Wanna get high?

Macdonald pass, 6312ft. The golden arches can suck it

Another day out here in big sky Montana. We had a great breakfast with My aunt Sheila and Uncle Dave. Nothing gets the day started like bacon from a wood fired washing machine and pancakes. Afterwards it was today's journey to travel east to Helena in Shirley to gather a few supplies and check out the city of Helena. Roo is still combating heat sickness so I gathered the proper materials to fully clean out the CAC and radiator. We had to roll through Macdonald pass in order to reach helena. Shirley decided to strike a pose.

Flexin her muscles. Not bad for a stock suspension XJ

Helena has got a few things to see. It's the sixth largest city in Montana at a massive 30k people. Want your mind blown? The city of Billings is the largest at a staggering 110k. You can drive for miles around here and see nobody. Nothing. It's kind of wild and we are still not use to it. In terms of total population this place is #44 on the list but is the 4th largest state  in landmass. 
Anyways back to Helena. I asked the guy at ACE hardware what there is too see around here. His response was perfect, " I grew up around here so there's nothing really exciting to me. I heard the state capitol building is nice. Lots of marble and shiny floors". This is what he said almost verbatim, I shit you not. Shiny floors? I like shiny stuff. I skip over to the jeep in jubilation of shiny objects but Katie has already picked out another spot for us to check out. Time to hit up the Cathedral of St. Helena.

Now that's a badass church

I'm not a real churchy guy but this place is cool and just oozes with character. It's amazing what people used to build back in the day with the technology of the time. This hunk of rock is from 1908 and comes complete with built in pipe organ and amazing stained glass work.

We power walked the church in just a few minutes because Eli was in the jeep. Waves of oppressive heat in Montana have kept it at a steady 90°-100° during the day. To the shiny floors! Finally something that sparkles and can hold my short attention span for a few moments. 

Impressive? Not really. I give it a 5 out of 10. We've been to a few state capitols and Madison was by far the best. Back across the mountain pass and to Elliston once more. I get Roo cleaned up as good as I can and dinner is being made in the house. We eat and then decide to go get some ice cream. My aunt drives to the nearest little convenience store that is only a few miles away. She comes back empty handed, it's closed. We pile into the car and drive 10 miles to the closest restaurant. Katie and I split a Huckleberry shake. A little fruit that taste a lot like blueberries.

It's a little cowboy boot

I want to put something into perspective for ya. My aunt and uncles house is in the mountains. I don't mean like, "hey they see a mountain". It's more like " We are all gonna die if everyone doesn't chip in". I'll summarize in a list for the stupid people reading this how far out they are

• Mailbox? Forget it. Go to the post office that's open 20 hours a week
• Propane or Natural Gas? Good luck... no one delivers. Start a fire or die
• Road maintenance? The county said do it yourself, your road doesn't exist (no street signs)
• Wildlife? The bears ate the seat off there four wheeler last year
• Weather? It was 15° cooler than Helena which is 25 miles away, gets to -30° in the winter

So why here? What the hell is the point? The view is amazing.

Look close. We could actually see the end of the rainbow