The best freestyle kayakers in the United States were in Missoula last week for the US National Team Team Trials. Click on the picture below to see more.

See the results here

Mom and Dad came to visit. One day we took a walk. Dad was not feeling well so he did not go.

Sweet rainbow that was outside our front door earlier this week.

Saturday was the annual Garden City Brewfest in downtown Missoula. The weather was on a 30 minute cycle of sun and rain that seems to be quite popular this time of year. When we got there the band Secret Powers was covering the entire Beatles’ album Abbey Road. I had forgotten how much I enjoy that record.

From a walk earlier this evening.

From Wikipedia

Stevensville is officially recognized as the first permanent settlement in the state of Montana. Forty-eight years before Montana became the nation’s 41st state, Stevensville was settled by Jesuit Missionaries at the request of the Bitter Root Salish Indians.

Hanging around in downtown Missoula.

Over the weekend we rode our bikes over to Waterworks Hill and went for a walk in the warm sun.

Here is a short list of things I owned on Saturday but did not on Sunday afternoon

The above items were sitting in an unlocked car overnight outside Hilary’s apartment and someone came along and liberated them. I feel like I am usually careful about what I leave in the car and remembering to keep it locked. I was faintly aware the car was unlocked but honestly did not give it a lot of thought. In the back of my mind an insistence on keeping the door locked was being too compulsive.

I noticed the coat was gone in the early afternoon and that was sad. Hilary mentioned maybe someone was getting more use out of it than I did, which was somewhat of a comforting thought.

That evening I remembered my Ipod used to be sitting in the glove compartment and was not anymore. What is someone going to do with a collection gathered over 4 years of relatively strange independent rock, hip hop, 90′s, etc? How are they going to know when the “broken Ipod” frowny face makes an unwelcome appearance you have to smack it a couple of times to make it work?

I can picture someone getting satisfaction from wearing the coat, but from an old(ish) semi-working ipod not-so-much. Also, the addition of the Ipod turned what I was viewing as a spur of the moment decision into a more calculated effort. On the bright side though it certainly could have been worse.

Now I am sure there is a lesson in here somewhere…

Last weekend we walked around Missoula a little and managed to walk in and see the last 5 minutes or so of the MSU Bobcats against the University of Montana Grizzlies.

Cat-Griz is certainly the big rivalry around here and usually a big deal, too bad we got blown out something like 35-3. Nothing like walking in on the waning minutes of a football game to observe a real slice of America. As far a rivalries go I think Carolina-Duke basketball is still my preference.

These were all taken with a Canon Powershot SD 850. I like that little guy.

I just found out that Bozeman’s neighboring Ultimate team, the Mental Toss Flycoons from Missoula, Montana beat Shazam Remains 15 to 11 for the Club Ultimate National Championship in the mixed division earlier today.

In case you aren’t totally familiar with competitive club Ultimate in the states, there are three divisions, Mixed (co-ed), Open (basically Men), and Women’s. The Club Championship, a four day tournament held once a year in Sarasota, Flordia and, has teams from all over. The two other teams to win national championships were Jam (Open Division) and Fury (Women’s Division), both from San Francisco. Shazam, the team the Flycoons beat in the finals, is from Seattle, Washington.

Montana Ultimate is the bomb! We (the Bozos) played the Flycoons in September and lost a close game 13-10. The Flycoons are a spirited team with some excellent chemistry. They play super hard every point, but still seem to manage to have fun, which I definitely appreciate. For some teams, an intense desire to win can block out what is great about Ultimate.

Beating a team from Seattle is especially impressive, given that Seattle is one of the premier cities for Ultimate in the nation and therefore have a much bigger pool of talent to pick from than Missoula.

Another key feature of their National Championship is that no less than three local Bozeman Ultimate superstars, Emily Kimmel, Camas Key, and Dominic Benincasa joined the team late in the season and helped bring this one back to Montana.

Oh yeah, not only did The Flycoons win a National Championship, they did it in impressive style. With seven wins and only one loss over all four days, against some of the best teams in the nation. They won their last three games (where a single loss eliminates you) 15-5, 15-11, 15-11.

As a tribute I scoured the archives for a couple more pictures of their game against us at sectionals. (Pictures already posted can be viewed here)

**Update** For a much more in-depth account of the tournament see Flycoon player Tim Murray’s blog here

Hilary Schoendorf and Michael Sulock in and around downtown Missoula, Montana. October 2008