We spent 4 nights in a great little campground called “Charles Waters Campground” to the south of Missoula in the town of Florence (no, not Italy…we wish).  Awesome paved spots, plenty of room to operate, and very good privacy for these new-age hippies to take their outdoor showers. There was also a trailhead located at the entrance of the park which kept us busy on a couple mountain bike rides right from our site, and served well to offset our beer footprint.  The 35-minute drive into the beer culture of Missoula was a little taxing, but we managed to plow through that only a couple times during our stay by using the local resources (breweries) in the nearby metropolis of Stevensville.  We spent a few hours on the water fishing the Bitteroot River right down the street from our campground.  Maryjo loved the bushwacking right out of the blocks as we needed to do several creek crossings to get to the water, one over a large downed tree, and 3 or 4 requiring her to take her very expensive hiking shoes off.  Coincidentally, her beautiful Simms wading shoes, suited specifically for this purpose, were conveniently located back at the campsite.  Another lesson learned, on this journey full of lessons.  And for those of you wondering, the Bitteroot kicked my ass, again.  I am officially 0-2 on this beautiful, fishy-looking river, and I have vowed never to return.  Well, if someone were to connect a fishing trip with the 9 breweries in Missoula, there is a distinct possibility that I could be persuaded otherwise.  On the brewery front, we loved Draught Works and the 2 Kettle House locations.  Both had tasty sours and very cool vibes.  We even had a bonus Philly cheesesteak at Draught Works, even though we no longer like to use the word “Philly” in anything we speak of.  Great segue to the World Champion New England Patriots…on tap at the North location of Kettle House was a New England IPA by the (derogatory) name of “Shady Brady IPA”.  We are seeing these hazy IPA’s everywhere these days, and I think they are being made popular by the Treehouse Brewery back in MA, a brewery with a cult-like following.  Thanks again, Tim, for standing in line for an hour and taking a hit for the team.  We loved the hazy IPA’s that you sent us and we will certainly pay it forward at a later date inside this fine journey.  Anyway, back to the Shady Brady…I eventually ordered one, but not before I verbally abused the cute bartender over their naming convention.   She was only moderately amused with my dissertation about the greatest quarterback of all time and the many championships that he and the team had won.  I knew I had made my point when she finally decided to walk away from me, but as she did, I told her that the Shady Brady beer was every bit as beautiful as the man himself.  And we all know that everyone reading this has a crush on Mr. Brady, including me and that cute little bartender, even though she appeared to be in complete denial at this point in her young, naive lifetime.  And, just to make my point abundantly clear, I ordered another.  The bottom line with the Missoula area is that we love the beer culture and the cool vibe downtown, but we liked the smaller towns south of Missoula like Lolo, Stevensville, and Darby.  Darby has huge potential for us, I could feel “it” just by driving through it on the way to Dillon.  By the way, we passed Lost Creek Trail Ski Area on the way to Dillon and it definitely looks like the real deal.  That settles it…we are going back to Lost Creek, Darby, and Missoula (and maybe event the Bitteroot for another ass-whooping).  Happy Birthday to my baby sister, Denise!  We hope you had a great day!  Tom Brady for President!  Over and out…