This is Butte?

Yesterday my time out of the house started with lunch in a cafe. I sipped my chai tea latte and chatted with friends and admired the artwork for sale hanging on the walls. I had a very good smoked salmon blt for my meal. After lunch we went shopping in several different stores one including a boutique with designer jeans selling for $150 a piece. After the shopping we all got ready, met up with some other friends for drinks, then went to the symphony, then dinner after the show. If you would have told me a year ago that I could have a day like this in Butte I would have laughed at you. Now after 14 months of living here I've learned it is possible. Don't get me wrong I've never hated this town, quite the opposite. The people here are great and there's a lot of awesome history. I guess food, shopping, and arts wise I have viewed it as limited though. Yesterday was a great change from the usual Walmart shopping and just sitting in a bar at night. I don't mind either of those at all it's just nice to mix things up.

Two very big positives from the day of shopping: I got some sweet looking ski goggles that are pictured and I finally found rain boots I like. The goggles are bright purple, which is sweet cause in my black ski pants, jacket, gloves, and hat I'll not have at least one thing that stands out on the hill. It also won't hurt so much to ski while snow is falling from the sky and hitting me in the face and eyes. The rain boots are super exciting because for years I've needed a pair, especially now with my job I never know what kind of environment I'll have to be traipsing through. My problem has always been I want a plain color so it is at least somewhat professional looking since I'll wear them for work. Unfortunately, most rain boots that I find in a plain color are ridiculously ugly and look like a dude should be wearing them or they have an obnoxious pattern on them like rainbow polka dots, dogs and cats, ice cream cones, or whatever. I finally found a cute pair of black ones so that is fantastic.

They symphony was great too. The music was dance songs from around the world. And the very last song was the music from Super Mario Brothers. It was awesome and now I really want to play mario. Anyone in Butte own it? I really love mario kart too so I'll take that. Another song they played was I believe music from North America but it was that song you hear in the "Beef it's whats for dinner" commercials. It also made me think of the movie "Fievel goes West" so must be featured in there as well. That is also another thing I need to re-visit from my childhood. Who wants to have a mario brothers playing, fievel goes west watching party? Also makes me think maybe I should have called this blog "Melanie goes west" hmmmmm. But yes, yesterday was a very non "western" day. At least in what you would think to be stereotypical western, which I'm learning that's now how you should view the west.

Growlers and good food make -15 degrees more fun

Just so you know the weather pattern in Butte this week was snow and an arctic cold front with temperatures well below zero. I'm told this same pattern is supposed to repeat next week. Great. When it's this cold it's understandable to want to just hide out in your bed under a pile of blankets. However, doing that repeatedly would probably just cause depression so instead of that this weeks cold spell allowed me to experience another first in Butte.

There are a ton of local breweries in Montana that make their own micro brews. Way more than I know of back in Pennsylvania. And most places I know of back east that brew their own beer are also full service restaurants. Like Iron Hill Brewery, which is great, I love that place. In Montana I've noticed there are places like this but a lot of them just serve their beer. You go in, pick a beer and a seat, and enjoy. Butte even has it's own brewery called the Quarry. This is embarrassing but I have now lived in this town for over a year and my first trip to the Quarry was not until just a couple days ago. A few friends were there and I actually got out of work before it closed so I was able to go hang with them and take in the atmosphere of the Quarry. It's in what looks like used to be a garage, there's tons of beer glasses hanging on one wall, and the tables are all large wooded tables with massively long wooden benches to go with them. Oh, and there's a popcorn machine so you can have free baskets of popcorn at your table and continue to refill it for no price. The beer was not a first. It is offered in the local bars around town so I have tried it before and it's not bad.

I did buy my first growler though. I don't think I knew what a growler was until I moved to Montana but it's basically a sealed jug of beer that you buy so you can take some of the micro brew home with you. The first time you have to buy the growler but you can keep bringing it back to get it refilled. I think everyone I was with except one person walked out of there with a growler that night.

We decided all that beer would be appropriate for a dinner party we were planning. My roommate and I hosted a potluck dinner. I made buffalo chicken dip for something to munch on prior to the meal but thanks to everyone else chipping in we ended up with a nice spaghetti dinner with a good homemade sauce, salad, and garlic bread. For dessert I made a chocolate trifle and there was also some yummy tiramisu.
It was just a great way to get everyone out from under their covers in this cold weather. Who doesn't like friends, food, and growlers?

And yes, you read this blog correctly. I cooked and baked for this event haha.

