Happily, still house hunting in MT...

Ohio River, at sunset

...but getting some perspective on it by thinking about the east -- Louisville, Ky., where Mom and I recently checked out the sunset after dinner at Blue Dog (http://goo.gl/HJzBB). This bank of the Ohio, east of downtown, might've been close to where William Clark tied up, then climbed the hill for a visit with his sister at the old Locust Grove Plantation.

Locust Grove

A Web site calls it, "The last remaining residential building to ever provide shelter to the Lewis and Clark Expedition leaders, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the Locust Grove is a National Historic Landmark in Louisville, Kentucky. It was owned by Clark’s sister Lucy Clark Croghan and her husband, William Croghan." (See http://www.locustgrove.org/). An 18th century "domestic Georgian" mansion, it is a far cry from one of the little 20th century Montana homes that we've been looking to buy. Alex and I turned down the final counter-offer on the recent Hamilton cottage, after our appraisals came in late and way lower than the asking price. It didn't help that the stock market tanked that week, and we also would've had expensive repairs for some aforementioned home-inspection problems. So...

We are fine with the decision. In fact, we go out and "celebrate" with our good friends Hank and Rochelle over an excellent Missouri-sourced dinner and wine at Farmhaus (http://goo.gl/6Mv9o), including...

...my "local summer salad," served in a Ball canning jar that's carefully spilled onto a plate at table

Onward.

One or both of us plan to make another trip to Montana this fall (maybe staying into winter to do some cross-country skiing on what we hear are impeccably groomed trails at Lost Trail Pass!!). We'd fly this time; save the next drive for a rental truck with furniture!

I keep the Wyoming fortune cookie in mind...

What an adventure! Wish us luck.