#Gates50States

On our drive between Glacier National Park and our final couple of days in Idaho, we had one of those special moments that just can’t be planned for, and it occurred in Missoula, Montana.

During the planning phase for this adventure, I’d stumbled across the Smokejumper Visitor Center in Missoula, and that led me to learn about smokejumpers, and the whole thing is just fascinating.  The bravery, the skill, the risk, the technology… it’s all just amazing.

Timing our stop was going to be a bit of a challenge.  They offer tours for kids through a smokejumper base and a plane, but I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to make given our travel time.  As it turned out, we learned upon arrival from the nice girl (from Hudson, OH!) working the reception counter that we’d just missed the tour.  Bummer!

But, she told us, some of the guys were due for a training jump in a couple of minutes, and if we went outside, we could see the plane take off.  This sounded neat to us, so we perused the small grouping of displays, learned all about the history and skill of smokejumpers, and went outside to get our lunch from the cooler to enjoy while we watched the plane.

As it took off, it circled the area a time or two.  We then thought it might be cool to follow the plane and see if we could get a better look at the jumper on his way down.  Gathering our lunch items, we returned to the minivan.  The kids and I were much faster than Ryan, who was carrying his camera gear.  As he walked along the sidewalk, a car pulled up to him, and the driver asked if he wanted to see the jumpers.  “Hop in,” she said.

They passed us as the kids were getting loaded up, and we followed the young lady to a field marked RESTRICTED ACCESS.  This was going to be very, very cool.

It was a an unmowed field of tall grass and short trees, the airplane circled overhead, and an orange streamer drifted down from the plane.  This helped the jumper gauge the wind, we were told.  And then he jumped.

He seemed a long way off, but he came closer and closer, until he landed in the field, not 20 yards from us!

Turns out this smokejumper had recently returned from a job and was set to leave for another one.  The life of a smokejumper is busy, especially during the dry season.  His wife, the nice girl who drove us to the field, had come to bring him a few things and to see him between jobs.  The guy was very cool with the kids, showing them his gear and answering their questions.  We were grateful she’d let us see into this little window of their lives.

The kids now apparently believe that this is just how vacation adventures go, that we pull into a small town and get an amazing experience just for showing up.  The bar has been set high.  🙂