Arg's Travel Log

[Argonne69]

Woke up this morning and found that Bessie's identical twin arrived late last night. Lol. The rig is a 34DS, whereas Bessie is a 33DS. The big difference besides the addional foot of length is that the 34DS has a bath and a half. 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 07:38 PM by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Happy 4th of July. Hope you're enjoying some nice weather. A year ago I was playing golf in Duluth. 

 

Nice, boring drive west along I-90 to Anaconda, MT today. One leaves the farm fields near Bozeman for ranch country as you approach Butte. There's a 15 mile stretch where you climb and decend a small mountain range. 

 

Decent small RV park across the street from Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park. Looks like the giant stack was once a smelting facility. Gravel spots are large, but once again uneven. 

 

 

 

Booked a round at Canyon River GC in Missoula for Sunday morning. 

 

Not much in this small town. Probably just going to hang out here, watch the John Deere Classic, and down one of my imperial stouts. It's a 25 minute drive back east to Butte, and I'm feeling lazy. I'll likely head there for a brew and lunch tomorrow after my round at Old Works. 

 

Edited Thursday at 07:53 PM by Argonne69

[spud3]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Woke up this morning and found that Bessie's identical twin arrived late last night. Lol. The rig is a 34DS, whereas Bessie is a 33DS. The big difference besides the addional foot of length is that the 34DS has a bath and a half. 

 

 

Wow, they get a whole 1/2 bath in just one foot...? 🙂

[Argonne69]

29 minutes ago, spud3 said:

Wow, they get a whole 1/2 bath in just one foot...? 🙂

 

Lol. Must be for skinny people. 

 

Compared to the 33DS, it loses a pantry and a (handy) shelf in the corner of the living room. The pantry is behind the TV, which is mounted on a swinging door. In the 33DS the area behind the TV is used for the washer/dryer combo, accessible in the bathroom. 

 

The 34DS moves the washer/dryer to the bedroom, which then loses one of the two hanging closets. 

 

I liked the extra room of the 34DS, but I didn't like the idea of losing one bedroom closet. I guess if you're traveling with children, having an extra half bathroom is necessary. 

 

34DS 

 

 

33DS 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 10:53 PM by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Not sure where I picked this one up. Looking back through the thread, I'm assuming it was at Post No Bills Craft Beer House in Carmel-by-the-Sea back in March. 

 

The Fort George Brewery (Astoria, OR) Matryoshka barrel aged imperial stout (14%) is very tasty. 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 10:48 PM by Argonne69

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

Looking forward to the Old Works pictures and review!

[Argonne69]

49 minutes ago, BEND OF THE RIVER GC said:

Looking forward to the Old Works pictures and review!

 

 

 

Edited Friday at 02:00 PM by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Wonderful morning. Quite chilly early with temps in the upper 40s and a brisk wind, but the wind died down and it warmed nicely. Beautiful day and a beautiful course. Old Works is a Jack Nicklaus signature design, and ranks #1 on GolfWeek's best in state list. I'll hold off judgement until I play The Wilderness Club in a few weeks. The course is built on an old smelting facility. Remnants can still be seen on the front nine. The layout is a prairie style layout with a creek running through several holes, along with a couple of ponds. Nice views of the surrounding hills. The front is the more picturesque of the two nines with some nice elevation changes and piles of black slag visible on several holes. The back is much flatter, but does have a couple of minor elevation changes. Bunkering was very good all around, and the black slag sand added an interesting element. Water in play on six holes. Only 3 holes with minor left/right movement. 

 

I'd say it was moderately difficult off the tee. Fairways were generous, but well positioned bunkers were definitely in play. Not a wide strip of rough, so minor misses could find trouble. Big misses might get lucky in an adjacent fairway, but would generally be lost in the junk. Approaches were tough with plenty of odd shaped greens and solid bunkering. Found myself playing away from the flag on multiple holes. Greens were pure Jack. Plenty of tiers, contouring, and slope. Very few easy putts out there. Ditto up and downs. In addition to dealing with the contoured greens, the uneven lies around them were challenging to say the least. 

 

Par 3s were very good, but needed a short one. 5s were disappointing. Nothing reachable, and the long one were tough simply because they were long. The 11th was the best of the bunch with the 3rd back over the creek to a shallow green. The sole short 4 was meh. 

 

Conditions were somewhat disappointing. Teeboxes had plenty of dead spots. Fairways were iffy. Rough was decent. Bunkers were wonderful. The black slag looked wet and heavy, but was actually powdery. Greens were excellent. Speed was probably 10 if you could find a flat spot. 

