Long Drives

My title today is one of them there "double entendres."  It was a long drive around the state AND I hit some long drives on golf courses. To be fair I hit a couple of short ones too.

Having a three-day weekend, I decided to hit the road Thursday as soon as we got off the air. The first stop was Helena. I think Helena is a pretty city, and when the legislature isn't there, it's a pretty sleepy little town. I normally like the drive, but they've got most of the road from Wheat Montana to Townsend torn up. Folks, there's a 4-lane a coming. But right now it's a bumpy drive.

I saw a couple of old friends and spent time at the Brewhouse which is right by the carousel. Great food and a great selection of beers.

Friday morning was a leisurely drive to Missoula. I'm assuming that all the campers and cabin goers all traveled Thursday afternoon and Sunday afternoon because Friday morning the road was wide open. I especially enjoyed the curves on McDonald Pass.

I remember following a golfer on Facebook who played every golf course in Montana last year. I hope to accomplish that in my lifetime, but I don't have any rich friends who belong to a couple of the country clubs and private courses, so I'll play as many as I can get onto.

We played Larchmont in Missoula Friday. I hadn't played there in about 25 years or so. Well, all of those skinny little sapling trees have become all grown up and hard to navigate. But it's really a great public course. There's an awful lot of undulation on the greens for a public course, but I like that.

Saturday we played Canyon River. Located in East Missoula, this is my favorite course to play in the entire state. It's laid out nicely. It has the feel of a course that was laid out and THEN they decided where the houses were going to go. (And there are plenty of high dollar houses there.) Hey Missoula, if your winters didn't suck, I'd retire on that golf course. Even if you just get an opportunity to drive by for the scenery, it's worth a few minutes of your time.

My photo is of their driving range, which is also more beautiful than most courses' driving ranges. That's my buddy Mike warming up.