The Fantastic Veggie Bus!

The end of August! Wow! Well, we did go crystal digging as planned and we loved it! That night and the next night we stayed at Elkhorn Hot Springs and did some more soaking. There's something about hot springs that seem to attract the neatest people. We ate dinner in the restaurant that night and as Chris and I talked to some new friends, Ema joined some other kids in an impromptu yoga class in the middle of the not busy and very laid back restaurant. The instuctor was a mom waiting for her food. We treated ourselves to a horseback ride the next day. It was one of the most beautiful forests I have ever seen. When we rolled on, we stuck to the scenic roads and tested the limits of the bus. Both the bus and the driver succeeded with flying colors and the views were worth it! We visited two different ghosts towns on our way back up to Missoula. One was in unrestored condition and the other very restored. It was great to see the two vastly different places. We ended up with a good sense of what the mining towns were like back then. After spending the night at a free unadvertised campsite discovered by being in the right place at the right time, we returned to Missoula. I'm starting to feel like I live here, hmmmmmm.
Chris devised a funnel made out of pvc in an effort to simplify filling the grease tank. It worked wonderfully and should cut out some of the elbow grease...ha ha! Tomorrow, the time has come to head south toward home. We will go slowly through Yellowstone and the Tetons and anything else that trips our trigger on the way. Our goal is to be back in Springfield by the 10th so we can attend our friends music festival, Lovefest. We look forward to seeing all our friends and family. And won't our little house seem big! Chances are fairly slim that I will be able to post on our way home. If you don't hear from me you can assume everything is going well. I look forward to taking the veggie bus to more towns and talking to more people. I am happy to report that our diesel tank, which we filled up 2 months ago before we left Springfield, is still half full (or half empty whichever you prefer). Point is, we have driven around 2,300 miles and only used a half a tank. Let's see if we can make it all the way back home with diesel to spare!

Boy, I just read over my last post...I must have been tired!
The hay is all up in big beautiful stacks! I am so glad we came out and took part in this method that is quickly becoming history. There is something special about being out there in the hayfield. Buckracks roaring everywhere, wheelrakes going round and round, people hollering and dust in your eyes. I have never spent so many days with grease from head to toe. We were all quite a sight by the end of each day. When I would feel frustrated I would look up and see the gorgeous mountains all around me and the wildflowers in every color at the edge of the fields. Sometimes, I would get a whiff of mint. One afternoon we got a whiff of smoke as one of the tractors caught on fire along with a sizable pile of hay and a buckrack. It was a scary moment as the realization crept in of how easily this whole field or more could burst into flames if the fire got even a little out of control. Luckily people thought quickly and the wind, which was gusting just moments before, stood still.
Now that it is all over, Ema was handed her first paycheck, which she took great pride in. She liked it so much she doesn't want to cash it yet, she just wants to be able to look at it for awhile. It has been nice being able to sleep in again, I think I'm getting spoiled! I defiantly miss having breakfast, lunch (or supper as they say around here), and dinner prepared for us. I didn't have to wash a dish or think of a meal for 3 weeks. And we had desert twice a day! Oh my! Someday I will be able to post some pictures of our haying experience.
We are still in the Big Hole for the moment. Chris decided to work a couple more days while Ema and I got the bus back in order and visited "Toots and Grandad" , my grandparents. I believe our plan is to (now don't hold me to it, it is always changing!) go crystal digging on Monday then Tuesday head north again for just a little longer. We are going to go to Garnet Ghost Town and then back to Missoula before we head out of Montana.
Before we left I figured we would either love this experience or get home sell the bus and chalk it up to experience. Now we are all 3 trying to figure out how to go south for the winter. I guess that speaks for itself. Even our daughter who, in case you don't know, is 8 years old, suggested we go home for a month or two and then go somewhere else. That really tickled me to hear that suggestion come out of her mouth without any coaxing from me. I am also enjoying seeing her embrace somewhat of an "unschooling" approach to home schooling. But that will be a post of its own someday.
By the way, the Missoulian did end up putting a little tidbit about the veggie bus in the Sunday paper a couple weeks ago. My cousin got bumped off her flight in Missoula and to help pass the time, bought a paper. I'm sure glad she did or we would have never known it was in there. Yesterday (Thursday) an article came out in The Eldon Advertiser which is the local paper from the town where I grew up. Here we are sitting in the same spot in the middle of nowhere and still getting press!