Since 2014, I have posted updates on snowpack levels at local ski areas. The readings are usually taken as the Steenburgh Winter comes to an end. Data comes from each ski resort's snow report and once recorded in these pages, the posts become a good reference point for comparing snow levels each year. (Click here to see reports for each year.)
In addition to what is reported in the snow reports, I have a series of photos that also report on the snowpack. Over the years, I have found the wilderness boundary sign in Beehive Basin to be a great measuring stick. The photos include a snow-free photo for comparison. I will continue to add photos as I get them.
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In small mountain towns, little things like new grocery stores get people talking. When I moved to Jackson, Wyoming in 1999, the local Albertson’s was in the process of building a new store. They opened to much anticipation and the reaction was mixed. Some people complained that it was too big and too “fancy” while others marveled at its novel-for-the-time features such as a coffee shop and fireplace. A few months later, a new executive director moved from the Washington D.C. area to assume leadership of the organization I was working for. Several weeks after his arrival someone asked if he had been to the new Albertson’s. He looked at them blankly and when he realized they were serious he said, “It’s just a grocery store.”
Although Bozeman is much bigger than Jackson, we’re still a small mountain town in many ways with the propensity to succumb to chatter about new grocery stores. I had never heard of the WinCo chain before they opened a store here. As with many things during this tumultuous period of growth in Bozeman, people had opinions about it. I didn’t follow the saga closely (And it was a saga – Bozeman Daily Chronicle links at the bottom of this post), and they opened their store in February.
Being nosy and wanting to see what the fuss was all about, I finally got around to shopping there for the first time three weeks ago. Is WinCo a big deal or just another grocery store? Here’s what I found.
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| Jet setting off to West Palm Beach |
I'm fascinated with defunct ski areas and the idea of skiing in obscure places. I started the Lost and Overlooked Ski Area series in 2018 but had not added to it in a while. Recently, I was thinking about my only cross-country car journey via Interstate 80 - the first time I realized there is indeed skiing in Nebraska. So, I do have more to add to the lost ski area story. |
| Photo courtesy of Isons Nursey & Winery www.isons.com |
Until this fall, other than the myth of Persephone (goddess of the underworld) and the ancient Greek explanation for the seasons, I didn’t know much about pomegranates. That changed when I was looking for ways to use the abundance of zucchini from my garden. I found a salsa recipe that included zucchini and pomegranates and have made it three times. The pomegranates add a cool, crisp jolt to the salsa that I can’t get enough of; I think I’m hooked.
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| Photo courtesy of facebook @Ramires-mexican-food-taco-truck |
Another food first for the A-List. Earlier in the month I checked out Ramire’s Mexican Food Truck.
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After talking about it for several weeks, Mike and I finally made it to Tanoshii for dinner. They're located on Main Street in downtown Bozeman in the spot where a short lived and ill-fated wine bar used to be, and they bill themselves as a place for Japanese soul food.