Interior View of the Owl Cafe.' Showing Set-up For Grand High School Reunion Dinner.

Laurel, MT. Out the window and beyond those buildings and a giant switch yard of the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway, do lie distant mountains to the South and somewhat East. Within walking distance of the former Hurzler Hotel, this is the most likely ZMM restaurant in Laurel. This restaurant now has a really great culinary chief that is a graduate of Western Culinary School, Portland, Oregon. The food here is a don't miss!! See my longer caption, with links, in my ZMM Part II photos elsewhere in this Gallery.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0397 ...... ZMM Page = 104 ...... WayPt = 122`|u|' 3396ft)

ZMM Restaurant, Red Lodge MT. My ZMM research questions directed to these Gents encountered much evasive joking and wise cracks. After I came back with my own tenacious tit-for-tat humor, they finally warmed up. Only after (finally) surviving my initiation test, was I able to record in my notes much local town history and corresponding old timer stories. Clearly this was the very restaurant that Pirsig and friends had visited on their 1968 trip! Because, there it was; the monster color photo of "The Mountain Road Up Beartooth Pass", which was so well described in ZMM p109, "the route we will take up". This huge photograph was taken by the the man who owns the photography store opposite the restaurant. On the table, that's my big thick ring-binder notebook where I wrote copious notes re everything I was told. (Photo = 105-0598_IMG.JPG)

Wedding Dinner Party Western Style! Just Married, This Real Life Cowboy Drives the Stage Coach, These Days, For Tourists!
On my second trip thru Red Lodge, I went back to the Red Lodge Café" for breakfast wit my son David. The food and ambience were good as always! And while we were here, I happened to notice this western dude at who turned out to be honored guest at his wedding breakfast. Very used to tourists, he readily consented to this photo. However his bride, next photo, was less interested in to be part of my tourist world.

Red Lodge, MT.
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(Photo = Summer 2006 0455 ...... ZMM Page = 109 ...... WayPt = 126n 5553ft)

Wedding Dinner Party Western Style! Just Married, One of These Western Gals Was the Bride,
On my second trip thru Red Lodge, I found myself back at the Red Lodge Café. The food and ambience were good as always! And while we were here, I happened to notice a western dude, previous photo, at who turned out to be honored guest at his wedding breakfast. These three gals, also part of the Wedding party, consented to this photo.
Red Lodge, MT.
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(Photo = Summer 2006 0456 ...... ZMM Page = 109 ...... WayPt = 126n 5553ft)

In 1968 the ZMM Narrator Noticed Ski Merchandise in the Shops Windows In Red Lodge. A Concerted Search Finally Yielded Skies For Sale In Late Summer!
On my second trip I spent more time searching for the ZMM Narrator's Ski Shops, and managed to find one shop with a great inventory of skis! On the opposite side of the main street from the Red Lodge Café" and a block or so down, I found this shop that had just a few ski items in the window. However, upon inquiry inside the helpful clerk invited photos of the complete stock down stairs.
Red Lodge, MT.
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(Photo = Summer 2006 0473 ...... ZMM Page 109 ...... WayPt = 126n 5553ft)

Candy Store, Red Lodge MT. According to people in Montana this Candy Store is a "don't miss". This store claims to have "every candy" from "all over the world". Four good examples of (very early) Antique Motorcycles may also be found in the back of the store. (Photo = 105-0600_IMG.JPG)

Dry Grass and Low Mountains at Rock Greek Crossing and a Shaded Cool Resting Place Away From the Busy Beartooth Highway Provided a great Spot To Make Back-Up Copies of Our Digital Camera's Full Memory Chip.
On my second trip, we stopped in a shady spot here just beyond this bridge. Here, on a little-used side road was hard-to-find-relief from the hot sun, so our time here was welcomed. We spent some 40 minutes here, because our Nikon D50 camera had filled it's SD memory chip. While my son David, down loaded the 500MB memory chip of photos into his laptop computer and made archival CD copies, I photographed the surroundings onto our second memory chip.
About 15 miles after Red Lodge, MT.
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(Photo = Summer 2006 0496 ...... ZMM Page 109 ...... WayPt = 126n 5553ft)

Awesome Views in the Narrator's High Country! These Mountain Tops Show Mostly Dead Grass In September!
On my re-traveling this highway in 2006, I got my 8 photo 360 Degree Panorama shots messed in 2002. These will be posted to my ZMM Part II Gallery as soon as possible.
Above the tree line, Bearttooth Pass, MT.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0034 ...... ZMM Page = 110 ...... WayPt =~136k)

Views in the Narrator's High Country! (Continued) Standing At the location of the ZMM Narrator's " twin walls of snow, We See Land Immediately Beyond. "

Upper Rock Creek Canyon, Beartooth Pass, MT.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0084 ...... ZMM Page = 110 ...... WayPt = 143w 10740ft)