Holiday Gifts from MT

Yesterday I started my Christmas shopping. This may seem some what late to people but I've never been an early shopper. And I'm not trying to buy anything crazy like a nintendo wii or anything that a store could run out of so I'm generally ok shopping just two weeks before Christmas. And I'll even shop a week before when I attempt to finish my shopping next weekend. I had to get the majority out of the way this weekend though because the deadline to mail anything and have it arrive in time for x-mas is Wednesday the 15th. Anyways...I don't know about anyone else but coming up with gift ideas for people is not my strong suit. So I decided this year to take advantage of living in Montana. My gifts for people all have a Montana theme. Now I obviously can't say what I got for everyone but there's actually a lot of things that would fall under this theme. Huckleberries and Flathead cherries are two berries that are very prominent in the area and I've learned you can get just about anything with these flavors. Chocolate bars, taffy, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, jam, syrup, jelly beans, lemonade and more. There's also packaged meat for people who aren't from around here and don't normally hunt these animals and eat them you can give a gift of elk or bison sausage, jerky, and more.

Leaving the food realm there's a whole world of copper products. Butte is a mining town and it boomed because of copper so naturally you can get anything you want in copper. Pots and pans, watches, mugs, dishes, ornaments, vases and again...more. There's also several items that you can get with a moose, bear, or buffalo picture on it and boom...it's Montana themed! It's great. Something else I saw yesterday...moose slippers that make noise. I don't know what noise cause I didn't explore that but they look like moose feet or paws or whatever you call them on a moose. (I guess I haven't spent enough time here yet to bother to figure out the anatomical terms for these animals) There was also a really cute onesie for a baby that made me sad I don't know any babies. It had a picture of two ducks and a moose and read, "duck, duck, moose" Super cute and Montana themed! For the guys there were also some boxers features moose and bears. One had them all sitting with their backs turned holding fishing poles and it said, "Nothin butt fishin." Fishing is also big in Montana so that gift would be ultra Montana with the animals and the fishing. Obviously for someone who lives here they probably wouldn't be as entertained by these gifts as I am. I'm so entertained I bought myself something. A shot glass that says Montana and has a little black bear hanging off the side. I will also probably buy myself a stuffed moose before I leave this state. Let me know if you'd like one too.

Distracted Driving

Yesterday I completed my fourth round of driving too and from Bismark, ND. Google maps and map quest will tell you from my door to my boyfriends is just under 10 hours. I won't share how much time it takes me. But anyways I know several states and cities have banned texting while driving and during my drive to Bismarck on Thursday and my drive back to Butte yesterday I started thinking of things that are just way more distracting than texting. Don't get me wrong texting while driving is still not a stellar idea but there's some other un-stellar ideas out there that there's no way they could ever be banned because it would be ridiculous. Well when I got back to work today one of my story assignments ironically was to do a preview story on an item going before the local Judiciary Committee tomorrow night, A proposed ban on all handheld electronic devices while driving. Now, whatever happens, happens. I'm cool with getting blue tooth but still thought I'd share my ridiculous list of other distracted driving activities that came up solely from my recent 18ish hours spent in my Rav4.

1. Blowing your nose and driving. I've been fighting a cold for over a week now (I'm scared of taking sick days) so of course I had this cold while driving across the Treasure state and inevitably had to blow my nose. Gross I know but hear me out. This takes two hands. If you can do this with one hand congrats but I discovered that I cannot. And I don't know how to drive with my knees so I was trying to steer with my elbows while clearing the mucus from my nose. Not safe.
2. Trying to retrieve a GPS that has fallen off its window mount thing. Also not safe. This requires some feeling around below your seat with hands and feet but you can't just let it sit there because you haven't hit the mute button yet and that voice is soooo annoying. No way can you continue to listen to that for hours.
3. Trying to find a song you want to listen to on your ipod. Texting I can do without looking. This not so much. I need to see what artist or song my ipod currently has selected. I've done this long drive a few times now and I get sick of listening to the same stuff I've got to mix it up. And ipods can hold some random stuff so if you just randomly hit buttons you end up with Britney Spears' first album "Baby one more time"
4. Trying to open a bottle with a twist top. Again, I'm sure some people can do this one handed but I just don't work out my hands ever. My technique is to position the bottle between my legs to hold it and twist off with a hand that way I don't need my other hand to hold the bottle and it can do its job on the steering wheel.
5. Taking pictures. Of course not safe but North Dakota if you are going to put massive structures along your highways like the world's largest cow you are just asking for people to take pictures while driving. How can you pass up such a photo op?
6. Buffalo. Ok this is not an activity but living in Montana for a year AND visiting Yellowstone National Park I had yet to see a Buffalo. Then driving through North Dakota yesterday I'm zipping along at speeds that are not legal on the east coast and I see a strange animal on the side of the road. Immediately my head whips around because I'm thinking "OMG that was a buffalo!" Clearly the buffalo had my attention and not the road. Then I start feverishly looking for more because obviously I need a picture of a buffalo. Sadly, I did not see anymore. Unless you've seen a million buffalo in your life how can you seriously just casually drive past one and not be distracted?
7. Social Media. With these smart phones you can check your twitter and facebook all you want. And what else am I supposed to do on a super long drive with hours of no radio and an ipod so old it dies after 20 minutes and can hold about 30 songs so I'm obviously sick of those. Especially when I do find some AM station that is pumping out Canadian news over the radio and the wiki leaks story hooks me in. Suddenly I need to get on my twitter and CNN.com to get more of the scoop.
8. Listening to stupid people on talk radio. Yes, I can keep both hands on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road. But sometimes someone is so stupid that you just throw your hands up in a "WHAT?!" Seriously, who buys a stainless steel necklace for $150 on black Friday. How on Earth did you think that was a good idea. And mom of the 15 year old who did that, WHY does your daughter have a credit card that is linked to your bank account?????
9. Getting a craving. I was desperately hoping to pass a Taco John's. Yes, east coasters that is really the name of a fast food Mexican place out here. And no, I was not craving Mexican as my boyfriend thought when I first told him. I wanted some tater tots. Now you're confused right. Well at Taco John's instead of giving you a side of tortilla chips or even doritos like Taco Bell commercials claim they do you get a side of potato ole's. This are tater tots that Taco John's has tried to make sound Mexican by adding the word "ole" after potato. Pretty hilarious. Anyways I was not passing any signs that told me there was a Taco John's nearby and I was pretty disappointed. I considered whipping out the Blackberry and doing a google search for the nearest one. However, I did not do this activity but I highly thought about it and that would definitely be distracted driving. Looking back I probably should have because what I ended up eating was a poor decision.
10. Which brings me to my next distracted driving item. Chicken Nuggets. I have three towns I always stop in on this long drive to get gas and use the little girls room. So at my next stop there was no Taco John's all there is is the gas station and a McDonalds. At the time I decided what the heck I haven't had it in a while and I'm hungry. I chose Chicken Nuggets for nostalgia reasons. I used to love these things as a child. With sweet and sour sauce is how I always ate them. And hey they would come with fries. So although I wouldn't get my potato ole's I would get some potato. First off, I know find chicken nuggets gross. What was little Melanie thinking? But anyways eating them is not a good idea while driving. I had my dipping sauce in one hand and nugget in the other and about a pinky finger on the steering wheel. Not ok at all but you can't make a law banning nugget eating and driving. I guess you could but it sounds ridiculous and Mcdonalds would probably do all it could to stop it, and win. While this is dangerous, it is also messy. Number 11...
11. Opening your water bottle to pour water onto a napkin to wipe sticky sweet and sour sauce off your steering wheel. You could insert any sticky substance here and it would be the same. Because you can't just wipe it off with a napkin, it would still be sticky. You've got to get the water involved.

