We drove to Missoula in the late morning. Because there was a 70% chance of snow and high winds, Dave covered my suitcase in a tarp and tied it down tight. Thank you!

After lunch, they dropped me off at my hotel and we said our goodbyes. In this picture, you are not seeing snow but rather “graupel” – a soft hail or snow pellets:

Our timing could not have been more perfect. I got into my room at the start of the Bills/Texans football game! And … Phyl gave me 2 little bottles of champagne to enjoy in the evening. Life is good.

Tomorrow Phyl and Dave will drive me to Missoula for a very early Sunday morning flight. Looking east:

We made foccaccia in the afternoon. So delicicous!

Sundown:

To celebrate the two FINISHED sewing projects, we went for a late lunch in town at

We got great service – we were the only customers.

We also checked out Elk Ridge Brewing Company next door.

One of our projects was making Phyl two flannel shirts. At first, I was more of an advisor and prepping pieces for Phyl to sew.

About halfway through the second shirt, I asked if I could just go ahead on my own and Phyl was happy with that. Rather than buttonholes, Phyl opted for snaps, which Dave did for her (yay!).
Success!

This year, we recreated our long-ago tradition of celebrating New Year’s Eve with great appetizers, champagne/beer, and movies.

I made Bavarian pretzels with beer cheese sauce. Phyl made Happy Hour Mushrooms and sausage crescent bites.

Meanwhile, in Bakersfield CA, Carol (Phyl’s sister) and Jerry celebrated with Pete the Possum. (Eek!)

Phyl and Dave’s place used to be a dairy farm. There are several outbuildings, this one is called the creamery:
We bundled up and went to see the warren of 7 rooms and 1 large workspace. This is a vast storage area but also where Dave works on various projects.
There are two more large spaces in the attic although it’s a steep climb to get there. Not as scary as Dave made it look:

Phyl and Dave live just a mile or so from Deer Lodge, a town of about 3000 people in southwest Montana. Two grocery stores, 3 restaurants, a couple of fast food places, a movie theater (open Fri-Sun and totally staffed by volunteers) and my favorite …

Quilters Corner.

Late on Christmas Day I flew to Missoula and stayed at a nearby hotel. The next morning Dave and Phyl drove over from Deer Lodge and picked me up.
Yes! It’s freaking cold here.

Dinner was at the Leah (Lenin’s sister) & Jeff’s and ALL the Del Castillo’s were there plus me and Justin. Presents were piled everywhere!

Jeff made the best-ever prime rib using the sous vide method followed by some smoking and searing on the Egg.


Sorting and distributing the gifts takes quite while. Carson thought every gift tag that started with a C belonged to him which meant he had a huge pile .. for a while.