DAY 9
Week 2
WISE RIVER (Montana, USA)
Thursday June 29th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 82 miles or 132 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 1448 miles or 2330 kilometres
Done gone catch me sumpting today!! 
The golfers got up at sparrows fart today to go and have a hit. As a golfer, I'm a bloody good gardener. If you want a hold dug for a plant - say like a tree, shrub or bush, simply throw a golf ball on the deck and let me have at it. The last time I went golfing (it was a couple weeks ago with Gump, DJ and Kush) I came of after 18 holes and the greens keeper said he found 3 bunkers and a water hazard the weren't there in the morning. Needless to say I camped out at the condo.
The boys had planned to go floating and fishing that afternoon, so I busied my self with updating the blog. As you can probably see, there are two new buttons which allow you to go forward and backwards through the days of my travels. I've also added driving directions for the day and where I'm roughly located. I hope the improvements work for y'all.
Nathan, his father in-law Dan and myself headed off around lunchtime to his family's cabin on the Big Hole river near the town of Wise River (Montana). We had to stop and get fishing licenses at $25 a pop for two days. Kind of funny to hear the screeching tones of a dial up modem puncture the air every time the little store/diner/bar issues Montana Fish & Game license. Thank heavens for DSL!!!
We were joined at the cabin by Nathan's dad, Ron as well as his brother in-law Dan. We loaded up the big raft as well as two single floater and off we went. An hour later we were still putting in the water - it was only a 5 minute drive. As with all small towns, we kept running in folks that Ron or Nathan hadn't seen in donkeys years, so a warm welcome and natter was extended to all. Good fun.
Ron, Dan and myself took the big boat, while Nathan and his brother in-law jumped into their rigs, which I must say looks like a monkey on a tampon, but hey, they seem to work just fine.
We spent the best part of 4 hours floating the Big Hole river. I had never fly fished before, but like to think that I'm a pretty quick learner. It also helps that Dan and Ron are avid fisherman, so I was in good hands. In about an hour I had the basics of casting & where and when to put my fly (no crude comments please!!!). While I can say that the fish stocks of Montana were never seriously threatened, I had an awesome time. Dan may beg to differ as I hooked the back of his shirt as well as his lip on another occasion. I think with that, I caught the biggest blind mullet ever recorded by mankind.
We all got back to the condos around 7 o'clock and mucked in for a tremendous birthday dinner for Denise come farewell feast. I went to bed fat, dumb & happy, but that's most nights as well!!!
• WISE RIVER (Montana, USA)
• FAIRMONT HOT SPRINGS (Montana, USA)