 

Played a Copper/Limestone combo at 6445 yds (71.1/136). Solid day ballstriking, and the short game was good enough to keep it reasonable. One birdie, five bogies, and a double. Highlight of the day was a fairway wood on the par 4 5th that settled six feet from the back pin. Missed the birdie putt, though. Grrr. Lol. 

 

Going with a solid 7 cows. Loved the look of the course, and of course the challenging greens. There are a handful of meh holes on the back, but otherwise they're fairly unique. Needs a good, short par 3, a risk/reward par 5, and a tough short par 4. No walking rate, but they do allow walking, and the $109 rate was almost a bargain. Two of my playing partners were playing 54 holes today on an unlimited golf package for $139. Now that's a bargain. Can't say if it's the best course in the state, but it won't disappoint. Definitely a must play. 

 

[Argonne69]

Old Works, Anaconda, MT 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eyb3h6rg7y8tsxhxn3sn6/ABqyyPBPgU4ArNtBBg8oy8M?rlkey=zgxis0lhklfdeijkyffkte2fm&dl=0

 

[Argonne69]

It was nice to have Bessie parked next door to the course. Stopped in to take a shower and a short nap, and then it was off to poor 'ol Butte. It ain't no Bozeman. Beautiful view of the valley from downtown, but main street has seen better days. 

 

First stop was Butte Brewing Company for an imperial stout, but their website hasn't been updated in months. Oy 

 

Found an alternative place for a beer, but they didn't open until 3 pm, so I opted for lunch. Walked in the BBQ restaurant to find that they sold to the new owners, and Q is no longer on the menu. Grrr. 

 

Wound up at Sparky's Garage. It's more of a brewpub than a smokehouse, but they did have ribs and brisket on the menu. Cool digs with gas station memorabilia lining the walls. BBQ was decent, but not earth shattering. Ribs were tender and juicy, but needed more meat on the bone. Ordered them wet, but should have gone with the dry rub to sample the four sauces. Brisket was tender, but a little lean. Mac and cheese were both OK. Cornbread was pretty good. The original sauce was good. The Carolina mustard sauce wasn't bad. The honey sauce was too sweet, no surprise. The spicy sauce was more hot sauce than barbeque sauce. Prices were high because they don't offer a combo option, so the $25 for half a rack and $9 for the side of brisket added up quickly. Only option in town for Q, but it's edible. 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Final stop was Slainte Butte America Pub. 40 taps with a decent mix. Several imperial stouts including this Fremont Brewing (Seattle) Dark Star Spice bourbon barrel aged imperial. 

 

 

[mshills]

I spent a couple weeks in Anaconda / Deer Lodge County…..in the prior century! Don’t recall anything about where I stayed or ate. It was not in Butte — I know that flights were Butte - Salt Lake City - Atlanta. Old Works had not been open long and there was a lot of excitement about it. It’s a cool thing turning around what was a major environmental disaster. 👍🏼
 

Golf was NOT on the agenda when I was there so thanks for the review and photos. 

[Argonne69]

Another uneventful short drive to Missoula today. My next drive to Palouse, WA is going to be close to 5 hours. Ugh. Very scenic for the last half as I-90 winds it's way through the Clark Fork River valley. Highlight was finally seeing a couple of BNSF freight trains on their mainline that runs adjacent to the interstate. There were two empty eastbound coal trains parked side by side in a siding that were each two miles long. I assume they're heading back to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. 

 

Another no frills RV park 7 miles west of town. Usual uneven gravel sites with a decent amount of space. Luckily the trees aren't blocking the satellite, but the one on the passenger side is blocking my awning. Could have parked further back, but then the tree on the driver's side would likely block the satellite. 

 

 

Booked an RV park in Columbia Falls, MT, a few miles east of Whitefish, for the third week of July. Tough finding a spot with the heavy summer traffic visiting Glacier National Park. 

 

I have a round tomorrow morning at Canyon River GC, and another on Monday at Larchmont GC. 

 

Going to head into Missoula in a bit for a brew and an early dinner. 

 

[Argonne69]

Quick stop at Highlander Beer - Missoula Brewing. Enjoying a smokey Craggy Scotch Ale. Seems I've been having more than a few Scotch Ales lately. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Well that was different. Been a few weeks since I had mole, and Fiesta En Jalisco didn't disappoint. Almost all mole have a spicy kick, but this was pure sweetness. Tasty, but definitely not your typical mole. Classic margarita was very tasty, and the salsa had a nice kick. Worth a stop if you're in Missoula. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

'Just noticed that this thread crossed the 500,000 view mark a couple of days ago. Once again, thanks to everyone for their interest and contributions. It's been a whirlwind 32 months. I'll hit my 47th state next week.

