Montana has the most progressive Constitution in the country —
“Montana updated its 1889 Constitution, which some said was outdated and heavily influenced by the “Copper Kings,” in 1972 through a constitutional convention. It includes provisions such the right to a clean and healthful environment and addresses environmental concerns, including water rights, cultural resources and protections. Officials noted it recognized that all the people should be involved in government, adding that 28 of the 100 delegates were women.” – Missoulian
I’ve read the Constitutions of both Texas (conservative) and Washington State (liberal), and when I compare them to our Montana State Constitution, I come away with the notion of just how absolutely regressive they are.
The people of Montana are some the happiest, most helpful, and individually secure people on the planet, and I’m pretty sure that our state constitution has played it’s part in helping for that to happen.
While the wife and I were out and about yesterday, we decided to stop in at 2K’s Kafe for a quick bite.
In this day and age of gluten/fat free, processed sugar, and ingredients shipped from across the country, it’s always nice to walk into a place that smells like childhood memories. We never ate out much when I was a kid. Sure, we might have gone to A&W on certain occasions, but what made the most impact on me back in the day, was stopping in at the roadside diner while we were on a road trip.
I sort of feel bad for the folks who seemingly blow through town on 10th Ave South heading to wherever they’re heading to, because nothing on 10th Ave South can ever compare to the greetings, taste of the large portions, and the fair price that 2K’s Kafe has to offer.
Tucked away in our fair town of Great Falls, Montana is 2K’s Kafe, located at 406 3rd Ave South. In an area of town that most would never care to notice, is one of the best little restaurants you’ll find in Cascade County.
Wife and I got in there at about a 10:45 AM – 2K’s doesn’t start serving lunch until 11 AM, so we opted for a couple of omelets. I got the Western, and she got the ham and cheese. They say that these omelets are 3 egg omelets, but considering just how large these omelets were, I think the whole 3 egg deal on the menu might have been a typo. I’ve made 3 egg omelets before, years ago when I cooked at 4B’s, and they could never match up to the size of the omelets served up at 2K’s.
2K’s Kafe hearkens back to the days of the Yellowstone Truck Stop Cafe on the Vaughn road. And who remembers the old Double Barrel on Central Ave. or the old Crossroads at the Flying J on Watson Coulee road? Though Tracy’s Family restaurant has been re-opened again on downtown Central, it is no where near what it once was as far as taste, atmosphere and price.
If you remember any of these, then chances are pretty good that you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when I mention 2K’s Kafe.
2K’s Kafe has large tasty portions that rival the newer so-called chain restaurants on 10th Ave South with hotcakes that are actually larger than the dinner plate they are served on. The cheeseburgers are 4x larger than the cheeseburger you’ll get at Tracy’s for the same price, and 2K’s actually puts mayo on the bun whereas Tracy’s does not.
The place was full when we got there, so we were relegated to sitting at the counter, which was no big deal because I had a pretty good yack attack with a 73 year old patron named John, who incidentally was a farmer from just this side of Eden — So the food was good, large, tasty, fairly priced, and I enjoyed great conversation with farmer John.
Wife couldn’t finish her omelet (because of it’s size) and had to get a go box for it.
2K’s Kafe is open from 7 AM to 2 PM Monday thru Friday, and breakfast is not served after 11 AM.
I went out a while back and picked up a new-to-me pickup truck.
2008 Ford F-150 (tap or click image to enlarge)
My previous full sized F-150 was just an extended cab, but I wanted, or otherwise needed a crew-cab (quad-cab) because Dustin had been growing quite a bit this year. What actually prompted me to switch out trucks was that back in the summer, we had taken a road trip to Billings, and Dustin was relegated to sitting in the back of the extended cab, and was anything but fairly comfortable. Dustin is 15 and he’s 6 foot tall. Long story short, he needed some room.
My extended cab truck was a 2008 Ford F-150. Short of having to put a new transmission in it last year, it ran great. The only thing really wrong with it was that it was too small in the back. The 2008 F-150 was the first full sized truck I owned since not ever owning one since the early 90’s.
1997 Ford Ranger (tap or click image to enlarge)
All of my other trucks were small. I had the ’96 GMC Sonoma for a time, and still have, my ’97 Ford Ranger. Full sized or not though, I’ll put a pickup truck through it’s paces. When I sold the Sonoma, it had 350K miles on it. My Ranger has 236K miles on it now and it sits very comfortably parked in the garage at the moment. The Ranger is probably the smallest pickup I’ve ever owned. Gets 50mpg, has a little 4 cylinder engine with a 5 speed trans. I’ll be keeping it for quite a while yet.
2011 Ford F-150 (tap or click image to enlarge)
Anyhow, this new pickup is a 2011 Ford F-150 quad-cab. Though it has the same engine in it that the 2008 had, it’s equipped with a tow package. The 2008 didn’t have a tow package, so I’m guessing that might be why I had to put a new transmission in it.
There’s a huge difference between the 2008 and the 2011. I’m sort of a manual window roll-up kind of guy, which is what the 2008 was. The 2011 has it all, right down to the seat warmers, satellite radio, and auto-start. Still takes some getting used to I think, because just when I think I’ve got it all mastered, there’s another little switch, button, or configuration I have to address. Fancy pants is all fine and dandy and all, but this thing has so many gadgets and gizmos that it’s kind of like driving a computer.
