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Montana Day 7: Purple Eater People
The bartender stopped in front of us. The drink he’d prepared was a creamy lavender beneath a white swirl of whipped cream. The Purple Russian, he explained, consists of huckleberry liqueur and local huckleberry whisky and vodka. Nan and I oohed and ahhed, although we weren’t tempted at that moment to order anything more than the iced teas we were consuming after our hike to Ousel Falls. We were too tired and thirsty for alcohol, no matter how pretty it was. Montana shops are full of everything huckleberry, and we’ve become fans. We’d already returned to the local grocery to buy more chocolate-covered huckleberry truffles. I purchased huckleberry-flavored lip gloss…
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Montana Day 6: More Yellowstone and We Shopped!
Today was an easy day–we drove back to West Yellowstone and wandered around the very, very tourist-centric town and shopped. We checked out several of the 7,896 souvenir and T-shirt and sweatshirt and Western wear stores (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but there were a LOT of stores!) West Yellowstone also has, interestingly, 40 restaurants in a town of only about 1,800 people. However, West Yellowstone gets at least 3, 375,000 visitors from all over the world every year, and I’m assuming they all want to eat. After all, we did. We had lunch at a fun 50s-style diner called Canyon Street Grill–black-and-white checkerboard floors, red vinyl booths, 50s decor,…
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Sunday Snippet: Day 5.5 Montana: Exploring Big Sky
Carol here, once again taking over Nan’s blog. We stayed local yesterday and started with Nan’s favorite vacation tradition–a shampoo and blow dry at the Hair Ninja. Leah was not only a terrific hair stylist (she calls herself a “hairapist”) but an excellent source of information about the area. Like many resort towns, Big Sky sees frequent turnover in local business staff and shortages in some critical fields, like medicine. The year-round population of 3000 quadruples in the winter months. However, housing prices are high, so skiers and snow boarders find it difficult to settle in the area for long. Some restaurant menus change year-to-year as chefs don’t return. There…
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Day 4 Montana: A Grand Day of Being Tourists
What a day! Carol and I decided to head north west to Ennis and Virginia City after our friend Jeannie had told us what a fun place it was. Lots of Western history, which fascinates both of us. We weren’t disappointed! Especially Virginia City was filled to the brim with the Old West, from a bunch of old shops and businesses set up just as they were back in the 1870s to stage coaches and hay wagons running through town. (Those were available for rides.) Every museum building had a story to tell and so many artifacts from 15o years ago. We really got the flavor of life in an…
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Day 3.5 Montana: We Were Slugs…
Nan here. Okay, maybe not entirely sluggish, but after we wandered around Big Sky for a couple of hours and had lunch at a very nice country club with a fantastic mountain view, we decided not to try to go up to Ousel Falls right then. Our plan was to take our tired, altitude-sick butts back to the condo and rest. Then change into our jeans and hiking shoes and go up to the falls. Ummmm…not so much, cuddling up in blankets and reading and honestly, napping, it was after five when we both came back to the world. A brief discussion later and we were reminded we still have…
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Nan & Carol’s Big Adventure Montana Style
We’re here! After a combined 4 airports, we’ve arrived in Big Sky and wow! It truly is BIG here! Big mountains, big rivers, huge rocks and trees… it’s a little overwhelming but absolutely gorgeous country. I left my local airport at 8:30 a.m.; Carol left her local airport 10:15 a.m. and we met up in Denver Airport. Then we flew together to Bozeman–one of the cutest airports I’ve ever seen! There are bears and moose everywhere and some crazy huge bird hanging from the ceiling! There’s even a convenient bin to dispose of your bear spray, which made us laugh. The whole airport was mountain stone and cedar beams–really pretty…
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Sunday Snippet: The And We’re Off…Almost Edition
I am beyond excited right now. I passed excited on Friday and I’m into full-on thrilled and nervous because on Tuesday, writer pal, fellow Tule Publishing author, and roomie extraordinaire, Carol Light, and I are headed to Montana! Yup. I decided that if I was going to write about Montana, I should go out to Big Sky Country and check out the glorious mountains and ranches and rodeos for myself. I asked Carol if she wanted to come, too, and she hopped onboard, so the mystery writer and the romance author are off on a big adventure! Next week, Carol and I will be here nightly with reports on where…
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Author Spotlight: Carol Light Has New Southern Secrets Mystery & a Giveaway!
We have a winner! Debra Pruss, you were drawn at random to receive an ebook copy of Death Watch. Enjoy the book and thanks for coming by the blog! We love our readers! I love having my writer pal Carol Light on the blog! Her mysteries are intriguing and keep me reading well into the night. I’m doubly excited this week because in less than two weeks, Carol and I are off on adventure–we’re heading to Montana for research, fun, and maybe even some writing! We’ll be posting our trip here, so stay tuned. In the meantime… here’s Carol with her newest release, Death Watch. Carol Light is an avid…
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Author Spotlight: Meet Debut Thriller Writer, Heidi Field
We have a winner! Latesha B., you are Heidi’s giveaway winner! She will be in touch with you. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and chatting this week! We love talking to our readers! Today, I’m so pleased to introduce you to thriller writer, Heidi Field! Her debut novel, The Other Boy, released from Tule Publishing yesterday and it is a page-turner! Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two…
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Sunday Snippet: The One More Embarrassing Moment Edition…Sigh
Holy cats, kids, it’s Sunday again! No idea how that happened. It’s been an eventful week here at casa Reinhardt, although as I look back on the last few weeks, what sticks out is work. I’ve been working a lot this month of June and now as July appears on the horizon, I find myself wondering what happened to the first third of summer. But this week has been all about fun and lake life because I had my dear friend Minnie with me for a few days up at the cottage. It was delightful to share the lake with her and I think she had a good time. I…