6:41am, Big Sky…about an hour NW of Yellowstone’s west entrance.
I am writing this on my phone (apologies) as I purposefully decided to NOT bring my ever trusty laptop on this trip. I have very little time at the moment anyway (apologies) as I will shortly be prepping the family for an early morning excursion to the country’s first national park. Thoughts of Yogi Bear playing in my head.
This is my first road trip to cross the Continental Divide, though I am still in “the West” if not the Northwest. As is the case with much (most) of Montana, the land is beautiful and still largely undeveloped, though probably far too developed for long-time locals. The place I’m staying in…some sort of resort town equivalent to Whistler, B.C….is the kind of thing that Montanans like my relatives absolutely hate. Just catering to outside money that makes it harder for Average Joe to afford the best scenery, hunting, and fishing. Prices at the local grocery are about 150-170% of Seattle (that’s withOUT the 10% sales tax Seattleites pay!). Just ridiculous.
Ah, well. The way of things. “Progress.” Except that Montana has its own homelessness crisis (in cities like Missoula) that are proportionally equivalent to what I see in my hometown.
Lewis & Clark Caverns, by the way, are pretty awesome and gave me a lot of info/insight into exploring subterranean depths, especially the phenomenon known as “cave darkness.” Perhaps more on that later.
Hope folks are having a good week.
Just a neighborly FYI - Food is not taxed in the great state of Washington. In a grocery store here only alcohol, deli and non-food items are taxed with the 10% Seattle sales tax.
ReplyDeleteI buy a lot of alcohol and non-food items in Washington, and I’m buying many of the same things in the grocery stores here (we’re renting a place rather than living out of a hotel).
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