2011 Ford F-150 (tap or click image to enlarge)
I still haven’t decided on whether or not to keep the brush guard. I had brush guards all through the 80’s on my trucks. The last time I had a brush guard on my truck was that time I hit a moose coming off of Lolo pass and the guard smashed up against the front of the truck so tight that I couldn’t get the hood open without first having to cut the brush guard off with a torch. So the jury is still out on this one. There are less things to run into out here on the prairie. You don’t necessarily just come cruising around the corner to find a herd of something standing in the middle of the road like you do on the west side of the state.
Dr. Elena Bodnar was born in Ukraine, so it should come as no surprise that the Chernobyl nuclear accident and images of 9/11 moved her to brainstorm diligently for ways to make events like these more survivable for the human beings unfortunate enough to be involved in them. Yet, many people were still quite surprised when Bodnar presented a hot-pink prototype of a practical gas mask at Harvard University. Nevertheless, Bodnar won an Ig Nobel prize for doing outstanding and seemingly ridiculous research that is in reality extremely useful.
More specifically, Bodnar has created something called an emergency bra: a bra that doubles as a face mask to guard against chemical explosions, biological hazards, and other unforeseen deadly situations. The EBra is pretty much like any other bra until the need arises for it to become something more; the cups can be separated, and then all a user needs to do is put their mouth and nose into a cup, extend the bra strap over their head, and then breathe naturally.
What’s more, the bra can also act as two protective face masks, which could not only save the life of the wearer but also the life of a wearer’s loved one. As mentioned, Bodnar won the 2009 Ig Nobel Public Health Prize as a result of her ingenuity: “It takes only 25 seconds for average woman to use this personal protective device. Five seconds to remove, convert and apply your own mask, and 20 seconds to wonder who the lucky man is she is going to save.”
As discussed, Bodnar began her quest with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in mind:
“If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness. You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra.”
CNET has reported that a counterpart device for men is also being designed, but it could prove to be more challenging than Bodnar’s product—due to certain required differences in shape and size, of course.
It’s important to note that Bodnar has no issues with acknowledging the humorous aspects of her ideas, her designs, and her products:
“I have no doubt my demonstrations will generate some laughs. However, I also look forward to addressing some serious questions from the British public. I hope audiences at Oxford University, Imperial College and elsewhere will leave thinking about the potential risks they face. I will consider my goals to be accomplished if I make people remember the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.”
Indeed, if a cause is worthwhile and beneficial for all of human kind, why not embrace all aspects of it? Bodnar realizes that her products have the abilities to save unnumbered lives both now and in the future. Whatever puts more of them into the hands of people who might need them is both positive and productive.
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Dr. Elena Bodnar, currently the founder and President of the Trauma Risk Management Research Institute in Chicago, is an internationally recognized scientist with over 20 years of experience in clinical research and development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. She managed the Electrical Trauma Research Program at the University of Chicago, and collaborated with the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency on projects related to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Her areas of scientific expertise are trauma risk management strategies and long term health consequences of radiation exposure and electrical trauma. She has authored numerous scientific publications and book chapters. – https://www.ebbra.com/our-story
Anybody who might be anybody back in the day in Montana might certainly remember Frontier Town.
My memories of Frontier Town involved the gravel parking lot, the bear, dog, and miner at the entrance of the once 2 lane highway 12 at McDonald pass. Kinetically driven, the roadside attraction depicted a grizzly bear about to attack a man and his dog. The dog jumped while a loud tape-recorded loop of barking echoed across the mountains.
Here’s the audio of the original barking dog sound —
The recording here doesn’t seem to do the real life sound any justice I think, because as memory serves, it was really, really loud. I suppose that when you’re a kid, everything is huge, and nothing was more exciting than that at the time.
I loved the huge logs, the smells of the dust and the woods, and who could ever forget the unannounced impromptu gun battles that raged in the street at any given moment.
The gates between the blockhouse entrance were bigger than real life … thick and heavy, one might seem to have found a certain safety or comfort behind them in the vast expanse of the Montana wilderness.
When I look around at what many of the kids have today, what with their snap-chats, instagrams, and zooms, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for them, in that a lot of what we have today stifles the imaginations and the wonderment that places like Frontier Town would bring.
Running my hands up and down genuinely hand-hewn logs and laid rough stacked boulders is etched in memory as solid as the Frontier Town that John Quigley had built with his bare hands .. as firm and as solid as the town itself tucked into the hillside.
We were friends and neighbors back in those days. We didn’t have any of this so-called politically correct nonsense. As children, having to worry about how we walked and talked and played was never a thing. It was places like Frontier Town that brought out the very best in us, and encouraged us to move ahead in life, come what may. We were stout, well built, and strong in our thoughts and in our imaginations.
We believed that we could do anything we set out to do, and lived it all accordingly.
The simple dreams of just one man, John Quigley, can be found etched into the minds and the memories of an entire generation. John’s pure vision of Frontier Town lives on in the memories of those who were fortunate enough to have experienced it first hand.
I wish my son could have experienced Frontier Town, but alas, short of the memories, Frontier Town is no more.
Even still, I do what I can to help my son experience old Montana. For as much as he loves Nevada City, and Garnett, I can’t help but wonder just how he might have received Frontier Town.
John Quigley let us know what it might have been like settling in the *new west — We set out to tame the territory, but what we didn’t know at the time, was that the territory was actually taming us. The grandeur and the wildness of what might have been the new Montana is a humbling thing. It’s larger than us, and even today, we are found in admiration of it’s simple splendor. The wilderness has it’s own set of rules, and it reminds us all of just how fortunate we are to experience it.
