Big Orange Fans in Montana

[Volosaurus rex]

On one perfect late-September afternoon forty years ago, upon entering Glacier National Park, I fell in love with the great state of Montana. If certain corporate sponsorship commitments begin to fall in place, I will finally have the opportunity to call the “Last Best Place” home, initially in the Billings area. How many of you fellow Tennessee fans reside in Montana and where? I know of NEVolFan, who lives thirty miles west of Glacier, and montanatenn, who lives in Big Timber. Toujours Pret said that he anticipates moving to Whitefish in the fall. Are there other Big Orange fans in Montana and what are your stories?

It is possible that I met one of you on a previous trip, either in Montana or Wyoming, over ten years ago. We had stopped at a gas station or truck stop to refuel; a gentleman who noticed our Tennessee license plates came over to talk. It turns out he was an equally hard-core Tennessee fan who, if memory serves me correctly, had grown up in east Tennessee and eventually moved to southcentral Montana in order to pursue a ranching lifestyle, again if memory serves me correctly. He related that every time he told his daughters about the enormity of Neyland Stadium and the crowds that attended Tennessee football games, their faces assumed this look of utter disbelief. It was as though Jim Bridger was talking about petrified birds singing petrified songs in petrified trees.

I have seen that same look when conversing with a bartender in Billings in, I believe, 2005. We were attending an academic conference on the Florida weekend and told him, as the game was being televised, that probably 106-107,000 people were in attendance. He just shook his head and said, “That’s more people than live in this entire city.”

In any event, I look forward to discovering how many Tennessee fans I might have ultimately as Montana neighbors. After all, as you well know, distance is a very relative concept in the great state of Montana.

 

[malinoisvol]

Big Sky country is beautiful.

 

[NEVolFan]

This is sad... and what limits my exploration in the park.

Posted: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 6:13 pm | Updated: 9:00 pm, Wed Jun 29, 2016.
Daily Inter Lake | 0 comments
A West Glacier mountain bicyclist was killed Wednesday afternoon by a grizzly bear near West Glacier.
Brad Treat, 38, a career law-enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service, died when the grizzly attacked him on a trail, according to Sheriff Chuck Curry.
A small army of armed officers searched for the bear Wednesday evening. The grizzly had not been located as of 9 p.m.
Treat had been bicycling with a friend on the popular trail system in the Green Gate area north of the KOA campground off of U.S. 2.
The grizzly apparently confronted the bicyclists on the trail shortly after 2 p.m.
“It appears they likely surprised the bear and Treat was taken off his bike by the bear,” Curry said in a news release.
The second rider was not attacked or injured and rode back to get help. Treat was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

[joevol33]

This is sad... and what limits my exploration in the park.

Posted: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 6:13 pm | Updated: 9:00 pm, Wed Jun 29, 2016.
Daily Inter Lake | 0 comments
A West Glacier mountain bicyclist was killed Wednesday afternoon by a grizzly bear near West Glacier.
Brad Treat, 38, a career law-enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service, died when the grizzly attacked him on a trail, according to Sheriff Chuck Curry.
A small army of armed officers searched for the bear Wednesday evening. The grizzly had not been located as of 9 p.m.
Treat had been bicycling with a friend on the popular trail system in the Green Gate area north of the KOA campground off of U.S. 2.
The grizzly apparently confronted the bicyclists on the trail shortly after 2 p.m.
“It appears they likely surprised the bear and Treat was taken off his bike by the bear,” Curry said in a news release.
The second rider was not attacked or injured and rode back to get help. Treat was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friggin bears.

 

[rs16]

I was in Billings 6 years ago for the interment of a comrade that had been KIA/BNR since 1971.


It is a beautiful place, wish I could have stayed more than just a few days.

 

[MtnMan82]

Beautiful country. Was on several details fighting fire there. Probably the only place I'd leave TN for.

 

[kayakonthefly]

I lived in Lame Deer for a couple of years before we moved back after we had a young'n. Would still be there if it weren't for that, probably. Beautiful place and I miss it greatly.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

On one perfect late-September afternoon forty years ago, upon entering Glacier National Park, I fell in love with the great state of Montana. If certain corporate sponsorship commitments begin to fall in place, I will finally have the opportunity to call the “Last Best Place” home, initially in the Billings area. How many of you fellow Tennessee fans reside in Montana and where? I know of NEVolFan, who lives thirty miles west of Glacier, and montanatenn, who lives in Big Timber. Toujours Pret said that he anticipates moving to Whitefish in the fall. Are there other Big Orange fans in Montana and what are your stories?