I think the remainder of my drive after that was pretty free of strange distracted driving occurrences. But of course there are a ton more out there. Feel free to share. And to my parents just take a deep breath. I got home safely despite those Mcnuggets best efforts.

Montana and Pennsylvania are Different

The title of this blog is not exactly shocking, I know this. And no, this will not be a blog about large mountains, cowboys, or snow all year round (even though it is currently snowing here) This is going to be about laws. May not sound like a super interesting topic but stay with me for you East Coasters just wait til you hear what is legal in Montana. For Montanans you'll probably just think the East Coast is super strict. Now I have to warn you that I have not spent hours doing research for this blog and I am going strictly off what I have heard people say so anything could be wrong but at least I warned you.

It all started last week with a story assignment for work. A regional DUI task force meeting was being held in Butte. It was an all day long meeting so my news director took a peek at the agenda to see which topic would be the most interesting. He decided on the discussion about a social host ordinance. I then learned that nowhere in Montana currently has any social host laws. In case you don't know this pretty much makes the host responsible if they have a party and serve people alcohol. So if someone drinks alcohol at your house that you gave them then causes mayhem or harms someone else you could be responsible. Also, if parents give their kids and their friends alcohol the parents get in trouble. This as of right now does not exist in Montana. In fact at the meeting the presenter told the audience that it is LEGAL in Montana for parents to serve their children (under 21) alcohol "up to an intoxicating level." In court she said that level is argued as a .05. My reaction in my head was WHAT?!!! I'm pretty sure that is not legal in Pennsylvania. I'm also pretty sure PA does have a social host ordinance because my parents would never let my friends come over and drink alcohol when other peoples parents would. I distinctly remember them telling me they could lose their house for that. Unless my parents were just making up lies. So some teenagers here in Montana are now trying to get a bill through the state legislature that would allow county's to enact social host ordinances. The teens claim that it's very easy to just get alcohol from parents.

Also, another thing I learned at that meeting that is completely unrelated to drinking but was brought up somehow. The presenter was talking about a law that was recently passed that now makes it illegal for children to sit in the back of a pick up truck while the truck is in motion. Ok that's nice and safe and all but I've been told since I was less that 3 feet tall that it is illegal for ANYONE no matter their age to sit in the back of a pick up truck while it's in motion. Now again I have no idea if this is indeed the law or just what people told me growing up but if it is again it is different from Montana.

And I believe I have stated this one before but Butte has no open container law. You may walk around the streets of this town imbibing freely. No need to panic if a cop drives by and you are on the sidewalk enjoying a cold one. However, I know plenty of people in college who would attempt to walk around with an alcoholic beverage and were cited for it because that is just not legal in Maryland or Pennsylvania. I actually have no problem with this law though because if your friends want to go to another bar and you have a full drink, there's no need to chug it just take it with you. Even if it is in a glass take that glass with you. Chances are it's not even the bars glass and some other person brought it in from a different bar on a previous night.

I will not complain about MT weather anymore

Ok so I won't complain about it at least for the next 24 hours. I did a lot of complaining in the spring and summer mainly because it was still snowing in May and while all my friends on the east coast were wearing sun dresses and flip flops on the fourth of July I was bundled up in a jacket it was so cold here. And Monday morning when my roommate knocked on my bedroom door to tell me there was snow on the ground I responded with a long, "ewwwwwwwwww." However, that was a minimal amount of snow and by noon it had all melted and there was no sign that it had ever existed. The rest of the day was bright and sunny. Same with yesterday and today is a little overcast but that's ok. It's especially ok because while watching the news this morning I learned there were tornado watches pretty much for the entire eastern seaboard. New Jersey, Delaware, Baltimore, D.C., and Atlanta all reporting tornado watches. (probably more places that I just didn't see flash across the screen.) I saw a live camera shot of Atlanta, and boy did that not look like a pretty day, the sky was green. Then when my boyfriend woke up in Bismarck, North Dakota he so kindly sent me a picture of the scene outside his window. Snow. And a lot more than the sprinkling we had here in Butte the other day. His snow was still coming down hours later along with 30 mph winds and the town had a no driving advisory. Now it is in the high 40's here in Butte today, which is a little chilly but really I just get to wear a brand new sweater and some cute boots. I don't have to hide in my basement from a tornado and my boots don't even have to get wet since there's no snow. So for today I will be happy with the weather I've got. I make no promises for tomorrow though.

I had to drive 6 hours to go shopping

A few weekends ago (I know I need to blog more consistently.) two of my friends from Butte and I took a little road trip to Salt Lake City. The city is about 6 hours from Butte so we just left Saturday morning, stayed the night, then came back on Sunday. The whole reason for the trip...sometime in the summer I mentioned I wanted to go there and they of course asked, "why?" They were thinking that Seattle would be a much cooler semi-close city to visit. I responded that I wanted to go shopping and Salt Lake City was the closest place that had a lot of stores that I used to shop at while living on the East coast. Shops that just don't exist out here. I agree I would love to go to Seattle but that is a 10 hour drive and not doable for just one night. Salt Lake City meant no need to take a vacation day for a three day weekend and I could still do my shopping.

So the idea was in their heads, but these were boys so I wasn't too optimistic the trip would happen. Then one day one of them told me he had the perfect weekend for Salt Lake City. A band he liked was playing there October 9th. So it was set I would get to do my shopping and the boys would get to see a band they were into. I had never heard of this band but I did not care. The Felice Brothers band would be the reason I would get to see an Express and Forever 21 for the first time in months.

On October 9th we began our little journey. We traveled South through Montana and Idaho until we got to Utah. I had never driven through Idaho before and I'm sure several areas of it are quite nice, however, the part we drove through was pretty desolate. Now if hay bails were people Idaho would be the most populated state in the nation. Seriously there were just stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of hay all along I-15 South through the state. Granted we did pass Idaho Falls and Pocatello and then we saw some civilization. But that was quickly gone 10 minutes out of the city limits. Oh there's also a massive Budweiser factory or something in Idaho. So Idaho has hay, Budweiser, and potatoes. Sadly, I did not get to visit the potato museum.

