I stayed the night of Friday October 20 at an Airbnb in a small town outside Missoula, Montana called Lolo. I got in a bit late so had to scrap plans to check out the Jack Saloon— a quirky, literally off-the-beaten path place that had piqued my interest when researching the area– and settled for a beer at the nearby Lolo Peak Brewing Company instead.

My host in Lolo was a sweet older lady whose dog had died recently, so she was very excited about Ollie and had lots of treats for him. She’d been hosting on a longer-term basis an architect from Colorado who’d taken a job in Missoula and was waiting for the right time to settle and bring his wife and young child up from Denver. In the morning they served me applesauce they’d made from apples from the backyard, and it was clear the architect was pleased with the results and to have learned this new skill.

Then I got an early start for what would be a jam-packed Saturday. My first stop was the National Bison Range, an hour north. It was a beautiful drive and the range itself was beautiful as well. We drove until we saw the promised bison, then continued north for what was one of my most highly anticipated stops on the trip: Glacier National Park.