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We made it! The trip from LA, California to Kalispell, Montana has been a real adventure.
From... speeding across the Nevada desert (between the Mojave and Death Valley) in 40 degree heat in a red convertible Mustang;
feeling like I was hallucinating in Las Vegas (but no - they all really looked like that and were really wasting all their money in the 'slots'!), getting fleeced at the roulette(no sweat);
traveling North and winding our way with the top down around and beneath the jaw-dropping cliffs of Zion National Forest, staying overnight in a Mormon gated community;
hanging out in the very cool town of Jackson in the Million Dollar Cowboy bar (where you sit in a saddle bar stool) while a Wild West shoot-out showdown was happening right out on the Street; driving, and driving, and driving across the graceful, undulating grassy plains of Wyoming;
seeing Old Faithful blow it's top in Yellowstone National Park;
exploring the wonderfully preserved old gold mining town of Virginia City...
to creeping slowly in a freak snowstorm(!) in the majestic Teton Mountains and finally panning for sapphires at Phillipberg before arriving at our destination on Flathead Lake the largest fresh water body this side of the Mississippi...it is just huge and creates it's own weather system.
Now that's what I call a lake. It's supposed to have a monster, but I think that's just shades of Nessy on the Loch.
It's been an unforgettable experience thus far... Mustang Sally has been a trusty steed indeed, and traveling in such a styling convertible is just wonderful.
War wounds include JJ losing her voice and me getting a severe eye infection in Salt Lake city where a nice Mormon optometrist sorted me out (praise the lord), but the modern miracle of antibiotics will see us both mended by next week...
The workshop is all coming together - and it's just so beautiful up here - the Mountains and the lake are stunning.
I really just want to go see the bears and fly fish cause i'm right near where they shot 'a river runs through it', but all JJ and I are doing right now is working... but it will all pay off when we hit Sweetwater Ranch and we can just enjoy the spectacular sights and have fun - that will be our base. We have some amazingly talented teenagers enrolled. We're doing the rounds of local radio stations talking about it too. They all think I'm from England, and can barely understand me - hilarious! Have found a brilliant volunteer fire brigade - Creston- who are helping out at the event night (Night At The Ranch - Saturday June 16) and I can't wait to visit their station next week to meet the crew.
Just have to say that it's after 10.30pm in the evening and it's still light outside...can't get used to that...
Went to dinner at this clam joint called Tiebuckers tonight with stuffed mooseheads and bears on the walls - Yup, this is huntin' territory...it was a really cool old joint with fading black and white photographs from early last century with saloon girls dancing on the bar.
You know you're in the wild west when there's more than one Taxidermist in town!
Y'all come back now ya hear! | 
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