Once we were about 30 minutes from Salt Lake City I got very excited. There were tons of cars on the road! Another thing I have not witnessed in very long. I swear when I go back to Philly for a visit in December I'm going to be overwhelmed with all the traffic. Anyways we arrived in Salt Lake City and it was a very nice, clean city. But honestly for a big city there weren't too many people just out and about walking around. The weather was really nice too, in the 70's. But that's ok. So we put our stuff in the hotel room then went out walking around looking for a place to eat. After that we continued to just walk around the city and eventually we came to a very happy place. A large outdoor shopping complex. This is where I would then spend too much money. But I told myself it was ok since I hadn't done some serious clothes shopping since probably college. I quickly lost the boys when I saw some cute boots to look at and later fielded calls from them while in dressing rooms. But eventually we found each other again, me with large shopping bags in hand. And I did appreciate them telling me all my new clothes were cute even though I know they don't care one way or the other.

Later that night we went to see the band. They were good. I was wearing one of my new white shirts. One of my guys friends bumped into me and my drink went all down the front of my shirt. This is probably why I should have waited to wear some of my new clothes but oh well the stain came out once I got home and had time to work on it. The next morning we drove back to Butte through all the hay in Idaho. So it was a successful weekend getaway and I'm glad I got to see a little more of the West while I live out here. Now I just have to find the time to get to Seattle.

Phillies in the Newsroom

I have not blogged in over a month. Didn't realize it had been that long but makes sense since all my time is basically spent working or sleeping. But the Phillies had their first playoff game today and it was so exciting that I'll stay up an extra 20 minutes to write a blog.

So obviously everyone knows already that Halladay had a no hitter tonight...only the second in playoff history. What you don't know is what I went through to watch the last few minutes of that game.

It started at 5:07, well that is 3:07 here in Montana. There was a ground breaking for a new FedEx Freight Facility just south of Butte scheduled for 3 p.m. here today. So I already knew I'd be missing the beginning of the game but I hoped to get back and be able to turn it on in the newsroom. Well the plane the developers were arriving on was delayed. So groundbreaking did not start until closer to 3:50. I got my video and the interviews that I could while waiting. Then it was time to check the phone for score updates. One of the newspaper reporters at the scene is a Reds fan so once the Phillies were ahead it was much more fun to ask him for score updates. After the shovels hit the dirt for the ground breaking is when the Phillies were suddenly up by 4 instead of just 1. It was great.

When I got back to the station it was a little after 4:30 and I still had to put a story together for the 5:30 news so there was no way I was able to turn on that tv it was crunch time. I worked on the story as my boyfriend texted me updates. This is when I learned about the no hitter through the 7th. I had one more step to go in the story. It was done then the tv went on, without sound of course so our anchor could read through her scripts. As soon as she was on set the volume went up. Now I have a job in the control room during the show and at 5:30 (when the show starts) it was the bottom of the 8th and the Phillies were 3 outs away from winning. I then spent the next 15 minutes sprinting between the newsroom, where the game was on, and the control room to push my necessary button but still catch the end of an AMAZING game. At one point I lost a shoe mid sprint. I left it and picked it up later then took the other one off to continue my sprints barefoot. I luckily did get to see the last 3 outs before a mad dash back to the control room. I was ecstatic but held it in to do my job, then during commercial break I let everyone know what my Phillies had just done. And during this whole process my news director is in an edit bay just off the newsroom and my general manager is in the lobby watching the show. I sprinted back and forth past him many times. I'm sure he thought it was for the good of the show. Really I was just trying to watch my baseball team and feel close to Philadelphia for a few minutes but sshhhh. I'm just hoping sometime in the near future I get to watch a full game. GO PHILLIES!

Adventures

So months and months ago I mentioned the Testicle Festival in this blog so I feel I must give an update. This years festival ran from August 4th to August 8th. I had to check it out so I convinced some friends to go with. It was little over an hour drive to get there and when we did it was sadly a disappointment. It was so small we ended up driving past it and having to turn around and come back. And it didn't even look like a festival but a bunch of people camping in one place. The biggest problem...it was $17 just to get it. We decided it was NOT worth it to pay $17 to walk around a few feet of what looked like people camping. Didn't even see any testicles. Oh well. At that point we were only about 20 minutes outside of Missoula, MT so we kept driving and had a nice time walking around downtown, went to a brewery, and got some sushi. So I didn't get any testicles but I did get sushi and that's even more exciting since there's none in Butte.

The next week my boyfriend drove over from North Dakota and we went to Yellowstone National Park for a day. It was both of our first times seeing the park. We went as far as Bozeman the night before and stayed there and also got sushi. Yes, I was super excited to get sushi twice in one week after not having it since February. I'm so deprived here. Just kidding. Anyways that was great then the next morning we continued the drive to Gardiner, MT, where the North Entrance to Yellowstone is located. That town was cute. A small western town on river so it was pretty and also lots of touristy activity. There's a big gate at the entrance and everyone was stopping to get pictures. We decided to pass on that and a few feet further down the road was a "Yellowstone National Park" sign. Here we did stop to get a picture because no one else was there. But apparently we started a trend because there was quickly a line of cars behind us waiting to do the same thing.

We did a day hike up to Bunsen Peak in the park. It was nothing too grueling and there were great views the entire time. Also good news, we didn't run into any bears. We saw a few other people on their way down while we were hiking up and when we got to the top there was a group of two girls and one guy sitting on a log drinking beers. Sweet idea except for the fact that you have to carry the heavy beers a couple miles up to the top of the peak. They eventually left while I was busy snapping pictures then Joey and I were alone at the top of the peak to sit on the log, take in the panoramic views, and prop my camera up in various places to try and get pictures of the two of us. Once we hiked back down we played the role of true tourist and drove to the West Entrance of the park and a long the way stopped to take pictures. Once of some elk, just like everyone else in the park was doing. It's really quite amazing how traffic in the park just stops anytime there is wildlife visible from the road. Everyone stops and gets out with cameras in hand and starts snapping away. I'm still mad that we didn't see a buffalo though. I'm starting to think they really don't exist. Just kidding. By the time we got out of the part at West Yellowstone, MT it was about 7:30 p.m. and we still had a two and a half hour drive back to Butte so we just stopped at Subway for dinner. I've never heard so many languages in a Subway in my life. Definitely a tourist hub, which probably explains why it was also the most expensive Subway I've ever been in. They don't participate in the $5 foot long so foot longs were more like $10. Terrible but everything else about the trip was great.

Now I know this is getting long but keep reading because you're about to hear about my first time EVER camping. And when I do things for the first time I go all out. My first trip out of the U.S. I didn't go to Mexico or Canada I went to the other side of the globe to Australia. I REALLY left the country. And well for my first time camping I did it the same way...went all out. I didn't just go to a camp site where you park your car a few feet away from some other people, start a fire and there's a bathroom not too far away. Nope, I went with two friend on an 11 mile round trip hike. This means the campsite was a five and a half mile hike in and getting there meant going straight up hill. Correction: up a steep mountain. We camped at Canyon Lake so we each carried packs on our backs with our survival materials: food, water, sleeping bag, tent, warmer clothes for sleeping during the chilly night. Yes, I carried probably a 20-30 lb pack on my back for 5.5 miles up a mountain to the lake on Saturday, slept in a tent, then carried it back down the mountain for 5.5 miles on Sunday. It was quite an experience. I'm glad I did it but during the last part of getting up the mountain to the lake I was not a happy girl. I was tired. The lake was pretty though and it was completely worth it. It was fun just sitting around the camp fire hanging out and drinking straight tequila...because I was told the only way to fall asleep on the ground was to drink enough. So we had a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of tequila. I don't like whiskey haha. I also really don't like straight liquor so I was chasing with water and my freeze dried camp food after it was cooked. It was pretty funny. The two guys I was with also tried to leave for a little and come back and sneak up on me and scare me. They failed miserably, which I just found humorous. Sorry guys, next time make sure I can't see you prancing through the night. I still didn't sleep great in the tent but I did sleep, just woke up a lot. And thankfully the next day it was much easier getting down the mountain. It was a fun adventure that living in Montana was definitely something I needed to experience but boy was I happy to see my shower and bed when I got back.

