From our camp at Bannack State Park we returned to highway 278 and through Big Hole Pass and into the Big Hole River valley. Winter had not yet departed from the valley. There was a carpet of snow across all the fields and the whole valley was white, except where it was dotted with cows and hay.

While driving through this valley we listened to BBC World news on XM radio and heard a report about the experiences of white collar workers in the UK. The global economic down turn seemed to have brought a change in perspective. The reporter told us that before the down turn, 'well to do' white collar workers in the UK were worried about job satisfaction and promotionon the job, now they were just worried about food, housing and school fees for their kids. A touch of the real world intruded on our travels.

We stopped in at the cafe at the town of Wisdom at the junction of 278 and 43 and I had eggs, hash browns, toast, and coffee and we caught up on emails and published the latest pages of our web site. $7 for breakfast (including Nina's hot chocholate) has to be the best deal we will get for a while. Our neighbors Ken and Ivy recommended this cafe to us and they were right, it was great. Nina got a very appropriate purple base ball cap with mirror glass beads on it.

From Wisdom we headed east along 43 and stopped at the Big Hole Battlefield Monument (park?), the museum was not much, but the movie was very moving. The European conquest of the new world was often brutal, and today something not to be proud of.

After we arrived in Missoula and had settled in at the KOA camping ground we discovered that the water pump that feeds water to the house faucets was leaking and that the area under the house seating was very wet. After some examination I discovered that the leak was in a plastic pressure switch on the top of the pump that turns on the pump whenever a faucet is turned on. I took it apart and packed it with liquid gasket. We will see tomorrow whether it works. I will probably buy a new pump just in case.