I skied a black diamond and didn’t know it

Sunday a group of us headed to Discovery Ski Area west of Anaconda, MT to hit the slopes. Now even though I use the lingo, “hit the slopes” I am no pro skier, quite the opposite. Sunday marked my 5th time skiing in two years. My first time ever was just last year and I’ve still got a lot to learn. I need to lean forward more and not be so scared to pick up speed. Currently I like to take things slow down the mountains so that if I do run into any trees it will cause the least amount of damage possible. I’ve haven’t progressed from the green runs. For those of you who don’t know how it works from easiest to hardest it’s the bunny hill, green runs, blue runs, black diamonds, and double black diamonds. I have no idea if you can get really difficult runs and have triple black diamonds, quadruple black diamonds, and so on, like I said I’m no expert more of a novice.

So on Sunday I was quite happy to continue my time on the green runs. My roommate came along with us and she hadn’t skied since her first go at it in 8th grade so four of us warmed up with her on the bunny hill. Being as scared as I am of this sport and the fact I hadn’t done it since November I was quite happy to warm up on the bunny hill. It allowed me to remember what the heck my body is supposed to do on those ski things.

Next we moved onto the green run called “Goldbug”, which I have to say I’m quite proud of my roommate cause my first time skiing I never even made it to the run. It was all bunny hill for me. We did several rides up the chairlift and runs down Goldbug. And I have to say it was probably the first time I’ve been skiing that I actually felt comfortable and felt like I had the hang of it. I did not fall at all getting of the chair lift (yay fist pump!) I also did not fall at all while gliding down Goldbug and felt I was turning better. Granted I was going slower than anyone else but again that speed thing and crashing into a tree terrifies me. Maybe I should get a helmet.

Then as my roommate and I are comfortably navigating Goldbug for the third or fourth time I’m not really sure we changed things up a bit. One of our friends who has become all star black diamond skier this season and was graciously hanging back on the green run with us this day pointed to a spot in Goldbug where the run splits and you can go a different way. He asked if we wanted to try something different. Sure, why not. We followed him along this new path and seconds later I was wondering if I could go back uphill and get back to Goldbug. (Don’t ski uphill though we had story on KXLF’s website today about a 78 year old man who was arrested for going uphill on a ski slope in Wyoming. Apparently it is not safe skiing.) I figured getting back uphill would be impossible so I knew I just had to deal with this ridiculously steep hill in front of me. The only way off the mountain was now down this. It was so steep you don’t even see a hill you pretty much just see the land drop off and you have to ski down this almost vertical wall of snow. (Pro-skiers may say I’m exaggerating but this is what it looked like to me)

We pushed off and down we went only to discover that not only was this the steepest thing ever it was also un groomed, meaning when you ski down it your ski’s are covered in snow and so are your legs about halfway up your calf. You weren’t just gliding on the top of a surface you had to push your way through piles of snow. I felt like how my car must feel on the roads of Butte after a snow storm since the town doesn’t do anything to the roads and you just have to drive through it. But anyways this is where my day of not falling went awry. Every turn through the inches of snow caused me to fall. My roommate was falling at a similar rate and our friend was just laughing at us and not quite understanding how we couldn’t get down this. He told me it was just like the green run but un groomed. To which I replied, “I like groomed.” Who knew something you prefer in people and dogs you could prefer in ski slopes too. He also told me that people fly all over the world to ski in “powder like this.” I told him I was going to save a lot of money not doing that. I finally did make a few turns without falling but I was really wishing I had a sled and could just get down that way. So maybe the title of this blog should actually be “I attempted to ski down a black diamond and didn’t know it.”

That experience was in fact just hilarious so the day was not ruined. Then Monday my roommate is looking at the trails on Discovery’s website and informs me that we skied down a black diamond. Remember that area where Goldbug splits? Yep, that trail off the green is a black diamond. No wonder we were falling at every turn. We completely skipped that blue step in there. Oh well no one was hurt and it was just the source of many giggles.

2nd and 3rd photos courtesy of my roommate and her camera.

I saw Lady Gaga jump into freezing water

Plunging into freezing water...sounds crazy right? Well I guess when you make it for a good cause you can get over 100 people to voluntarily jump into freezing water. Today was the 3rd Annual Pintler Plunge just west of Anaconda, Montana. In my 13th straight day of work I was sent out to cover the arctic aquatics. I didn't mind too much though, I have to admit it was entertaining.

Most people form teams and every individual needs to raise at least $100 to jump into the chilly water. All the money goes to the Special Olympics Montana so it is for a good cause and when I was interviewing people that's what they kept telling me when I asked them why they jumped into such cold water voluntarily. When I was standing there next to my camera waiting for it to start one man so kindly offered to videotape me while I jump in. I told him I would not be doing that. When I told him you needed to raise $100 to be able to jump he responded by saying, "I'm sure we could get enough money raised between people here now since you're from the news." I still decided to pass but way to go to everyone who was willing to brave the icy waters of Silver Lake.