Parents in Big Sky

Well my parents have now been home for almost a week since leaving Big Sky Country. They were here for the last 2 weekends in July and in the week between while I worked they went on adventures to Yellowstone National Park and Mt. Rushmore. The first weekend they spent in Butte was Evel Knievel days. This is a 3 day event filled with daredevils and stuntmen doing crazy things to honor the late daredevil. There's also lots of drinking. I had to work and cover the event so my parents tagged along for some of it and did their own thing other times. Friday night stuntman spanky spangler was jumping off the metals bank building for a stunt. So I decided my parents, roommate, and I should all go to Metals bar and grill (restaurant in the bottom of the building) for dinner. So they could see the jump of course and experience a little of the craziness. It was pretty crazy and I think my mom got her fill when she saw some girls passing a bottle of wine back and forth in the ladies room haha. Sadly we did not attend the Knievel family party on Friday night. I know some people were looking forward to those stories. Saturday they followed me to a calmer event where some Navy fighter jets were on display for the public.

Sunday I actually did not have to work so we drove to just north of Helena to do a boat tour called Gates of the Mountains. We got some really great pictures and there were some great views.

The next weekend we played Butte tourists. I guess they really were Butte tourists but I'm not haha. We went up to the Lady of the Rockies, a 90 foot statue of the Virgin Mary. A ton of Butte miners who were out of work in the 80's took years to build it and in pieces get it on top of a mountain range. She now sits there overlooking Butte. Again some great views from up there. We also saw the World Museum of Mining, The Copper King Mansion, and Berkeley Pit.

All in all some good clean fun.

Festival Frenzy

Ok, so it's been over a month since I have blogged. Ooops. Life has just been crazy. I have complained about the weather here before in this blog but now the weather is actually nice, which is why life has been crazy. I guess since Butte, MT has such a short summer they try to cram everything into those 4-6 weeks. So every weekend there is some event going on. This means I work every weekend, which isn't bad and I fully expected going into this business, just makes me tired and leaves less time to explore Montana in the summer. Oh well. So since I have last blogged the two events that were REALLY big deals were the 4th of July weekend and the National Folk Festival.

Let's start with 4th of July. This town loves it's fireworks. The sheriff told me that they used to be legal all year round so people would set them off all the time whenever they wanted. Then a few years ago the City/County Council passed an ordinance so now it's just legal for 2 weeks around Fourth of July time and New Years eve. Boy, were those 2 weeks noisy. I was warned that Uptown Butte would sound like a war zone. I've never been in a war zone so I can't compare but I'll believe it. Every night there were fireworks. One time I saw a boy about to throw one on my car. Then he turned around because his buddy said something and I quickly drove past. I would have been very angry if my Rav4 were hit with a firework. But it is a problem here. That being said July 3rd is the big fireworks show here in Butte. They do July 3rd because many many many many years ago when they first started this the company could only do it on the 3rd, they've continued the tradition ever since. And that night there were fireworks going on in every direction from residents just setting them off. Then at 10:30 p.m. when the professional show started suddenly everyone else stopped. That was kind of cool to see. And the big fireworks show was very good, have to give the city credit for that. On the actual 4th of July there was a parade. Nothing too exciting about the parade but after when I was going around interviewing people I was handed a bloody mary and told "for your hard work." Oh boy I did not know what to do with that. I also met a very nice family. I got their whole bio, met every member, and was invited to their family barbeque later in the afternoon. People are super nice here like I've said before.

The next major even that had me working all weekend was the 72nd Annual Folk Festival. This was it's 3rd and final year being held in Butte. It was a really cool event to see though. Stages set up all over the city for musical acts and tons of vendors everywhere. Several major streets were close and 160,000 people attended. For a city of about 30,000 normally it was nuts to see the streets so busy. And it's not just folk music. There was all kinds of music. I'm a little sad I didn't have more time without my camera to really enjoy it but it was still cool to experience. From one of the food vendors I tried a buffalo bratwurst. It was ok. But I also had a bite of a relatives elk sausage and I personally thought that tasted better. Those 2 foods are me being very adventurous haha. The band that ended the event on Sunday was a bank called "Super Chikan and the fighting cocks" The main guitar player/singers guitar had a chicken head on it. He also made as many chicken jokes as possible during their set. But that's ok the music was really good and after a certain point it was just humorous that he kept going with the chicken jokes and references. After all that action I was sore for a few days from carrying a camera and tripod uphill for 3 days but like I said it was fun to see the event and the city so alive.

The next really big deal event is Evel Knievel days. For those who don't know Evel Knievel is from Butte, MT. so every summer there is a 3 day festival in his honor here. It brings lots of motorcycles, daredevils, crazy stunts, and drunk people. Or so I'm told. It all kicks off tomorrow. I'll be out there with my camera catching the action and I'm sure I'll have more to blog about after the event. My parents are also coming in to town for a visit this weekend while this drunken, rowdy, motorcycle fest is happening so I'm predicting the next blog post will definitely have some humor.

Roadtrip to Bismarck

I really never thought I would see the state of North Dakota so early on in my life. I love to travel and want to see every state and every country that I possibly can but North Dakota was never at the top of my list to get to first, even when I moved to Montana it was still 7 hours away and what’s there? So I thought I still wouldn’t head out that way. But then my boyfriend moved there and North Dakota became number one on my list. I was able to leave work around 1 p.m. last Friday and started the over 9 hour drive to Bismarck, ND. Going through Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota there is not much to see. Lots of pretty scenery to look at sure but very few signs of civilization. There’s also not a gas station or rest stop every few miles so you really need to plan when you are going to stop in advance so you be sure you can make it there. Anyways, as I drove East I also left the mountains, which was good for my car. My poor, poor, 1998, 4 cylinder, Rav 4. It did such a good job on the drive and I’m very proud of it but trying to get through mountains that things sounds like it is very mad at you. So I was happy to be traveling to flatter lands that would make my car happy.

I took several pictures of the landscape as I drove on. I mean you have to entertain yourself somehow on that long of drive by yourself. And I also took pictures of things I found strange or interesting. One was a dinosaur head sticking out of a building but sadly since I was in a moving vehicle when I snapped the picture a tree happened to be covering up the dinosaur head. Other than that there was the sign for “Bad Route Road.” Seriously? Who named that? And do people actually travel on it because to me I think I would avoid anything called that. There was also a sign for “Home on the Range” and looking off to my left at that moment there were some hills that had “Home on the Range” written on them. The sign for the exit said “No Services” So I’m not sure what goes on at Home on the Range, you can’t even get gas or pee there so I’m thinking it’s just some hills for people to take pictures of. North Dakota, as I have learned also loves ridiculously large structures of animals. I saw a large metal structure called “Geese in Flight” and also Salem Sue. Sue is a giant cow statue in New Salem, North Dakota. There are several more of these things throughout the state, according to North Dakota tourism websites but sadly they were not all on the highway I was driving.

