We Did It Again

I should have stayed home and quilted today but the weather was just too gorgeous again.  Michael mentioned a couple days ago that he would like to visit Sapphire Valley just southwest of the tiny town of Utica, Montana.  So off we went.

North to Harlowton—JB and Brenda, we noticed parts of your roof along the way—then north to Judith Gap where we finally stopped in at the Judith Gap Mercantile for their world famous milkshakes—Michael had strawberry and I had black raspberry—delicious!  The Mercantile is now owned by a woman with a delightful English accent—she has turned the place into a restaurant/store/motel.  On Friday and Saturday nights she serves gourmet dinners, we may have to gather a gang and take off for Judith Gap one evening!

Judith Gap is also famous for the windmill farm—massive windmills rising out of the former pasture land. That is a pickup truck at the base of the windmill to put things in perspective!

At Eddie’s Corner (it is a gas station/casino complex) we turned west and headed to Utica.  Jill told us the bar (that’s all there is in Utica) made great hamburgers but I had packed a picnic and we elected to munch as we traveled instead of stopping.  Just outside Utica via gravel road is Sapphire Valley—beautiful scenery but not much else. 

On the map we both noticed a road traveling south out of Sapphire Valley connecting with the road from White Sulphur Springs and Harlowton.  We asked in Sapphire Valley about road conditions and were told we would have no problems on the road in our Jeep.  It was a gravel road—all 50 miles!! of it—but in extremely good condition.  On the 50 miles we saw 2 vehicles.  The countryside was beautiful, forested, massive rocks rising out of the forest and the South Fork of the Judith River followed the road.  We had a great day!

The sun was so bright most of my photos look washed out. 

Another why we live in Montana kind of day—life is good.