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Which city is your favorite?

My other story is from a job I had in Denver back in the early '90s. I had just left journalism to teach English, U.S. History and Journalism at a high school in Aurora, but I did summer work for the University of Denver.

My wife is from Aurora, CO. She went to Overland High School around that time you were teaching...
 
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Some day when I've had enough Maker's Mark I'll share my honeymoon adventure in the Presidential Hotel in downtown Missoula in the summer of 78.

F'n King Tut exhibition!

It involved a dead old woman in the lobby, a (seemingly) gay guy in the elevator who bore a disturbing resemblance to my brother, a broken bed frame and a shared toilet. Not much fun but my wife and I still laugh at the memory.

Some day when I've had enough Maker's Mark I'll share my honeymoon adventure in the Presidential Hotel in downtown Missoula in the summer of 78.

F'n King Tut exhibition!

It involved a dead old woman in the lobby, a (seemingly) gay guy in the elevator who bore a disturbing resemblance to my brother, a broken bed frame and a shared toilet. Not much fun but my wife and I still laugh at the memory.
I can't remember whether my Missoula story took place in the Summer of 78 or 79. I was visiting a cousin who had recently graduated from the University of Montana. After dinner she and her roommate wanted to go to a party being thrown by some guys they knew at their house. It was a pretty low-key party with just about a dozen or so people. There was this one rather odd chick who was kind of earthy. One of those Easterners who had come West to go to college. She was telling everyone how she had spent most of the summer in a remote mountain cabin studying some animal or plant for a class. She had just gotten back in town that day and had not seen another person for several weeks. She was ready to party. She kept on trying to get a guy, any guy to dance with her or do shots, but everyone was just having a good time and ignoring her. She started yelling to no one in particular how the party sucked and it was too boring. Well, she took care of that real quick. It was getting late and just a few of us were left. She went to the bathroom and came back out to the party start-ass naked. One of the guys throwing the party came to me and told me how I had to get my cousin and her roommate out of the house. He was us gone. As I was pushing my cousin and her roommate out the front door, I took a look back and the scene was that of a group of vultures attacking a carcass.
 
Big cities can be fun for about 2 days....any longer than that and I'm dying to get away into nature.

I much prefer smaller cities. There is still enough to do and good places to eat, but yet easy to get away from the crowds when I want to. In Europe, I enjoyed Girona, Spain; Avignon, France; and Siena, Italy.

In the U.S., I like Santa Barbara, Bozeman, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Frisco CO (Not a city really but close to many great outdoor areas in Colorado).
 
I can't remember whether my Missoula story took place in the Summer of 78 or 79. I was visiting a cousin who had recently graduated from the University of Montana. After dinner she and her roommate wanted to go to a party being thrown by some guys they knew at their house. It was a pretty low-key party with just about a dozen or so people. There was this one rather odd chick who was kind of earthy. One of those Easterners who had come West to go to college. She was telling everyone how she had spent most of the summer in a remote mountain cabin studying some animal or plant for a class. She had just gotten back in town that day and had not seen another person for several weeks. She was ready to party. She kept on trying to get a guy, any guy to dance with her or do shots, but everyone was just having a good time and ignoring her. She started yelling to no one in particular how the party sucked and it was too boring. Well, she took care of that real quick. It was getting late and just a few of us were left. She went to the bathroom and came back out to the party start-ass naked. One of the guys throwing the party came to me and told me how I had to get my cousin and her roommate out of the house. He was us gone. As I was pushing my cousin and her roommate out the front door, I took a look back and the scene was that of a group of vultures attacking a carcass.
An oft-repeated story that gets scarier the older (and wiser) one gets. I wonder if she had been studying the famous Spanish Fly......
 
Big cities can be fun for about 2 days....any longer than that and I'm dying to get away into nature.

I much prefer smaller cities. There is still enough to do and good places to eat, but yet easy to get away from the crowds when I want to. In Europe, I enjoyed Girona, Spain; Avignon, France; and Siena, Italy.

In the U.S., I like Santa Barbara, Bozeman, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Frisco CO (Not a city really but close to many great outdoor areas in Colorado).
Love Bozeman, but it is not the Bozeman I grew-up with. It exploded during Covid. Try buying a single-family house there. I will be there in July having a beer at the Rocking R Bar. Frisco? I can see you saying nearby Breck, but Frisco is just a collection of restaurants, condo clusters, fast food joints and Wal-Mart next to I-70.
 