When I did make it to Bismark it was about 11 p.m. and I was very excited because I had to pee very badly from drinking a large Rockstar. (Sorry again to my bf for yelling at him when I first got in, I blame my bladder stress) But I saw Bismarck in the daylight the next day and it was so nice and green. Green grass, green trees, and a river! See in Butte, MT there’s no large river and there’s not much green either. The town doesn’t get enough precipitation to have green. Bismarck also has chain stores. A Kohl’s, Best Buy, and Coldstone should not excite me so but alas they do after 6 months in a town without. I also found a store called Scheels. I had never heard of this place but it was magnificent. It’s an athletic outdoorsy kind of store and I know that does not seem like my kind of place. But I so badly needed new running shoes so that day it was my place. (I have yet to find a place to buy running shoes in Butte) Scheels was very helpful. The girl told me what kind of brands are best for my flat feet and they even had socks for you to try on the shoes with! Silly me, I had just purchased some at Target for the sole purpose of trying on sneakers. Oh well. OH and that reminds me Bismarck has a Target! Again, Butte does not haha.

While in Bismark Joseph and I went to dinner at a local place called “The Walrus.” They have a ton of different beers so I tried one that comes from Wisconsin called Sunset Harvest. It was pretty tasty. The food is not bad as well. Later we went to Captain Jack’s Liquor Land. It’s pretty much a massive liquor store with a pirate theme. We picked up a small heinekin keg because it was a better deal than cans or bottles of beer. Next up was glow in the dark bowling with Joey’s co-workers. Oh man I have not been glow in the dark bowling in a long time. But when you add beer from the bowling alley, nostalgic 90’s music, and a group of fun, nice 20 year olds it’s not a bad time.

The next day I had to head home but not before some brunch at Kroll’s diner. A Bismarck place that serves up some very tasty skillets. The skillets are basically all your breakfast foods mixed together in…a skillet! So yep I had eggs, hash browns, cheese, and bacon all mixed together. Oh and this was all digested while sitting in some sweet 50’s style turquoise booths. But all in all it was a long drive but I did much better with it than I thought I would and it was nice to explore part of a state I had never experienced before.

I had cow poop on me

Exactly a week ago I was at a cattle branding. My very first one. I had an idea in my head of what it would be like but I definitely was not prepared at all for what it actually was. Now I wasn't super dressed up or anything just jeans and a t shirt but someone should have told me to wear an old old raggedy t shirt that I did not care if it got stained. I also wore my cowboy boots but that was appropriate. I was expecting to just watch, take some pictures, and have an interesting story. Nope, I was put to work. And I was very hesitant about that.
Basically there are a bunch of cattle in one area kept there by fences and some guys had the job of directing them in the direction of where they were to be branded. One at a time the force the cattle to walk into this big contraption then it is tipped over so the cow or bull (whatever it is based on its sex) is on its side. The contraption has bars on it that hold the cow in place but back legs were also held down with some rope or put in another part of the contraption that would close over it. Someone shaves the spot the brand is going to go on, someone tags the ear, someone gives the cows vaccines, someone brands, and someone holds the tail. I was put to work shaving. Not the most fun thing in the world because you are very close to the cow and the horrible burnt hair smell that occurs when they are branded. And you also get cow poop on you. But I think anyone working there got cow poop on them. Gross. You get cow poop on you because when the cows are branded they make a horrible noise because of course they are in pain but they also poop. No one told me this fact at all. I expected the expression of pain noises, i did not expect all the poop. And this is why someone has to hold their tail because when they poop they will also whip their tail around if you don't hold it and then the poop goes flying everywhere. This is how I got cow poop on me. I was standing there with my clippers to shave the cows and the tail holder had to leave and no one replaced him yet so the tail whipped around and the poop flew. It was on my shirt, my pants, even a little on my face that I wiped off in complete disgust and feeling the urge to cry. I got over it and luckily after maybe 60 cows the guy branding found someone to replace me. I think he could tell I needed a break and after he found out I was from Philadelphia he just laughed at me. Yes, this was not something I had ever experienced or ever thought I would. When I was done my job I had cow poop on me and A LOT of cow hair. I then was able to get a few pictures and watched a calf be bottle fed. Then we headed up to the house of one of the cattle owners for a huge feast. I didn't know this was part of cattle branding either but apparently it's a kind of celebration and there's always a lot of food afterwards. I was very happy to be able to wash my hands and the food was super tasty. The view from their home was also amazing. But you better believe the first thing I did when I got home was take a shower. Oh did I feel dirty. Then I took a nap. Who knew cattle branding could be so exhausting. I don't know if I'll ever go to another one but I do know I want to avoid when they inseminate the cows. I have heard the stories about that and no thanks. I think for my next Montana experience I'll try fishing. Hopefully that doesn't involve getting fish poop on me.

I Want a Pet Cow

This is Cletus. (And the Montana Livestock Auction) Sorry I don't have less blurry pictures but these were taken on my blackberry. Anyways, I met Cletus this past Tuesday when I was assigned to do a story on him for work. Cletus is unique because he is a 3,000 lb steer. This means he is a castrated bull. Normally, steers are sold when they are about 18 months. But Cletus here charmed his owners so much they let him live to be 10 years old and to become 3,000 lbs. He doesn't move very quickly. When I saw him he spent most of his time just standing in one place and moved his head back and forth a few times. He chewed a little bit too. But he is awesome. I would like him as a pet. Unfortunately, he was sold to some buyer in Minnesota who is going to turn Cletus into Hamburger. (I will not be eating any cow product for a while. It will just be too painful as I'm reminded of my new friend Cletus) But seriously cows are cute. They are large kinda furry animals that are so peaceful. They just stand there and chew and moo. How can you not love that? Especially, when his/her name is Cletus? What a sweet name. Anyways, I enjoyed my first trip to the Montana Livestock Auction to check out Cletus. Despite the fact that all the cows I saw are now going to be steak or hamburger it was a new and interesting experience to see all of them. It also made me laugh to see all the little dogs running around the auction. They belonged to people who were there to either buy or sell some livestock. This one dog was hilarious. It was prob about 10 pounds and it just kept barking at 3,000lb Cletus. Cletus just had to step on the dog to shut it up. Another dog strolled over to the front of the seating area in the auction, faced everyone sitting there watching the cows, sat down, and barked at all the people. Cracked me up. I also, want one of the dogs I saw as a pet. But Cletus sold for a little over $1670. So if you'd like to help in my pet cow quest please donate more than that amount and I'll try to get him back before he becomes ground beef. I'll also need some money for some land to keep him on because a 3,000lb steer in my one bedroom apartment would look funny and smell funny.

