Smoke In The Valley - We Took The Car

I was planning a ride through Western Montana with Grace riding the sidecar.
It looked great but the smoke filled valley made me opt for the car instead.
The smoke was lying heavy across the valley and air quality reports were saying the elderly should remain inside today.
There are fires all around us and the Oregon, Washington fires are contributing to our bad air days.

We both wanted to visit the small city of Phillipsburg, Montana, primarily to see what many believe is the largest candy store between the Twin Cities and Seattle, WA.
We took US 12 to I-90, then dropped off the Interstate and onto MT1.
The two lane Montana 1 highway carried us through some beautiful, but smoke filled, valleys and into Phillipsburg. First stop was the Doe Brothers restaurant.

 This unique old fashioned restaurant had a full menu and even has a Malt Bar like an old time malt shop.

The primary reason for visiting this beautiful small town was the Sweet Palace Candy Store. Rows of candy of every variety, color and description were lined up on both walls. A young man was the official greeter and his main job was to offer free samples of their home made taffy.
Grace filled a bag with a variety of fruit flavored candy and I headed for the Fudge counter.
Linda had sent me on a mission to bring back at least one box of Huckleberry Fudge.
The free sample gave us every reason to believe her choice was good.

I added a box of Maple Nut fudge for good measure and our candy search was coming to an end. This is one store a person could spend hours in and still not see everything.

Once out of the candy store we had to take a walk down Main Street and see the old buildings which have been restored to create the Old Time atmosphere the community is noted for.


 Leaving Phillipsburg we drove south on MT1 and found a great Bikers Highway with twists and turns and beautiful cliffs.

We were protected from the drop off on the right side of the car by heavy concrete barriers, while on the left side of the road cliffs rose high into the air until reaching the tree line of the mountain.
Miles of narrow two lane highway, twisting and turning through the scenic vistas will draw me back for a bike ride through the twisties.

 

 A few more miles and we turned a corner to find the choppy waters of Lake George running for miles beside the highway.
A few brave souls had fishing boats in the water.





This is a beautiful drive through Montana mountain country.
Many large houses lined the hillside above the lake.

The smoke from all the fires burning in the state had drifted into the valley and limited vision in some directions.

We slowed down and pulled off the road to watch as Fire Fighters from as far away as Canada and South Dakota moved down the highways, headed for their assignment.
These men and women were coming in from out of state to give some relief to the exhausted people who have been climbing steep hillsides trying to reach the hot spots in the fires.
Several signs were seen on area roadways, saying Thanks Fire Fighters.
I'm sure the expressions of gratitude and support mean a lot to the bone weary men and women who have been manning the fire lines for many days.

Moving onto I-90 at Anaconda we headed for Deer Lodge and the famous Old Prison Cow ice cream stand which, while dishing out great ice cream cones is also raising money for the Old Prison Museum and heritage center.

Grace posed for an obligatory photo op with the prisoner who sat ready and waiting by the entrance to the museum.

With both the Old Prison Museum and the Old Car museum located in the same building it will require another visit to Deer Lodge for sure.

 There is no end to the photo ops presented in the Deer Lodge Old Prison complex.

That looks like a biker peering through Prison Guard cut out.

This has been a great Day Trip through some beautiful Montana countryside and has taken us into a couple of communities, off the regular tourist byways.

There is so much to do in both Phillipsburg and Deer Lodge that we will most certainly have to visit the area again in the near future.
The next trip will be aboard the Honda VTX 1300.
I am looking forward to that ride through the mountains to Lake George and beyond.
Grace and I had a good time and I hope you have enjoyed it too.

Watch for me, I'll be in the Right Lane America.

Del "Lonnie" Lonnquist