Love Bozeman, but it is not the Bozeman I grew-up with. It exploded during Covid. Try buying a single-family house there. I will be there in July having a beer at the Rocking R Bar. Frisco? I can see you saying nearby Breck, but Frisco is just a collection of restaurants, condo clusters, fast food joints and Wal-Mart next to I-70.
Buena Vista is nice.
 
Love Bozeman, but it is not the Bozeman I grew-up with. It exploded during Covid. Try buying a single-family house there. I will be there in July having a beer at the Rocking R Bar. Frisco? I can see you saying nearby Breck, but Frisco is just a collection of restaurants, condo clusters, fast food joints and Wal-Mart next to I-70.

Anything near Breck costs way more than it should...but you could do worse than Frisco if you're into mtn biking. I think about retiring in the mountains but i'm afraid that has become a pipe dream with what everything costs there now. Since I only like the summer weather there anyway it's probably for the best... and I'll try to rent something for 8-12 weeks during the summer instead. In a perfect world...Moab during April and May....Colorado mountain town for June July and August.
 
Love Bozeman, but it is not the Bozeman I grew-up with. It exploded during Covid. Try buying a single-family house there. I will be there in July having a beer at the Rocking R Bar. Frisco? I can see you saying nearby Breck, but Frisco is just a collection of restaurants, condo clusters, fast food joints and Wal-Mart next to I-70.

I like Frisco because it's close to so many great outdoor areas.....Breck, Copper, Keystone, Sapphire Point, and Dillon Reservoir. I like the Breck resort but the town itself is too flooded with tourists....Frisco is quieter and not as touristy.
 
The natives are way outnumbered now by Californians escaping the “utopia” they’ve created
not in Seeley Lake & surrounding areas on hwy 200 & 83. hell, even Bonner remains unmolested.

I look forward to firing countless rounds from an arsenal on a Christmas tree farm in Potomac on the Fourth, with perhaps a dozen or so humans tops within earshot

bozeman is fake MT for tourists and always has been
 
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@dinglefritz you would LOVE the rural mountains and lakes outside of Missoula

Salmon Lake is so clear you'd think it's a mirage. never anybody there, tons of parking, can camp, fish, boat, float, whatever

north, south, east - it is God's country
 
@dinglefritz you would LOVE the rural mountains and lakes outside of Missoula

Salmon Lake is so clear you'd think it's a mirage. never anybody there, tons of parking, can camp, fish, boat, float, whatever

north, south, east - it is God's country
I’ve hiked and camped in the Bob Marshall Wilderness bordering Glacier and Spanish Peaks Wilderness north of Yellowstone. I do love the state just not what the WC migrants are doing to it and its politics. I’ve tent camped in areas bordering Yellowstone that are hard side campers only now. I’ve watched grizzlies dash in to our campsite as we were leaving one in the Bob. 😮. My days of backpacking and hiking are over though.
 
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Enjoyed Savanah. Nashville if you haven't done that - but skip Friday/Saturday night. A lot of 20somethings and bars tend away from country music to whatever those kids listen to these days, although you can still find some at the smaller places). Otherwise, Sunday is so chill, as are the weekdays.

Haven't been, but have heard Ashville, NC is awesome, particularly if you are into breweries. But, news about spiralling crime in downtown Ashville lately leads me toward waiting on that trip. Used to stay in downtown Chicago. Hot Springs, AK was fun, particularly if the ponies are running. Otherwise, its about a day trip rather than a destination.

Depending how old you are, our 20 something kids and their friends love the area just north of downtown Dallas. I forget what its called. They also go to the stockyards area, which might be Arlington or Fort Worth? or maybe still Dallas proper.

Probably our favorite place in CA is the stretch from Huntington Beach down to Laguna Beach. Any chance we get, we spend several days in Laguna Beach area. Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida over to about Panama City is also a can't miss.

Visiited Boston 35 years ago. Always mean to get back there to visit more historical sites there - if you go, do a day trip up the coats to Salem (we went Halloween weekend, which was fun).
I visited Salem a few nights before Halloween. There were covens of witches and warlocks from all over the country that were meeting there. Some professed to be good, and some evil. Had an absolute blast. As far as autumn, maples, and pumpkins go, New England is the original, and the real deal.
 