Journalism and Alcoholism go hand in hand

Sophomore year of College my History of Journalism professor told our class this one day, "Journalism and Alcoholism go hand in hand." I have definitely understood why he would make such a comment several times before. And from April 5th-16th I REALLY believed him. Those were the two weeks that I was producing and anchoring KXLF's 10 p.m. newscast while our regular anchor was out. I was also doing this with just one other reporter working who was brand new so the stress level was high. (Aslan this is not a diss to you, anyone who was brand new it would have been the same situation. You're cool you give me red starbursts) But there was lots of running around, lots of trying to figure out what content to use to fill the show, and lots of stressing to get everything done quicker while also trying to not scream at someone in the control room. So yes, there were several nights after work that I was just thinking I need a beer or some wine. I sadly rarely ever have such things in my apartment tho because I totally feel like an alcoholic buying that stuff just for myself at a store but oh well. I'm sure with more experience I would not feel so stressed and drawn to alcohol. Also, everyone in Butte thank you for your kind comments during those two weeks. It is so appreciated. Now I've had a whole week of back to regular reporting now and the stress level has dropped. Don't get me wrong I would love to be an anchor some day and get more experience with that but I do love reporting and just being able to go out and talk to people all day long for my job. That is the best part to me is just getting outside and getting to know people and what they have to say.

With that said I need to thank Montana weather for being much nicer lately. All this past week It was bright and sunny and warm. I was able to wear short sleeves with no jacket outside. My footwear changed from boots to flats and when not at work flip flops! Greatest thing ever. So thanks Montana Weather for listening and getting nicer. After all it is spring.

A letter to Montana Weather.

Dear Montana Weather,

We were doing so well. You were kind enough to not dump a lot of snow these past 4 months and you only got super super cold the first week I was here. That I'll forgive since we barely knew each other then. I understand some people thought you were being too dry and the snow pack was too low. But you knew that I didn't care about the snow pack. I'm not a champion skier and forest fires this summer gives me good material for my resume reel so you kindly kept most of the snow away this past winter. However, today you disappointed me. There was a forecast of 6-12 inches of snow Today and you did not disappoint on that. There's no way there's 12 inches out there now but there's a lot probably the 6 and I don't like it. It is April 13th. What are you thinking Montana?? Did you know that you were Headline News' pick this morning for worst weather today? C'mon now step up your game. That is not what I like to hear about the place I live. I also don't like a lot of what I heard today. That this is normal, this is when "we" get this weather, and that it snows in May. MAY?!!!!! I should be wearing sundresses and sweating while outside not wearing a parka and shivering. Montana Weather please please just be nice and have this be the last snow until at least November. That would be very much appreciated. Don't force me to leave you for Florida.

My mom was carded in Montana

My mom came out to Montana for her first time for about 6 days around Easter. We found out that she is better suited to live here than I am because she thought the weather was fine. Didn't even need a jacket and kept lowering my heat. I on the other hand was constantly freezing and learned to live in sweat pants and sweat shirts in my apartment for that week. Oh well. I didn't have any time off work except for my normal Saturday and Sunday weekend so my mom spend the weekdays cooking and baking. She made many friends at KXLF with the amount of baked goods that went into work with me that week. I also am now stocked in my freezer and in my pantry in case a nuclear war breaks out. This is not me complaining just giving you a visual. I'm actually pretty excited I'll be able to save some money this month since I won't have to go grocery shopping. Anyways I introduced her to the world of Moose Drool beer. Also had her try a sip of fat tire and she herself ordered a blacksmith blondie. There are such fun names here for beer. None of those times were either one of us carded. Now she tells me that when she bought some wine at Three Bears (a costco like grocery store here) the woman asked my mom what her birthday was and told her she couldn't get the wine without it. Haha. We both thought this was funny. I think it's even more humorous because I never get carded here. Drinking is big in the local culture and I'm not sure now if they just don't care of if I'm starting to look really old with these dark circles that are taking shape under my eyes due to lack of sleep.
Anyways......On the weekend we took a scenic drive up to Missoula, MT for some shopping. Easter Sunday was spent with family and watching little kids look for eggs. The picture is of Easter Brunch. It was also a day to tour Butte and get some pictures.

Monday was my mom's last day in Montana and good thing she was there. about 9:10 am I found out I'd be anchoring the 10 p.m. news that night and had no appropriate clothing with me. (Dress code is pretty lax in Mt. I can wear jeans if I want everyday) So had to call up Mommy and have her bring in a suit jacket and shirt. She was nice enough to also go shopping and pick up some a nice necklace and matching earrings to go with the outfit. That was pretty sweet. Except the rest of the week I also anchored the 10 and just had to bring my clothes and jewelry to work with me at 9 am every morning. Oh well I'm a big girl haha.

Tuesday my boyfriend drove the 10 hours from Bismark, North Dakota to hang out with me just for a couple hours after work before I had to go to sleep haha. He then went back to Bismark on Wednesday. It was nice that he was willing to do that since I hadn't seen him since Valentine's Day. But the rest of the week anchoring went pretty well. I think I'm getting more comfortable with it I just need to work on writing more creative transitions between stories. I'll do it all again this week. So I'll probably be exhausted again next Saturday. Oh well. It's worth it. However, if I don't blog all this week that is why.

A night at the Butte Bars

I've been out to the bars in Butte several times before however, this past Friday gave me a pretty interesting story to share. I went out with our old Butte sports reporter/current Bozeman sports reporter and his replacement who just got into town. We met up with some people at one bar and a few of the Montana Tech and University of Montana football coaches were also there. The old sports guy saw this as a perfect opportunity for them to get to know the new guy so we all migrated over to the coaches table. Well then the coaches decided to leave and go to a local Irish pub. The rest of us followed about 15 minutes behind them. Shortly after arriving at the Irish pub one of the coaches asked me to be his pool partner. I agreed and gave him fair warning that I REALLY REALLY suck at pool. I didn't let him down on this promise either I made one ball in a pocket in 2 games. However, we still won these games. He was pretty much an awesome pool player. Now during these pool games a super drunk middle aged man dressed in all black (including black beanie) kept coming up and talking to me and giving me tips on the pool game. Of course these tips were coming out in slurs. Well this was continuously happening. Whenever it wasn't my turn to try to hit a ball with a stick and make a fool of myself this guy came right over to me whispering drunk talk in my ears. Luckily one of the guys I was with saw this and recognized that I needed saving from the drunkard. He came over put his hand on my back and put his arms around me to try to ward off the guy. This worked and then we both forgot about it and I went back to playing pool and not standing with him anymore. So later the guy comes up slurring at me again so again my friend comes over and tells the drunk guy that he needs to borrow me and puts his arm around me turning me away from the guy. Well then the drunk guy calls my friend an asshole. That just started a huge fight between the two of them yelling at each other with me in the middle holding a pool stick unsure of what to do. I attempted to stop it but was unsuccessful and it was my turn to shoot so i just took my pool stick and left. They were still yelling at each other when the bar closed, which was only a few minutes later. The bartender told everyone it was time to go so we all gather our stuff. As I'm walking out with my guy friend right behind me the drunk guy is being held back by someone as he yells in my face "Don't go home with him! Don't go home with him!" We all walked out of the bar and I'm not sure what happened to this dude but I thought the whole debacle was pretty hilarious. I'm glad the fight was just verbal too and I do appreciate the attempt to keep the creepy drunk guy away from me.

