A quick trip to Montana and then on to Texas

As we'd noted in our last posting, we were heading north to Butte, Montana before continuing on to Texas to see our kids.  We also indicated that we'd try to do a post or two while en route, but as you can probably guess, that didn't happen -- so we'll start to bring things up to date . . . . . .
We left bright and early on Sunday morning (4/26) from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, heading for Butte via Salt Lake City.  Fortunately we were able to find some tickets using some of my old (1994) Northwest Airlines points, so all we had to pay was the exorbitant $200 early booking fee  -- anyway it was less expensive than buying last minute tickets.
We arrived in Butte a little after noon after meeting my mom and sister in SLC, and flying together on the last leg.  As expected the weather was cold, but reasonable, and we checked into our room and waited for my brothers and cousins to arrive. 




After all had arrived, we went out for a bite to eat.














We did the normal visitation thing on Sunday night at the church, and then after putting Mom to bed, went out on the town with the rest of the family.  Butte has a number of very interesting and historic taverns and saloons in the downtown area and we visited several --












The funeral was Monday morning at 11:00 with a very nice luncheon afterward.  The bishop said the funeral mass and there were about 40 priests and well over a hundred former parishioners of my Uncle in attendance.  It was a great celebration of his life and his work in over 10 parishes in western Montana.
 

Monday night was pretty quiet, as my cousins and brothers had to take off early (our flight was the next day) -- but the snow came during the night, and by the time we got to the airport, the flight (the only one that day from Butte) had been canceled.  Fortunately, we arrived at the airport early, and we were able to get rebooked out of Bozeman, so we quickly drove the 75 miles there, and all got out -- Mom and Margaret to Seattle, and Mandy and me to Phoenix.
We arrived back in time to find out that our battery was dead on our Honda van -- and when we took it into the dealer the next day to find out what had happened, we were notified that we needed a new battery AND alternator -- and, BTW, a highly recommended timing belt and water pump replacement.  At the end of the day on Thursday, we drove back from the dealer quite a bit lighter in the wallet, but with the Honda ready for the next hundred thousand miles.
So, a day later than we'd planned, we finally hit the road east to the Texas hill country, hoping to get there in time for the birth of our newest granddaughter, Gillian . . . . . stay tuned!!