Philipsburg, Montana to Missoula, Montana and on to Ritzville, Washington.
This will be a long driving day, longer than I expected (again, some poor planning), and I thought hard about changing my plans to skip Portland, but I’ll stick with the itinerary I previously decided upon, and will first visit Philipsburg today, recommended by Suzanne as a good place to visit, and then take the long drive to Ritzville, Washington, where I’ll spend the night en route to Portland.
The day was long, but a nice drive (although a long one, covering around 400 miles), with nice weather. My first stop was the drive from Butte to Philipsburg, kind of out of the way, but suggested by Suzanne from her visit of some 20 years ago as another of these old western towns that’s maintained its feel. And she was right.
First, the ride there was lovely, just about an hour or so, but delightful, through Montana countryside, including small and nice looking towns along the way, such as Anaconda, and soon after that the community of Georgetown, and the gorgeous ultramarine blue of Georgetown Lake. This is the color I imagine Moraine Lake, up in Canada, which I missed seeing, must be.
Philipsburg is another old town dating back to the 19th century, but no sign of the old mines (unlike Butte) and with lots of buildings dating back to the late 1880s and 1890s, that has not only maintained that feel, but also has kept itself in good shape. It is a lovely little town, sort of in the middle of nowhere, but worth visiting and walking around, which I did.
The downtown is great, with some lovely old buildings, mostly well-maintained and looking pretty hip, with some interesting small shops, including a bakery (which, take note, is for sale).
Leaving the downtown area, which isn’t too big, and walking up the hill, you start to see the homes and buildings above the town, with many buildings, such as churches and the jail, built in the 1880’s.
First thing to notice are the number of mule eared deer just hanging around in front of people’s houses, seemingly unbothered by people, just munching on lawns, flowers, bushes, and trees.
After leaving Philipsburg, I continued on the very scenic route 1 north, running alongside and over the Clark Fork River, until eventually picking up interstate 90 west, eventually heading toward Ritzville, Washington, my stop for the night.
I hadn’t planned to, but as I was passing right through Missoula, Montana, I just had to stop and visit. Years and years ago, I wanted to visit and stay in Missoula. No particular reason. I loved the idea of Montana and how big it was, and how far apart the cities are, and just decided Missoula was a place I’d like to stay a while, although I never did, until today.
Here was another moment of thinking about and deeply missing Bev, as Bev was always aware I wanted to go to Missoula, and Bev would be the only person who would actually be interested to hear I finally made it today and cheer me on. Bev would be the only person I’d really want to tell, and yet I can’t. While driving, I sent myself a text message to remind me of that thought, but when I send a text to myself, my phone marks it as being sent by Bev. It was an odd feeling, when a moment later I saw a notification on my car display screen that I had just received a text from Bev Sevier.
Anyway, before taking a drive around downtown Missoula, I parked and took a short walk, starting at the Van Buren foot bridge that connects the downtown area to the University of Montana at Missoula, crossing over the Clark Fork River.
Missoula, with a population of about 79,000, is a modern city and sort of the exact opposite of Butte. It has old buildings of course, but the city is modern, clean, well maintained, and clearly a 21st century town, probably driven to some degree by the fact that the University of Montana is here.
I drove around a while and explored the downtown and nearby residential areas, before getting back onto route 90, heading west. In some way, though, Missoula, lacks the obvious character of a town like Butte, and I’m not sure, from the little I saw, of what features characterize Missoula in particular, marking it as unique. Nice looking place, but nothing really stood out in my quick drive through visit.
Back onto Interstate 90 west. For what had already been an interesting and long day, I still had over 250 miles to go to Ritzville. But, again, the weather was nice, as was the scenery, so I settled in, passing first through Idaho heading west, and eventually reaching Washington, and passing through Spokane (where I didn’t stop).
I finally reached Ritzville around 4:30 (but I’d gained an hour as I changed time zones to Pacific time). Another small town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, a stop along the way (which it is for me, actually), and after checking into my hotel, I took a little driving and foot tour.
These small towns are of definite interest to me, as out this way these towns go back to the settling or America, and reflect much of that history, right up until the 1940’s and 50’s.
The small downtown of Ritzville, population around 1,700, didn’t disappoint, with some great downtown hanging signs, and a drug store right out of the 40’s and 50’s, with its look, its layout, its particular smell, and its feel. It reminded me of the first U. S. drug store I was in, back in 1971 when I first came over, in Milford, Pennsylvania, which even then seemed as though it was out of the 1940’s and 50’s.
