Missoula News

Your local online source

Back to the NewWest Missoula page

Missoula Features

More Features
Tom Leonard built an Earthship on top of a hill near Florence, Mont., for his family to live in after reading an article about the homes almost 20 years ago. Knowing very little about the technology required to run a self-sustaining house, and with limited building experience, the project took nearly two decades to complete. Tom says it's still a work in progress. Photo by Josh Potter. Off the Grid in Montana, Part 1: Winter in the Earthship

By Joshua M. Potter

Tim Steigers, who worked more than 30 years at Smurfit-Stone Container, still drives past the hard hats that hang there a year after the closure. Photo by Justin Franz. Life After Smurfit-Stone: One Year After the Company Leaves the Company Town

By Justin Franz

Reptiles, Princesses & Paul Bunyan-Sized Women: New Western Picture Books

By Jenny Shank

The four-day trip covering a twisty 175 miles from Lewiston to Billings will take 516 minutes. Photo by Flickr user <a target= How Drivable Will Highway 12 Megaloads Be?

By Steve Bunk

Comments

Add your comment below

By Chris La Tray, 12-10-07
It's been a looooong time since I bagged a Christmas tree in the wild. Back when I was a young 'un, we lived in a house off Roman Creek road out in Frenchtown -- back when I think our place and one other one were the only dwellings out there. I remember my dad tying the hood of an old volkswagon bug (there were always 4 or 5 of these corpses scattered around the yard) behind one of the snowmobiles (we had a couple boxy old Arctic Cats and an Evinrude; back in the days when 35 mph was hauling ass) and heading off into what would become Sorrel Springs (one house up there back in those days). We'd tear around, bag the tree, lash ut to the VW hood, then head home in the dark. It was a blast. Of course, back in those days we could count on snow this time of year, which isn't quite so common anymore.

That same old house was the one my sisters and I would convene on the stairs at about 5 AM Christmas morning, shaking the whole house with a holiday cheer fart competition. Those wooden steps provided excellent reverberation. Ah, those were the days.
By CW, 12-11-07
Thanks for the laughs Bob. Man, you crack me up.

Comment Policy

NewWest.Net encourages robust and lively, but civil participation from our readers. By posting here, you agree to the NewWest.Net terms of service. You agree to keep your comments on topic, respectful and free of gratuitous profanity. Contributions that engage in personal attacks, racism, sexism, bigotry, hatred or are otherwise patently offensive will be subject to removal.

Other than using a filter that scans for comment spam, we do not moderate contributions before they are posted and we do not review every thread, so we ask that you help us in keeping the discussions civil and appropriate. Please email info@newwest.net to notify us of comments that may violate these guidelines. Thanks for your help and cooperation. Click here for some tips on how to best interact on NewWest.Net.

Your Comment

Name

Email

Remember my name and email address.

Notify me of follow-up comments.


Missoula Events

See More Events

© 2012 NewWest, All Rights Reserved. Use of this site is subject to New West's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.