Moose on the loose

So last week a pair of moose decided to wander into Butte. Therefore my job that day became Moose stakeout 2010. About 5 minutes after I got into work we got word that there were moose on Harrison Ave, which is a major road in Butte. I then quickly loaded up the station car with my camera and tripod and headed out there. Once I got on the scene and parked I saw the 2 moose running across Harrison. As fast as I could I got out my equipment, set it up, and started shooting. Unfortunately I only got about 3 seconds of the Moose sprinting back across Harrison. But they kept running so I filmed that. Then they kept running far and the police and Fish Wildlife and Parks Game Wardens followed them. So, I also followed. Got back in the car and drove to where all the action was. Then I set up my camera and tripod again and filmed some more moose activity. As I was standing at that spot a reporter for the NBC station came up so we were both standing there filming moose running. Well then we hear what sounds like gun shots (later learned they were firecracker shells to scare the moose) and a cop standing by us yells "get back to your vehicles!!" So we go back to our cars and just film standing next to them as the moose come running by. Then they ran off far away so we couldn't see them anymore. But we could see where a bunch of cop cars were gathering so we drove over there. We learned that the moose had run into the area and Fish Wildlife and Parks said they bedded down in an area of trees and bushes so we couldn't see them. So we waited for the Moose to come out of hiding. 3 hours later all that had happened was one of the moose stood up once and then went back down into hiding. It was a very interesting 3 hours just sitting there outside waiting for moose to show their faces. At noon Fish, Wildlife, and Parks left so we did too. They put up signs along the road to warn motorists of moose in the area but they said the moose would probably be there all day so they would decide what to do that night and possibly the next day. Well turns out the moose was up and running again around 3 p.m. and by 4 they were safely back to the mountains they came from. So it ended well and no large animals had to be tranquilized. Definitely was a first for me. I had never seen a moose in person. They are much hairer than I imagined. The rest of the week wasn't quite as exciting after that fun stereotypical Montana experience.

I had beer spilled on me before going live on camera

Warning: This will be a VERY VERY Long post.

Last week I experienced my first St. Patrick's Day in Butte. It was a day I was warned about by many and since have been asked by many how it went. The Holiday is probably one of the if not THE biggest day of the year in Butte. Well when that Wednesday rolled around I put on a green sweater and a green and white beaded necklace because I was told I would be pinched if I did not wear green. I look good in green so not a problem. If yellow was the St Patrick's Day color I'd be in trouble. Also, the necklace was a cheap thing from Walmart that came with a blinking shamrock but I took that off finding it too tacky for the news.

Well in the morning I went out to film the parade. It was interesting but shorter than what I expected and from talking to people after it was shorter than other years. They also said it was disappointing and one of the worst parade's. Oh well. However, two of the guys I interviewed after the parade I want to say were in their 20's. They informed me that for the past few years they had been traveling with a group of friends to different St Patty's day celebrations. This year they decided to bring all their friends to Butte. And since the Parade was a bummer they made their own fun with relay races. These races required 2 people to race up the hill to where 2 beers were lined up then chug the beer as fast as they could. Once a person was done his or her beer the next teammate would run down the hill and chug a beer. They then invited me to come on their bus for the day and follow them around as they celebrated. That would have been fun but probably would have gotten me fired. So I went on to interview more people. I talked to one guy who told me he didn't see much of the parade but was happy with the chicks that were there. Awesome. I also interviewed a 77 year old man dressed in a white tux complete with hat. His vest had shamrocks all over it and his beard was dyed green. He has been walking in the Butte parade for 20 years.

Later in the afternoon I headed back uptown with my news director to get set up for my live shot at 5:30. We got up there at 4 and were set up and test run went smoothly by 4:30. So with that hour of time to kill I walked around and took some pictures and also had some very interesting conversations with people. I was hit on by dudes with my news director sitting 2 feet away from me, had some girl scream "yo you blondie" at me to try and get my attention to tell me about her guy friend that was interested, and saw several people walk by the camera and just scream in it. Yea it wasn't on. The best was the girl that walked up to the back of the camera where the viewfinder is and stand in front of that part screaming at it. Ok even if the camera were on you failed miserably at your goal of getting on because that is the BACK of the camera and not the part where people would be able to see you. There was also a drunk girl who came up to our "golden rod" aka what we use to feed the video to a transmitter on top of a mountain so that people can see what's on my camera, on tv. Well when this girl got up to the "golden rod" I guess she thought it looked like a certain um male body part. She proceeded to rub it and make certain sexual comments and sing songs about it. It was so hard not to laugh. Then about 20 minutes before I was to go on tv another drunk girl dropped a full beer right next to me. The beer splattered one side of my body. Sweet. I couldn't wait to interview the Sheriff smelling like beer.

Well the Sheriff showed up about 5:20 and we were going live at 5:30. We had asked him to have one police officer there as well just to keep an eye out for crazy drunks while we were on live television. There were 6 police officers. I was feeling pretty safe surrounded by police and standing next to the Sheriff haha. Well the live shot went ok except for the fact that anytime the Sheriff was speaking we had no audio. At first we thought it was a problem with the microphone cable but then our Anchor said she had a similar problem once before because of a transmitter they wear and it needs to be turned off. Oops. Guess I'll know for the future.

After the live shot I went to an alcohol free party for teens. Again smelling like alcohol since a beer had been spilled on me haha. Oh well.

After work around 9 I was able to meet up with some people and experience my first St. Patty's day in Butte being one of the people celebrating. All bars were ridiculously crowded. The picture at the top is of the bar I was at. And I would put it at this point in the blog but I don't know how to do that yet. Teach me. Anyways I felt like I was back in College with that kind of crowd at a bar. Also, the bathrooms were also very much like the College Park bar bathrooms. Dirty and long lines with no toilet paper.

I left the bar with a friend and 2 cowboys. Don't worry she knew them. We went to a bonfire that one of the cowboys knew was going on. That was interesting. It was a good time I was taught how to jitterbug by one of the cowboys. I really don't know what that means but it was some kind of dance. Anyways it was interesting because I had to pee while I was there. Well this bonfire was in the middle of nowhere. Soooo me and the other girl climbed over a hill and tinkled on the ground far away from the bonfire where no one could see us. I really don't remember the last time I had to do something like that. Thrilling. My St. Patty's day ended shortly after that but I was still told I did not do it right because I did not get a shamrock painted on me and I did not eat corned beef and cabbage. Looks like I already have plans for next year.

