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We Met ’em in Montana, Part Two, or Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Sometimes)
One more picture I forgot to post yesterday, taken Thursday afternoon outside the Smokejumpers Museum.
Randy was nice enough to let me ride with him on the trip to the museum. Boy, that car can really go!
Thursday night, we hung out at the house, and Randy went to fetch MLH, really late (sorry I boo-booed on this the first time).
Friday, the first planned activity was lunch at Rosa’s Pizza. We filled up the second floor of the restaurant, and had great pizza. I don’t think the owners knew what hit them! More people had come in on Thursday, and it was a big group.
Our very own Kay of MT! What a great lady she is. She kept up lively conversation with everyone, and we were honored to finally meet her. She’s talking to @Vectorman as Sarah Weivoda looks on.
@mattbalzer, Two Rhodys, @MLH, and @jasonrudert (not necessarily in that order).
Tim and Pat, Mr. and Mrs. @lockeon, and @raykujawa.
Next on Friday’s agenda, we all walked the half block down the street to the Whistling Andy Distillery, and some people had a drink at the bar before the tour by the owner. Great fun, and interesting too.
That’s TG, second from right in this picture. Just a delightful lady. But then, all the Ricochetti we met were delightful.
I may have some things out of order here, but we did spend a lot of time out on the deck at the house. I couldn’t believe it, when @rickpoach arrived, he had cigars, and invited people outside to have a smoke! As if there wasn’t enough smoke already! Rudert and at least one other person did take him up on his offer.
@jasonrudert, Joan Poach, wife of @rickpoach, @vectorman, @mlh.
Friday night, we all trooped out to downtown Bigfork, and had a nice dinner at Grill459 restaurant. More new people showed up!
@mattbalzer, @jdsnapp, Sarah Weivoda.
@kelsurprise talking to Vectorman, @kayofmt, @mlh, Kaylett (waving), relatives of Kay, and @sawatdeeka at the end of the table.
@vicrylcontessa and @1967mustangman arrived.
After dinner, we all made it back to the cabin for after-dinner drinks, games, and the usual great Ricochet conversation. And guess who showed up? The Ricochet Member formerly known as RyanM, his lovely wife, Heather, and their two adorable kids, Finley and Kieran.
Could those smiles get any wider? Ryan is holding Kieran, the youngest.
Heather and Finley.
Stay tuned for Part Three.
Published in Meetups
Nice.
Looks like great fun. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing the smiles. What a wonderful experience. It’s so nice to have faces to associate with names.
Thank you for taking all the pictures, RushBabe! Here are a few more shots from Whistling Andy Distillery.
I am sad that we missed the Distillery and the dinner. Famous last words, I said “this hearing could be super quick, and we’ll be out of here by 10:00.” 3 hours later, with wife and kids and dog, who had previously been waiting in the parking lot, now at a park getting a little exercise … they picked me up so I could enjoy a cold BigMac (still good) to start our 8 hour drive.
Cutest thing was that Mommy prepped the boys on the way back to court to get me. “Daddy just had a really hard hearing and you guys need to be super nice to him, ok?” So I got in the car to two hugging boys who both offered me treats from their lunch, a few of their favorite books to read, and a stuffed animal and blanket to snuggle with…
To be honest, though – we arrived in MT to a smoke so thick that claustrophobia started to actually set in. And we left with clear skies, coming back to a Yakima that seems to have broken free of the 100 degree summer, ripe grapes on the vine, the smell of hops and fresh apples. Everything comes in waves, it seems, and sometimes you just need a nice little 4-day weekend to push things along…
Looks like quite a crowd. I could swear I had seen some of those faces there on the post office wall…
Thanks, Randy! Everyone, and I mean everyone, was just fabulous.
You can tag me with @juliesnapp :)
Agreed! Lots of awesome people in our group! :)
So sorry to miss this meetup; had I not had such a busy summer (which included much travel) I would have joined you all in one of my favorite places. (Montana, not just the distillery …)
Thanks for all the pictures!
We can tag you over and over again.
That looks like fun!
Yep. Wonderful people having a wonderful time in the mountains. I’d like to comment even more nicely but I’m getting 502’d to death.
EDIT: forget it. The overnight server lockups prevent a bunch of stuff, like attaching graphics. Some other time.
I have to say, this is a thousand times better than the transition from 1.0 to 2.0, but that’s not saying enough. Why is it taking so long?
All that I know is that Max was still up and working early in the morning.
How wonderful, RB!! What a great turn-out! I especially love that you identified the folks in the photos, putting faces to names. Outstanding!
So great. This along with the silent radio broadcast, I feel like we were there. Look forward to 3rd installment.
The Hibiscus Coconut Rum was their only product that I tasted and it was good stuff. Did any of you try one of their whiskeys or gins? I know other people bought bottles to bring home but I didn’t see what particular choices the rest of you made.
I had a gin and tonic made with their pear and pink peppercorn gin. I’m looking forward to being able to get the gin in AZ after the turn of the year!
Man the Ricochetti are a weird lookin’ bunch!
Makes your head Spin, don’t it!
Too bad you weren’t there to round it out.
I’d join you for one of those custom G&Ts, M! RB, thanks for the prose and pics…Hi, Everyone!
I didn’t hear this conversation but I think I can read @juliesnapp‘s mind based on her expression: “You think your cats are cuter than mine? I don’t think so.”
You’ve been waiting for it, now you’ve got it. Check out the post on the video of the Montana Meetup.
Speaking of the Whistling Andy Distillery tour, I made a little project from one of the photos from the distillery.
If any of you want to install this watch face on your smart watch, you can get it from this page. The “Proof” label was not from the barrel. The number after it is the percentage of battery power remaining.