Montana 2009 - Day 3

Most of day three in Montana was spent going back to the future like Marty McFly in the third installment of the classic movie trilogy involving a suped up, one of a kind sports car. But instead of escaping the Old West's rugged Cowboys and Native Americans in a DeLorean, we were enjoying some old mining towns of the late 1800s in a Nissan Armada that did not have to reach 88 mph...it also sat four folks comfortably and flux capacitor was not required.

The road trip down to Ennis took us through some of Montana's oldest towns that reached their heights in the gold rush days gone way by. The first stop was the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Laurin....

Followed by a stroll up and down some rustic two-by wooden plank style sidewalks in Nevada and Virginia City.

As the rural country landscape drive ended and cell phone service returned, we came out of one of nature's valley and came face to face with another. The Madison River Valley and the town of Ennis somewhere down there...

As nice as it was to be back in the future in Ennis, it was interesting to learn about the small towns we passed through on our country tour drive. They are historic landmarks that help paint a picture of the tough conditions that once were when brave souls ventured westward as the United States grew years after the Louisiana Purchase in the nineteenth century. Roads were; hoof beaten trails, rivers flowing between cities, and railways for a quicker means of transportation. As much of the world think things needs to change, it is always a pleasure to visit places where humble roots hold strong and good folks keep important history alive. It helps shed a bright light on the determined greatness of America and gives a guy like me a chance to fly fish some incredible water in incredible countryside today.

-Parker