I’ve hiked and camped in the Bob Marshall Wilderness bordering Glacier and Spanish Peaks Wilderness north of Yellowstone. I do love the state just not what the WC migrants are doing to it and its politics. I’ve tent camped in areas bordering Yellowstone that are hard side campers only now. I’ve watched grizzlies dash in to our campsite as we were leaving one in the Bob. 😮. My days of backpacking and hiking are over though.
amazing, and I agree about the secret being out

the drive from Missoula east on 200 is still like going back in time 50 years. don't tell anyone lol
 
San Diego. Best weather in the US. You've got food, you've got the beach, you can tour ships, great zoo, catch a padres game, go sailing.
But..............it's california and lots of people
 
not in Seeley Lake & surrounding areas on hwy 200 & 83. hell, even Bonner remains unmolested.

I look forward to firing countless rounds from an arsenal on a Christmas tree farm in Potomac on the Fourth, with perhaps a dozen or so humans tops within earshot

bozeman is fake MT for tourists and always has been
My mother's hometown of Lewistown has not been hit too bad by outsiders. Lewistown is in Central Montana in a big valley surrounded by several small mountain ranges with the highest, the Big Snowies rising over 8000 feet. Has Spring Creek flowing right through town. Has a population of 6000 residents and still primary an agriculture town. I think what hurts or saves Lewistown, however you want to look at it is there is no close airport, it is not on the interstate and no ski area close to it. Billings has Red Lodge. Butte and Anaconda have Discovery. Missoula has Montana Snowbowl and Lost Trails. The Flathead Lake area has smaller Blacktail (our local ski area owner bought this area 2 years ago) and larger Whitefish. Helena has Great Divide and Bozeman has Bridger and Big Sky. The closest hill to Lewistown is smallish Showdown that is about two hours away and closer to Great Falls. My wife and I go to Lewistown in July. We have tickets to the rodeo. Once she retires, I think we will spend even more time there in July and August. Get out of the Eastern Washington heat. I take Hwy 200 that Kong mentions to get from Missoula to Great Falls and then on to Lewistown.

I have an old co-worker who grew-up in Great Falls. His family has owned a cabin on Seeley Lake since the sixties. Cool place.
 
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I’ve hiked and camped in the Bob Marshall Wilderness bordering Glacier and Spanish Peaks Wilderness north of Yellowstone. I do love the state just not what the WC migrants are doing to it and its politics. I’ve tent camped in areas bordering Yellowstone that are hard side campers only now. I’ve watched grizzlies dash in to our campsite as we were leaving one in the Bob. 😮. My days of backpacking and hiking are over though.
I had a black bear in my camp in RMNP at 3am a few miles up the mountain from the Bear Lake trailhead. Ripped a couple packs open, walked next to my wifes side of my tent, brushed against it on its way by. There is nothing more unnerving than being the only one awake to hear something like that as it is happening. Not sure if you should yell for your buddies or wake your wife up because your mind could be playing tricks on you and you dont want to look like a pussy. Eventually it ran off when one of the tent zippers opened. Also had a crazy night sleeping at Lawn Lake there up over 11,000 ft with some crazy lights in the forest and on the walls of Mummy Mountain. BUT, I have never gotten another good night sleep while in bear country. Buddy brought a gun last time we were there (lost creek wilderness, very cool area), but not so sure what that was gonna do other than possibly scare it away. Cant imagine back country camping in grizzly territory.
 
I had a black bear in my camp in RMNP at 3am a few miles up the mountain from the Bear Lake trailhead. Ripped a couple packs open, walked next to my wifes side of my tent, brushed against it on its way by. There is nothing more unnerving than being the only one awake to hear something like that as it is happening. Not sure if you should yell for your buddies or wake your wife up because your mind could be playing tricks on you and you dont want to look like a pussy. Eventually it ran off when one of the tent zippers opened. Also had a crazy night sleeping at Lawn Lake there up over 11,000 ft with some crazy lights in the forest and on the walls of Mummy Mountain. BUT, I have never gotten another good night sleep while in bear country. Buddy brought a gun last time we were there (lost creek wilderness, very cool area), but not so sure what that was gonna do other than possibly scare it away. Cant imagine back country camping in grizzly territory.
Dude.

That is some pants pissing adventure right there.

Every summer someone wakes up in CO with their head in a bear’s mouth. Glad it wasn’t you.
 
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