are looking forward to an awesome 2012!

January 1, 2011.  Our crazy friend (and wonderful partner in crime), Nadia, bid on an old, dilapidated hotel in De Borgia, MT.  We "won" the auction and became proud, new owners of what we hope will be an ultra cool ski lodge.

February 20.  I just about died while running the Austin Marathon on a relentlessly hilly course and in the heat and humidity.  The nightmares are now beginning to fade...

April 8.  We arrived back in Montana and instantly feel like we're home.  We spent the next six months living in Dillon, exploring old ghost towns and driving 4+ hours several weekends to work on the Hotel Albert.  The time flew and we got the roof repaired before the fall.  Many thanks to all our friends who came out to help!

September 2.   I put my best friend Riley down.  The 11+ year old rescue gave us lots of love and we gave him a great life.  It was possibly the hardest thing I've EVER had to do.

October 13.  I arrived in California, excited to begin a three month assignment in Ventura, CA, live on the beach and enjoy a little R&R after a busy summer.  Susan and the two dogs welcomed the fall to Montana before coming down three weeks later.  Susan and her brother Tom got to spend 5 days with family friends down in Charleston, SC for a wedding.   I rode my bike or the bus to and from work and started talking to myself.

November 18.  We drove up to Cambria to visit our friends Natalie and Mike.  I raced my only cyclocross race for the season (didn't finish last) and we had a great time catching up on ten years or so.  Thanks you guys!

Thanksgiving.   Susan out did herself (again) by creating a feast fit for a king.  Even though it was only two of us (plus two hungry canines), she held nothing back and I realized just how truly blessed we all were.

The past two weeks.   We moved inland ten miles from the beach for some peace and quiet.    Ventura Oaks, our current home, has been a good move for us, though the morning frost has been hard on these old bones as I head out on my morning bike ride to work.   Brrr!   It seems as I have lost my edge and that this California weather has begun to rub off on me!

So looking back, 2011 was a year full of good and not so good.  One thing I can say is that it was busy.  Sorry for the lack of blogging, but with this new year comes a new adventure and a continuation of unfinished business from last year...just begging to be written about!

Here's to a brand new year!