Colt Anderson prefers Pat's Cheesesteaks

I have video proof of this. Watch the video at the site below to witness the current Philadelphia Eagle and Butte native saying what Cheesesteak place he prefers in the culinary war.

http://www.kxlf.com/videoplayer/?video_id=6144&categories=244

Anderson is from Butte, MT, where you all know I currently live and work. He also plays in the NFL and this year he went from the Minnesota Vikings to the Philadelphia Eagles. Which is great since I love Philadelphia and the sports teams and suddenly a lot of people in Butte now follow the Eagles along with me. Our Sports Director at KXLF/KBZK had set up an interview with Anderson since the Eagle was back in town and before he went I instructed him on a very important question to ask, "Did he have a Philly Cheesesteak?" Obviously I got my question answered. I just had no idea it would become the story that ran on the sportscast. I also had no idea I would get a shout out in the sportscast but both were very awesome. But if you watched you know I obviously think he needs to try Jim's when he gets back to Philly. Feel free to disagree though. I know there's a lot of disagreement out there in the world as to where the best Philly Cheesesteak comes from. Oh and Colt, you also need to get some Philly soft pretzels if you haven't done that yet. Those are awesome.

Hot Springs and the State of the Union Address

Hot springs and President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. Surprisingly they do have a tiny link to each other. But let's start with hot springs. Montana has several of these pools of naturally hot water. Some have been turned into resorts with man made pools and others still occur naturally where you are basically sitting in the dirt and rocks outside somewhere but still in hot water. I'm no expert though. My first hot springs experience wasn't until just a few days ago.

There is a hot springs resort about 15 minutes from Butte (pictured) It has an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, both of which are heated. It also has two smaller soaking pools that are more like hot tub temperatures reaching into the 100 degrees. And of course the massive water slide that you see in the picture. Saturday afternoon I took my first trip ever to a hot springs location with some friends and soaked. Good experience, it's very relaxing. We just stuck to the outdoor pools cause that is the cooler experience. And I can now say I have been outside in a bathing suit when it is below freezing out.

That sounds crazy but I decided to do it a second time just three days later with the boyfriend. This time it was at night so less people were in the pools. But both times were a lot of fun. Well except for the part when you get out of the hot pools and it's freezing outside haha. But still it's definitely something I would do again and would recommend to others.

Now let me connect this to the President. President Obama once stayed at the very hot springs resort that I soaked in two of the past five days. Despite this fact several people in Butte don't seem to know what his State of the Union Address is. I was given the story assignment yesterday to ask people around the city what they were hoping to hear the President say during his State of the Union Address. Sadly when I was asking people if they would talk to me about this about a dozen of them responded with, "what's that?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!! That was the reaction in my head I did not actually voice that. Granted my news director thought we should report that a bunch of people did not know what the State of the Union Address was so that's exactly what we did. I still just think it's crazy.

New Year's Resolution

Surveys say that only 8% of people keep their New Year's Resolutions, which doesn't bode well for me actually keeping mine that I'm about to tell you about. But we'll see. I know I'm also a little late in posting a New Year's Resolution but to be fair I did think of it while 2010 was still around.

So here goes...No, I'm not going to try to lose weight, diet, go to the gym more or anything like that. I've been living in Montana now for over a year so my resolution is to actually explore the area more. I've had some great adventures since moving here like learning how to ski, visiting Yellowstone, hiking up a mountain to a lake for my first time camping, and snowshoeing. I've also been able to try foods like the pasty, buffalo burgers, elk hotdog, poviticia and several different foods made with huckleberries. I've also seen other towns such as Missoula, Bozeman, Whitehall, Dillon, Deer lodge, Anaconda, Boulder, Helena, and Cardwell.

But this is Big Sky Country. There's still a lot to do, a lot to see, and probably a lot to eat. And unfortunately, a lot of my travels to other towns have been work related so I haven't really had the opportunity to stop and check out what's going on there locally. (Unless it's the news of the day) So I'd like to see and do more. I'm the type of person who likes to think she will try anything once. However, there are definitely exceptions. I will not eat any kind of eyeball. Sorry. And there's probably a lot of other things I would refuse to eat if presented with it. So maybe I won't do everything but I still like to have new experiences and see new places.

I've been told the distance from one end of Montana to the other is the same distance it is from Chicago to Washington D.C. so there is A LOT of country to see. There's so many more towns I could visit And re-visit the one's I've gone to for work when I actually have a free day. But there in lies the problem with this resolution...a free day or days. Most people know I work a lot. Which is fine, keeps me busy. But when it comes to the weekend (If I'm not working) That's my time to do laundry, grocery shop, pay bills, wash dishes, clean, sleep, and just attempt to be a functioning adult. Luckily, on my recent trip home I bought and received enough clothes as gifts to let my laundry go for a month.

There are some things I can do closer to home. My resolution got off to a good start this past weekend when I went snowshoeing just 15 minutes away. I had done this activity before but not in the same spot. But like I already said there's still A LOT to see and do. I know I can't get to every corner of the state but here are just a few things I'd like to do while here: ride a horse, snowmobile, visit other areas of Yellowstone, visit Glacier National Park, soak in hot springs, go to different breweries (can you believe I still haven't been to the one in Butte?!), fly fishing, float, and of course just see other towns in the state.

There's also a lot of area to explore outside Montana. Canada is just to the the North and Seattle is only 10 hours to the West. I've got a lot to do in less than a year. I'll see how it goes or if I'll be part of that 92% of people who don't keep their New Year's Resolutions.