Crazy

Yesterday was a pretty crazy day, for news. The story I covered in the morning was pretty routine but then about 10 minutes after I got back to the newsroom a guy that works in our control room called to say he had just seen 4 cop cars and fire trucks at this one apartment complex. So I went over there with my camera to see what was going on. When I arrived at the scene I saw a mass of people just standing around watching as police were on ladders breaking a 2nd story window. I asked the people who were watching what was going on and one woman told me that the guy who lived in the apartment that now had a broken window had posted on facebook that he had bombs and was going to kill himself. She also informed me that he had barricaded himself into his apartment by putting things in front of the windows so even though the police just broke the window there was still a wall of random crap they had to get through. Immediately in my mind I was thinking "this is ridiculous!!!!" but kind of exciting at the same time. The police proceeded to yell into the broken window telling the guy the just wanted to talk to him. There was an officer on one side of the window on a ladder that had broken the window and on the other side on a ladder was another police officer holding a gun aimed at the window. Great visuals for the story. When they got nowhere with that window they went around to another side of the building, climbed ladders, and broke another window. Then the fireman brought out their chainsaw and started cutting the door off. After they cut if off and pulled it away the pulled a bunch of things out that had been stacked behind the door. Clothes, books, pillows. All types of stuff. Eventually they did get the guy out of the apartment in handcuffs and he was taken away in a cop car to the local hospital for a medical evaluation. I talked to the police chief once everything was over and he told me that they had evacuated everyone nearby and that he had never heard anything about bombs. But when the police got to the scene at about 10:30 a.m. (this whole thing ended a little after 1 p.m.) they just tried to talk to the guy first and that's when he barricaded the doors and windows and told police he was cutting himself. When the cops did find the guy inside he was sitting on his couch and the only weapons they found inside were knives. Is it wrong that I was a little disappointed there were no bombs and my life really wasn't in all that much danger standing next to that building? It was still an exciting story but the whole no bombs thing made it a little less exciting. This is probably why people hate reporters. I'm super happy no one got hurt and even if there were bombs I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt but being able to say he had bombs just makes such a much better story haha. But it was still crazy and I enjoyed watching all the action.

Someone please fix how expensive plane tickets are here

So for those of you who don't know my boyfriend got a job in Bismarck, North Dakota. He is moving there tomorrow. So congratulate him. It's a great job as a sports reporter and there is a NBA development league in the area. And if you know him you know his love of basketball. His friends have joked about him marrying a basketball. That's cool with me I'll just work on converting Anderson Cooper to the heterosexual side. Just kidding. But since the basketball and Mr. Cooper probably won't work this creates quite a conundrum for our relationship. There is no easy way to get to Bismark from Butte. I know a lot of people are probably thinking well North Dakota is the state right next to Montana so it's close! WRONG. The states are big out here in the West. So there is a 10 hour drive between us. So now you're probably thinking ok 10 hour drive that's like a 1 hour flight. Easy. WRONG again. Since Butte and Bismarck are both small cities there is no direct flight between the two. You've got to fly to Salt Lake City then to either Denver or Minneapolis and then on to Bismarck. So it's about 8 hours to fly there. Another problem, flights are expensive. The cheapest is about $500 and once you add taxes, bag fees, and the price to keep your car at the airport for however long you are gone while that adds up.
But I had an idea today. To just drive there. Obviously not for one night but if I have a 3 day weekend or get a few days off I could do it. I've never driven 10 hours by myself but whatever I'll just make sure there's good music on my ipod. I originally didn't want to do that drive because I didn't want to do that to my poor old car. (Oh RAV4 how I wish you were still in your younger days) However, I can rent a car! For only $145 for 4 days. And that's including the being too young fee so if I were 24 that price would be cheaper. So $145 plus gas is still HUNDREDS less than a flight. And only 2 hours of travel time more since there are no direct flights. So hmm I think driving sounds like a good idea. Unless someone has a private jet they want to let me use or someone can come up with a way to get me some cheaper flights. Seriously, why does it cost so much to fly in and out of these little midwest/western towns? Let's spend some stimulus money to fix this. Oh and if anyone else has some suggestions I'll gladly take them. Or I'll just have some fun adventures across Montana and North Dakota.

Sometimes I ask myself, "Where am I?"

And the answer to that question is then "Montana" And don't get me wrong Montana is great. Like I've said before the people here are awesome and the scenery is amazing. I've also been able to learn skiing and basically live a little adventure. However, sometimes I see things and just have to ask myself, "where the hell am I?" But I blame this on the fact that I grew up in a very spoiled life always living in the suburbia of some major top 10 news market city. I may have moved around a lot as a kid and lived in 6 different states but really the suburban towns I lived in were all the same and even the houses I lived in pretty much had the same floor plan. And hey it was a good spoiled life, I'm not complaining. I'm just blaming my naivete when it comes to Montana on that spoiled life. Sooo some times I have asked myself, "where am I?":

1. When I was driving along a highway and had to stop because there were a bunch of big horned sheep on the road. They were just hanging out licking the salt so the cars on the highway just stopped and slowly tried to maneuver around them.
2. When I learned that in the summer this state has a testicle festival. Basically a few days of a bunch of people eating balls. but I still want to go this summer so I can get a t-shirt.
3. When I saw our sports reporter, Shane's, story on the chicken wing ding that was held last summer. Eating a bunch of chicken wings and competing for the tastiest is pretty normal in my mind. However, part of the event is a race to see who can chase a live chicken and catch it the quickest. Hilarious.
4. When I was told that there was a dead buffalo "with my name on it" Yes, it's an annual thing here that a local history teacher takes his class to a bison ranch where they shoot a buffalo. They then proceed to use every part of the buffalo. Teeth and bones are used for jewelry, the meat is cooked in a large barbeque, and the science classes get the organs for the exact reasons I never became any kind of science major. And guess what I get to do the story on this event. Yay. The reporter who did the story this past year also said that he got lots of buffalo meat to take home with him to make for later. ummm yay.
5. When I drove into Philipsburg, MT for the first time. If you've ever seen an old western movie or the depiction of an old western town in a movie or magazine or anything that's what this town looked like. Seriously close your eyes and imagine the sterotypical old western town, the architecture and everything. That is exactly what this town looked like that was all of 2 streets. They also had a restaurant called Doe brothers that I visited. There whole sandwich section of the menu was an angus burger with different kinds of toppings depending on what the sandwich's name was. But it also was very old school with the ice cream/soda fountain look with the long counter and stools. cute tows.
6. When I drove to Whitehall, MT for the first time, which was today. Again, imagine a stereotypical Western town. Whitehall looks like this and is about 6 blocks large. I was going there to interview people for the 1 year anniversary of what was made to seem like a massive fire to me. And yes, when your town is only 6 blocks losing as much as they did is horrible and massive. However, I was driving around looking for a whole block that looked like it had been taken out by a fire. Well what I was told was a block looked like just 1 vacant lot to me. Oooops. I need to seriously downscale my expectations for some things. But yes very small town. I'm not really sure how I would handle living in that small of a town. And I don't know what people do who do live in these small towns. I need to just spend some time in tiny towns answering these questions. But still the people I talked to there were ridiculously nice.


So totally random but I was watching Anthony Bourdain No Reservations and he did a teaser showing a ton of craps from the ocean saying, "coming up crabs, so many crabs you'll think you woke up underneath the cast of the jersey shore."

hahahahahahahahahaha. HILARIOUS. Seriously I can't stand the cast of that show.