Now while it's fun to see people's faces as they hit the frigid water it was even more entertaining to see some of the costumes today. The teams can dress up and have a chance to win best dressed for the best costume. A team of guys all dressed up to look like Lady Gaga. They all had long blonde hair wigs and wore ridiculous things and I say things cause it wasn't even clothes they were wearing. One guy had a bunch of balloons on him another had caution tape. One guy had just black panties and black lipstick. I asked him to talk to me on camera after he jumped in the water and he said no because he didn't want his family seeing what he had done haha.

I have to say the Lady Gaga outfits were probably the best costumes. Although, the cops who jumped had a team name of "pigs in a blanket" and wore pig noses to jump, which is funny. Another team wore duck shaped inner tubes around their waist. I think if I were ever to do a polar plunge I'd want to wear a wetsuit or something that would keep me warm.

Over 144 dogs

The 26th Annual Race to the Sky sled dog race is now underway. It kicked off just north of Butte yesterday and I got the opportunity to see my first sled dog race ever. I was there for work braving the elements, which as it turns out were too warm for the mushers and their dogs. I don't know the exact temperature but to me it was cold and extremely windy. But while interviewing mushers they told me it was too warm for the dogs to really race and they would get over heated. So their plans were to slowly trot along during the day and they would do their real racing at night once the sun goes down. Interesting. I could never be a musher because I like warmth.

It did turn out to be a very nice day later on and was very cool experience. I learned that all the teams don't all start out at the same time. I was thinking it'd be like a track race where the gun goes off and everyone races forward. Nope, one team starts, a few minutes pass, then another team starts and so on. This may be something that everyone else knew but I had no idea. Now I know. I also learned that while you can only have 12 dogs on your team during a race the mushers have many more dogs than this. (the title of the blog is because there were 12 teams) One woman I spoke with has 30 dogs and a guy I spoke with from New Zealand has 40 dogs. And yes, there was a musher from New Zealand in Montana for a race. He told me it was his first time in the state and it looked a lot like home. And why you ask did he come to Montana? To give his dogs the chance to race a new trail. At least that is what he told me. But he has been training in Minnesota so it's not like he just came to the states from New Zealand a week ago.

There's also some fashion involved in dog sled racing. To keep the dogs feet warm they all get little boots put on them. Before the race I saw several mushers booting up their pups and the boots are all very bright colors. I saw fluorescent yellow, orange, green, pink, and blue. And while interviewing some people just there to watch the start of the race a woman told me her favorite part of it all is those boots.

Another interesting fact that I learned but thankfully did not experience, while racing when a dog needs to potty it just goes. No stopping to squat or lift up a leg they just let whatever needs to come out come out. Naturally this gets pretty messy for the musher on the sled behind 12 dogs doing this. Especially when you are behind these dogs for 350 miles. So there's another reason I will never be a musher. I love dogs but no thanks I don't want their bodily waste flying in my face for miles.

Another person I interviewed who was watching the start of the race told me she came because it's an experience everyone should have. I agree. Before the race starts the public is welcome to walk around and meet the mushers and their dogs. Little kids especially seemed to love this part and getting to pet the dogs. Parents seemed to love telling their kids to stand by the dogs to take pictures of them. And while I'm not gonna go out and buy a sled and a ton of dogs now I'm glad I got to see what it's all about and learn something new. Just another Montana experience.

A dragon, a rabbit, and a lot of noise

Its got a reputation for being the shortest, loudest, coldest parade in the nation. There’s always a dragon, some kind of other animal, and a lot of fireworks. It’s the Butte Chinese New Year Parade. It’s held every February and it’s not the typical parade. You don’t stand on the sides of the street and watch as it goes by, you participate. Following behind the dragon as it weaves through Uptown Butte and making as much noise as possible. All participants are encouraged to bring pots and pans to bang together or anything else that will make noise. People lead the dragon and there’s a model of the zodiac animal for whichever year it is in the calendar. This year is the year of the rabbit. My birth year 1987 just happens to also be a year of the rabbit. There are 12 different zodiac animals or so I’m told by the local Mai Wah society.

Being born in the year of the Rabbit I had to look up what this meant so here you go:
articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.

Hmmm my boyfriend is born in the year of the Tiger.

Anyways, this year was my second time covering the Chinese New Year Parade for KXLF. This year definitely felt longer than last year lasting about an hour. It was definitely cold and loud even though it wasn’t so short. The freezing wind was whipping about Uptown. I attempted to put my jacket hood up to block some of it but it just kept blowing off my head so I finally gave up. Fireworks were set off all along the parade route than a huge spectacle of them at the end. Being a journalist I set my camera as close as I could and once the smoke and sparks got to be too much I walked away and left the camera to catch the rest of the action.

However, like most Butte events it’s always great to see all the people who come out for it and how into they get. The Mai Wah Society (they put on the parade) did have people carrying red buckets for donations during the parade and I even saw a homeless man walk up and put some money in one of the buckets. Butte residents keep telling me this and I keep seeing it…the Butte people are extremely generous.