Still the world's worst coffee

Captain Jacks snack bar, Helena Montana airport. I have mentioned them a couple of times on this blog. I've had the coffee at least three times on a 6am flight back to the Twin Cities. It is always bad and tastes like it was made days before. I guess not even Big Sky country is perfect.

An evening in Montana

Last night I arrived in Helena around 6pm. A gorgeous day just too beautiful to waste watching TV in the local Hampton Inn ( though they are very nice people ). I took a long, hundred mile drive up into the Helena National Forest, doing a long loop that took me past a stray cow wandering on the highway, through the town of Lincoln, and past the pristine trout waters of the Blackfoot River.

As I mentioned in an earlier email to my mother,  Helena reminds me in many ways of my ancestral hometown of Elizabethton, Tennessee. A small city, mainly of lifelong residents. A combination of pretty older homes, tacky shopping areas and a nice downtown, nestled in the middle of the mountains. Not a bad place at all to spend a life.


 I ended my drive at the minor league ball park and watched the Helena Brewers faced the Casper Ghosts (gotta love that name). The Brewers lost but time at a ballpark is always time well spent.

One year later, still the world's worst coffee

Captain Jack's snack bar. Helena, Montana Airport. A weak brown beverage that smells like coffee but always tastes like it is simply last night's leftover with water added. Great service. $2.50 for a large.

On the plus side, saw antelope and a bald eagle while driving around outside the city.

Helena, Montana - Tim's Exxon, bad coffee, mountain biking

If my Cafe Du Monde trip is among my best coffee experiences, the cup I had at Gate 2 at the Helena, Montana airport has to be the opposite. Cold, expensive, smelly, old. Otherwise a great trip. My Dad once said there's no such thing as a bad cup of coffee. He was wrong.

One of the most memorable things about this trip was my stop at Tim's Exxon at 1721 Cedar St.

Filled my tank there yesterday morning, using a credit card to pay at the pump. I did not go inside, just a quck stop to fill the rental car on my way to the airport. But that did not stop the attendant from stepping outside as I was getting into my car and saying "Thanks for coming by sir, have a good day!"

That may not seem like a big deal but it was so surprising. I don't think I've ever had that happen before at a gas station, certainly never when paying at the pump. Great way to start the day. If I lived in Helena I would never buy gas anywhere else. Looked the station up on Yahoo yellow pages and found out I was not the first person to experience the great service from these folks.

Prior day, September 11th, was my first attempt at mountain biking, also in Helena with Dave Roberts. Took a bike path uphill for about a half hour. I run every day but the steepness, the elevation and the use of muscles long dormant made me feel like the most out of shape lardass on the planet. Once at the top of the trail it was a great trail gradually downward. Expect that I pushed the bike about two thirds of the uphill portion, just could not get the coordination/rhythym/strength and balance right. Would definitely give it a try again.