CRETACEOUS SUMMER 2014: A Trip into Quaint Choteau for a Paleontologist Day Off! (blog #3)

WELCOME TO CHOTEAU! (photo by Anthony Martin)

Hallelujah for camaraderie in the field of paleontologists! Hallelujah for nearby towns that offer a respite from camp meals and showerless days. My Chiboogamoo (aka Tony Martin) and his colleagues take Fridays off from their fieldwork to go into the nearby town of Choteau for supplies, showers, and some recreation.

CHOTEAU COURTHOUSE! (photo by Anthony Martin)

I requested that Chiboogamoo take photos of his whereabouts in town. I forgot to emphasize that photos with people in them are quite desirable. However what you see here are his lovely photos resulting from a walk-about the serene town of Choteau and his brief dispatch about his experience. Enjoy!

DISPATCH FROM AN ICHNOLOGIST ON A DAY OFF FROM FIELD WORK IN CHOTEAU

“Every Friday is a day off for the fossil-digging crew at Camp Makela, and it's also a day in town. The town -  Choteau, Montana - is about 10 miles west of camp and has all of the amenities needed for everyone to keep functioning: showers, laundry, food, water, and (most importantly for many people), beer. Although the town is small by most people's standards, it has a laundromat, several motels (which rented out showers for us), grocery store (where you can also get beer), pharmacy, and a few restaurants, one of which is where we had lunch (the Log Cabin).

TREE-LINED STREETS OF CHOTEAU! (photo by Anthony Martin)

Choteau has a main street (I think it is named "Main Street") with a quaint courthouse at one end and the rest of the downtown along its length. Although we have internet access at the camp, further online activity is accommodated by the public library, which is also on Main Street. So while the camp director (David Varricchio) was getting groceries, many people walked around town to pick up needed items or go to the library.

LOG CABIN RESTAURANT. (photo by Anthony Martin)

SPORTING GOODS, ESPRESSO. (photo by Anthony Martin)

WAGON WHEEL BAR (photo by Anthony Martin)

GRAIN ELEVATORS. (photo by Anthony Martin)

I hadn't been in Choteau for about five years and did a walkabout to reacquaint myself with what was there. One of the gems I had forgotten about was the very pretty city park on its east side, only a few blocks from the grocery store. So I strolled over there and marveled at the little stream that runs through it, with its perfectly clear water, and its wonderful shade trees.

CHOTEAU CITY PARK. (photo by Anthony Martin)

The people in Choteau are very welcoming of everyone and there's some justifiable local pride taken in how the nearby paleontology has put their town on the map for us.

Lunch in town was also an opportunity for us to talk about paleontology while all together in one place. Sure, we do that in the evenings during and after dinner too, but people are always coming and going at different times, so discussion is often limited to small groups. 

This time, we were also lucky enough to have Becca Hanna visit us and talk some paleontology with us, too. Becca, who has been living in Choteau for a while, has a M.S. degree in earth sciences and did her master's thesis on a specimen of Allosaurus. So even though she no longer studies paleontology (she's now a yoga instructor), her insights and questions helped spur on more in-depth discussions about what we'd been doing."

 

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE MEETS COLLEAGUE IN CHOTEAU! Becca Hanna requested to meet up with Paleontologist Barbie. A fan of each other, both paleontologists were glad to "high five" one another in solidarity of loving science and the great western United States. (photo by Anthony Martin)

July days are escaping into ether, its super full moon is waning, and I will be traveling to Montana to join my Chiboogamoo this weekend having completed my InterPlay training and graduating from the Life Practice Program. I happily announce that I am now an InterPlay Leader-in-Training—one that is celebrating by going to the rolling hills of Montana to document my husband’s profound and satisfying ichnological work.

 

INTERPLAY SECOND SATURDAY! While my husband Chiboogamoo explored the fossil beds of Montana in the beginning weeks of July, I remained home in Georgia, completing the Life Practice Program of InterPlay. Here I am pictured (front row, right, seated on the floor) at the Pine Lake Clubhouse after the Atlanta InterPlay Second Saturday, which we included in our weekend Life Practice Program. I am now an InterPlay Leader-in-Training! Hurray! I am also looking forward to venturing to Montana in a few days to join my beloved ichnologist! (photo by InterPlayer)

I am open to the miracles that grace brings to a scientist and his artistic wife. Stay tuned for what we discover together.

 

SATURDAY MOON IN MONTANA! (photo by Anthony Martin)

That’s Coffee With Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me. Tell me what is on your mind concerning the month of July, full moons as they wax and wane, and about my love or your love for that special someone in your life.