M Stands for Microbrew

I was up early and said good-bye to Uncle Bill as he headed off to work. I had some work to do as well and after updating the blog I headed off to the mall.

I've been driving myself nuts for months trying to find the perfect travel pants. I had it in my head that because Missoula is a bit of an outdoor activity mecca that I might have better luck here. I was not disappointed.

After lunch with Uncle Bill he dropped me off at a hotel in downtown Missoula. He wanted me to be right in the thick of things and able to wander around without being stuck in one neighborhood.

The last time I had been in Missoula I was 17 and sold on the idea of going to the University of Montana. I was accepted, but decided that the history program at Ramapo was better suited to my interests. I headed across the river to check out the college that could have been.

The University of Montana was founded over 100 years ago. Missoula is completely surrounded by mountains and the university sits right up against one. I wandered around taking pictures of grizzly bear statues (the mascot) and contemplating how different my life would have been had I gone here for school.

Missoula is know for several different things. It's a laid back hippie town with a friendliness I don't think that I have seen anywhere else. One physical icon of Missoula is the M. The M is a concrete m that sits about one third of the way up Mount Sentinel, right behind over the U of M campus. I huffed and puffed my way up the 8 switchbacks to the M during my first trip in 1997. As I stood at the bottom of the snowy mountain my out of shape 27 year old self felt like I should go for the M again. After getting about one third of the way to the first switchback I was forced to give up. The trail was hard packed snow and ice, causing me to slip with each step. I saw myself slipping and rolling down the mountain. When I had gotten down the ass-kick Mt. Sentinel I silently promised that snow or not.

Another Missoula icon is located about 15 minutes away. I headed off the campus and back across town to check it out. Along the way I took pictures of downtown Missoula.

During my last two visits there was a huge upright peace sign overlooking the city. Much to my chagrin it had been taken down by the Internet company that owned the land. They didn't think it was appropriate during a time of war. Isn't this when peace is needed the most? Missouleans have been fighting to have the peace sign reinstated. This is a fight that I sincerely hope that they win. In the meantime some concerned locals have arranged rocks in the shape of a peace sign where the upright version used to stand.

When Uncle Bill was finished with work we headed for a night out on the town, attempting to hit as many of Missoula's landmark bars as possible. Our first stop was an Irish pub with an Italian flair. The food was good, the local brew better, and the conversation excellent. I hadn't seen my uncle in about 5 years and it had been 10 years since my last trip to Missoula. This was really the fir

st time I had spend time with my Uncle as an adult. We had a fabulous time. My favorite bar of the night was called Rino, they had 50 (yes 5 0) beers on tap. What could be better?

We finished off the night at the Union Club listening to a band who played everything from Michael Jackson to Johnny Cash.