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.