 

[JungleJimbo]

8 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

'Just noticed that this thread crossed the 500,000 view mark a couple of days ago. Once again, thanks to everyone for their interest and contributions. It's been a whirlwind 32 months. I'll hit my 47th state next week.

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Beautiful morning. Sunny, light breeze, and not as cool. Got very lucky with the pace, too. Figured the course would be packed being a long holiday weekend, but I went out with another single in the third group out, played through a foursome a few holes later, and followed the lead twosome around without waiting. My kind of Sunday golf. 

 

Canyon River GC today. The prairie style layout ranks #5 on GolfWeek's best in state list. Seems a little high, but it's still a decent layout. The course was designed by Brian Curley and Lee Schmidt. The course sits in the Clark Fork River valley, but the river doesn't really come into play. It's a housing development layout, but the back is still rather open for now as phase 2 gets underway. The front nine is basically flat. The back has a little more character with a few modest elevation changes. There are some marshy areas out there, but I only counted three holes with water in play. Only two holes with slight left/right movement. 

 

Fairly easy off the tee with moderately wide fairways. Other than the two short par 4s, I don't recall sweating any tee shot. Minor misses would catch the fairly generous rough. Big misses might get lucky finding an adjacent fairway on the front, but otherwise it would be OB or lost in the native areas. Approaches were much tougher with nicely guarded greens. Once again I found myself playing away from the tucked pins on many holes to avoid the front bunkers. Greens were fairly meh. Gentle contouring and slope with a few multi-tier ones. Putting wasn't easy, but it certainly wasn't stressful. Up and downs were a mixed bag. Miss in the right place and it was a straightforward chip. Miss badly and it was a short sided flop over a bunker. 

 

The five par 3s were mixed. The pair on the front were benign, but the three on the back were very good. The 12th and 14th both had elevated teeboxes, and the 17th had a forced carry over the corner of a pond. The five par 5s were meh. Only the 6th was reachable, but no risk. The two short 4s were excellent, though. Both had solid bunkering and required some thought off the tee. Special mention to the long par 4 2nd. I don't recall seeing a 472 yd par 4 that didn't have a significant downhill tee shot. The hole was two yards shorter than the par 5 6th. 

 

Conditions were very good. Fairways were lush. Rough was thick, but cut to a good height. Bunkers had just enough sand, but could have used another half inch. Greens looked and rolled fine, but were slow. 9 maybe. 

 

Played the Silver tees at 6395 yds (71.1/135). Not the best day ballstriking, but it didn't get me into any trouble. Wedges and short irons were off kilter, so not many good looks at birdie. The few that I had I left way short on the glacial greens. Lol. Five bogies. Highlight of the day was my playing partner. Solid player who enjoyed hearing the boring details of my trip. 

 

Going to be nice and go with 6 cows. Not quite sure it merits a top 5 in the state, but it's a decent layout that has only a few meh holes. Definitely needs better par 5s. The greens need a few buried elephants. The $69 weekend walking rate was more than adequate. It's not a destination course, but it's definitely worth a visit if you're in town. 

 

[Argonne69]

Canyon River GC, Missoula, MT 

 

 

 

 

Big draws need not apply 

 

 

 

 

Tough par 3 12th from the tips 

 

 

 

 

Par 5 18th. My playing partner was joking that the dead pine on the right should be the course's logo, as it's been there for years, and every player who hits a draw fears it. Lol. 

 

 

Full photo set: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/a2rjcwgmsoigsgo5ixook/AFrNLO4nmeblXp4cIxv5Wfs?rlkey=c2hkyorsnv043nybl6r9uqffa&dl=0

 

[Argonne69]

Cambie Taphouse and Coffee. 40 taps with a decent mix, but unfortunately no imperial stouts. Luckily they do have a proper Belgian tripel, the Chimay Cinq Cents (White). Tasty. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Second stop on today's pubcrawl is OddPitch Brewing. They had a barrel aged imperial stout on their website, but I didn't notice that it was a bottle pour. Wasn't going to spend $15 on a full bottle. However, they did have an interesting blend of their Unholy Night barrel aged barleywine and Deathbloom barrel aged imperial stout. 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Final stop (promise) is The Dram Shop in downtown Missoula. Very nice taproom with 32 taps. Most of the brews are regional, but there are a few from way out yonder. Enjoying a Laughing Dog Brewing (Ponderay, ID) Dogfather imperial stout.