We headed down from Whitefish to Missoula to restock, relax and visit with family. We skipped Missoula last year due to the forest fires all around town that created unhealthy air quality in much of that area. This year there was some light smoke in the air but not too bad. We had the truck’s oil changed and I gave it a much needed bath. We also restocked for the next leg of our journey. The farmer’s market has quite a lot of great produce to choose from this time of year.

I bought some maple syrup aged in local bourbon barrels and used it to baste fresh salmon in Klaus’ smoker. A few future meals for the road. I also made another batch of bolognaise sauce to restock our camper freezer.

Missoula has quite a few micro-breweries in town now. The town has added some street signs to help drivers.

Leslie’s neighbor has beautiful flowering plants all around their back yard. The local deer have not figured a way through or over their fence yet, so they settle for the grass in the front yard.

Occasionally, one will stray into Leslie’s yard and nibble on their front bushes by the window.

We took a trip to Snowbowl, their local ski area, to do a day hike. From the top you could see down into the Missoula city valley off in the distance to the east.

The mountains to the west were holding back much of the forest fire smoke from the fires in northern Idaho.

You don’t get to ride down the chairlifts very often so it makes for an interesting ride.

We left Missoula and headed across to Helena. A favorite brewery for both of us is the Lewis and Clark Brewery in Helena.

We camped south of Bozeman at Spire Rock CG along the Gallatin River for the Labor Day Weekend. It was the spot Leslie and Klaus had reserved back in June, but we arrived a day early and cut a deal with the host so that we could all stay there for the weekend.