One Last Stop in Missoula Before I Fly Away!

Missoula is one of my favorite places, because there's so much to do here. Usually it's smokey, but this year there's been lots of rain. Not good for touring, but really good for rainbows!

We're parked near Fort Missoula, and on the Fourth of July they had a celebration going on. First stop, the train!

I don't think their parents shouldn't let these kids play with the bears!

There are lots of buildings open on the grounds, including this schoolhouse.

And this old trolley.

The cutest tour guide in the world showed us the trolley and the 100-year-old fire truck behind him.

There was a baby pony nearby, only a week old!

The next day, we had a tour of the Smokejumpers Visitors Center near the airport. Smokejumpers jump out of airplanes to put out fires in the wilderness.

This is where the parachutes are repaired and packed. The repairs are necessary because they land in trees a lot of the time. It takes an hour to fold and pack a parachute properly.

This is one of the planes they use.

I got a free ride and jump!

Afterwards, we stopped by the National Weather Service next door. This guy was very patient and answered all our questions. There are 122 National Weather Service locations throughout the US.

On Saturday, we went to the 3 Farmers Markets in downtown Missoula. I forgot to take pictures, except for this one...

The next day, we drove up to Lolo Hot Springs. This is the very hot pool -

And this is the warm pool. I wish they had one in between, but it was still great. We just went back and forth between the two.

My last stop was a visit to St. Francis Xavier Church. In 1892, this was Montana's largest church.

The paintings were hand painted by a Jesuit lay priest, who also did the paintings in the San Ignatius Mission north of here that I have visited a couple times before.

Even the Stations of the Cross are hand-painted!

Well, I'm finally caught up on the blog! I'm on my way to a trip across the pond, so I won't be posting until I get back. But I will post on Facebook, if you can't wait!