It is possible that I met one of you on a previous trip, either in Montana or Wyoming, over ten years ago. We had stopped at a gas station or truck stop to refuel; a gentleman who noticed our Tennessee license plates came over to talk. It turns out he was an equally hard-core Tennessee fan who, if memory serves me correctly, had grown up in east Tennessee and eventually moved to southcentral Montana in order to pursue a ranching lifestyle, again if memory serves me correctly. He related that every time he told his daughters about the enormity of Neyland Stadium and the crowds that attended Tennessee football games, their faces assumed this look of utter disbelief. It was as though Jim Bridger was talking about petrified birds singing petrified songs in petrified trees.

I have seen that same look when conversing with a bartender in Billings in, I believe, 2005. We were attending an academic conference on the Florida weekend and told him, as the game was being televised, that probably 106-107,000 people were in attendance. He just shook his head and said, “That’s more people than live in this entire city.”

In any event, I look forward to discovering how many Tennessee fans I might have ultimately as Montana neighbors. After all, as you well know, distance is a very relative concept in the great state of Montana.

Hey buddy are you finally getting the investment money to start up your business? We are coming out next June to GTNP and YNP for a week, just paid my deposits on the cabins and I can not wait. God willing and the creek don't rise, 48 weeks from right now, I will be sitting on the deck of our Moulton Ranch cabin, grilling steaks and burgers watching the sunset over the Grand and Mount St. John. Last time we drove out the YNP NE entrance and went through Billings on our way to Little Big Horn. I don't think were going north around the Big Horns when we leave this time. After driving the Beartooth to Red Lodge, I'll probably go south to Cody and then back across the middle to Casper on the way home. If I were to move to Montana, I'd choose Bozeman. It's a beautiful area to me. I didn't really like Billings, but to be fair we didn't really see much of it. My wife actually had one of the JH resorts offer her a asst general manager position just off a Skype interview, resume and recommendations. But I couldn't do that just yet. When we get older, we've talked about moving seasonally to JH in Summer and fall, and Arizona in winter. A man can dream...I wish I had the freedom to do that now, but our assembly has no churches in the NW. Man if you got your startup money, I'm really happy for you. I'll be praying fir your success. It's a great idea.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Ulysses, I can’t go into specifics on this other than to say that, should corporate backing for this venture come to pass, it could potentially lead also to launch of the guided tour operation that we originally envisioned. I agree that Bozeman is a prettier location than Billings, but the nature of my involvement in this project would dictate living in Billings, at least for the first few years. And, of course, I would spend as much of my time as possible exploring the grandeur of Montana.

By the way, have you ever been to the Rockies in the fall? If you haven’t, it is an experience that you simply must put on the proverbial “bucket” list. Roughly the last ten days of September and the first week of October is a sacred time to be there, when the Creator exercises his artistic “muscles” to the utmost; visitors will leave these outdoor cathedrals literally awestruck by their majesty.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Ulysses, I can’t go into specifics on this other than to say that, should corporate backing for this venture come to pass, it could potentially lead also to launch of the guided tour operation that we originally envisioned. I agree that Bozeman is a prettier location than Billings, but the nature of my involvement in this project would dictate living in Billings, at least for the first few years. And, of course, I would spend as much of my time as possible exploring the grandeur of Montana.

By the way, have you ever been to the Rockies in the fall? If you haven’t, it is an experience that you simply must put on the proverbial “bucket” list. Roughly the last ten days of September and the first week of October is a sacred time to be there, when the Creator exercises his artistic “muscles” to the utmost; visitors will leave these outdoor cathedrals literally awestruck by their majesty.

We have been wanting to do a fall trip with just me and the wife for awhile. We were planning on going last fall, but we moved here to Harlan Ky to pastor a small church, and subsequently our financial situation changed. We thought about maybe next year, but our children wanted us all to take another June trip to JH\GTNP and YNP together. My oldest son and daughter are married now and want to take their spouses to what they call "The closest thing to heaven on Earth". So it will probably be a couple of years before we finally get to go in the fall. I grew up in the Texas panhandle, and my dad used to take us to the nearby Sangre de Christo mountains and then up into the Colorado Rockies in the fall. I still remember the Aspen Groves shining so bright yellow in the clear fall sun.