About to leave Ennis, Montana after six weeks

        We are coming to the end of six weeks in Ennis.  We have really enjoyed being here.  The scenery everywhere you look is beautiful, even breathtaking.  Unfortunately, the weather hasn't cooperated until this past week.  It has been relatively cold and windy since we arrived until about 10 days ago.  Since then, we've had what we could call summer temperatures, though the wind has continued and been a factor in spreading several severe wildfires in the past few days.
         While here, Harold has done a lot of bike riding in training for the RAGBRAI ride across Iowa at the end of July.  Barbara has managed to paint about four days a week inside a club house out of the way of the wind.
        Otherwise, highlights of the trip have included time spent in Virginia City, an old gold mining town established in 1863 with the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch just outside of town where many, many of the original buildings have been preserved and are being used as a museum and as stores, restaurants and even theaters.  One event was the Brewery Follies, a ribald four-person show (for adults, of course) that had us laughing for a couple of hours.  Another was a melodrama, Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll, at another theater where the actors were also of excellent quality.
      Additionally, we visited the Headwaters of the Missouri state park, about four hours north of Ennis.  Three rivers, running north - the Madison, the Jefferson and the Gallatin - come together in meandering fashion to form the Missouri River.  Did you know that it runs north here in Montana, eventually running east and then south to form the borders of Iowa on the east and Missouri on the west?  The headwaters is a lovely area, where the young Indian guide of Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, grew up.  She was kidnapped as a young child by another tribe and only returned there with Lewis and Clark where she was reunited with her brother.
     We also made three trips to Bozeman, a vital small town with a really great dinosaur museum, the Museum of the Rockies.  Many of the best paleontologists in the country work here at the University of Montana and have made many great dinosaur discoveries, which are reflected in the museum.  It was world class, in our opinion.
    We hiked in the Gravelly Mountains where we saw some deer and a couple of moose that we woke up from their afternoon nap.
     We went back twice more to the Waters of the World hot springs, a place that probably ranks as our favorite place.  We did not get to Yellowstone but will be driving though it as we drive south to Jackson, WY in a couple of days.
     Below are some photos that reflect some of our best experiences.

Main Street of Ennis.  Nice shops and a movie theater that functions three nights a week.  Only $5 per ticket!

One of the antelopes Harold encounters every time he goes for a bike ride.

If you look closely, on the left you'll see a couple of cowboys on horseback herding a huge herd of cows.  Harold also ran into this sight on one of his bike rides.

Some of the old buildings in Virginia City.

A couple of the graves on Boot Hill in Virginia City.  If you read the headstones carefully, you'll see these two varmints were hanged.

Hiking in the Gravelly Mountains

This is the beautiful country at the Headwaters of the Missouri.

This is Harold, flexing his Trailer Park muscles.  Don't mess with him.