The big news of the morning is that, with Sarah and me attending, Rosalie managed to get herself over the lip of the jacuzzi, and into the shower chair. She was able to get squeeky clean which made her very happy.
By prearrangement we met John Kerr, Rosalie’s ex-husband, and his significant other, Beth Hazlett, at a brunch place that is wildly popular, so the waiting line was long. It was worth the wait though because we ended up at a table in the garden with the sun at our backs in the crisp, cool mountain air, much cooler than yesterday. Beth told us the incredible story of adopting an Ethiopian ten-year-old boy named Daniel who is grown now and a college graduate deciding what he is going to do next. It was very moving to hear all the difficulties he and Beth had to overcome, involving many trips to Ethiopia to make sure that Dan kept up with his relatives. We sat talking for three hours and it was so pleasant. We have been trying to get someplace each day, but we are here two nights, so relaxing was fun. I devoured my huevos rancheros and drank too much coffee. John and Beth treated us to our brunch, and then they showed us around the small town. Red Lodge has loads of small, shot gun houses that are narrow and long; and the occasional large Victorian houses that belonged to the men whose fortunes came from coal mining.
Following our short tour, we went to the old train station which has been turned into an arts and crafts gallery. It was well done; Rosalie found a few pieces of handmade jewelry she bought.
We had supper in a tapas joint that was just down the main street from our hotel which was just what we wanted and we didn’t have to wait in line. We debated what route to take tomorrow from Red Lodge to Bozeman. We were in unanimous agreement that we should go the most beautiful, longer way. We would start start with the Beartooth Highway and continue through Yellowstone Nat’l Park, entering through the northeastern entrance at Silvergate, and leaving the park at the northwestern gate at Gardiner, famous for the Teddy Roosevelt archway.