Visiting Jen and Eric in Hamilton, Montana

Our daughter and her husband moved from sunny Florida to the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. They were tired of the crowds, traffic jams. Months long red tides. It was quite a move from an area that has millions of people to a city of four thousand. They had a problem finding a place to live and so they rented a Vrbo. Another place came up and they moved into work housing at a much cheaper price. There was time left on the Vrbo and so they invited us to stay there for free. It was perfect timing as our place in Star Valley was not yet open.

Jen had warned us that as soon as we arrived a flock of chickens would come rushing up and demand that we feed them. We both laughed as we watched their wobbly run from the chicken coop to our vehicle. Jen had provided us with breadcrumbs, which the chickens gobbled up, (this turned into a daily occurrence/ritual).

The next day the kids, (they will always be kids), took us for a drive into the Bitterroot Mountains. Elk grazed in the pastures and bighorn sheep fed on high pastures, before later coming down to the road, to lick salt on the highway.

Both are into fitness and hiking and so we took a short hike. The next day Eric drove us to The Metcalf Wildlife Refuge. There we took a longer hike and enjoyed the warm temperatures and birding opportunities. Right away we got a picture of an American Goldfinch singing from the top if a tall tree.

A savannah sparrow serenaded us, and we spotted a western bluebird. As we neared the Bitterroot River, an osprey flew over and two mallards jumped from a small pond. Buffalo Head ducks worked the other bank of the river and at one-point turkeys paraded in their spring display ritual. The highlight of the hike was when we neared three red tail hawks.

They were each perched atop a tall ponderosa pine tree and were calling one another. They all flew from their perches and circled as as they competed for a female’s attention, (The shot was just after the hawk took off and is the best hawk picture I have ever taken).

After the hike we stopped at a large antique store, but I was not impressed with the few rocks they had for sale. We also stopped at an antique store. They did offer a couple of stone axe heads but with no provenance, they were just rocks with grooves and overpriced. A third day we walked the downtown area. Shopping is definitely not Erics favorite thing but at one farm store chickens were for sale and Jen gazed long fully at the little chicks, hm. The kids are in the process of building a new house on an acre of land and we think a flock of chickens may be in their future. Enough for now. It is snowing here in Wyoming so we will finish writing about our visit in the next blog. Clear skies