I have long wanted to visit Missoula, so my husband and I rented a large truck, loaded it up with seven of my tall ceramic stacks and some candlesticks to deliver to Radius Gallery, and off we went. The practice drive around my neighborhood the night before helped calm my nerves.

It is about a seven hour drive from Seattle to Missoula. Straight out I-90, three mountain passes, gorgeous scenery and you know you’ve arrived when you see a large “M” on the hillside.

We stopped in Spokane for lunch and had terrific tacos at Cochinito Taqueria, which had been recommended to us by friends who drive to Montana a lot. We were very close to Missoula but stopped at the St. Regis Travel Center as we were told by above mentioned friends, it was a must. It is.

The town of Missoula is beautiful. A college town with plenty to do, and people could not be friendlier. For those of you who do not know about Montana, it is a mecca for clay artists. Radius Gallery takes up the entire corner of N. Higgins Street which is the center of town. Owners Lisa Simon and Jason Neal have two enormous gallery spaces, one devoted entirely to clay, and the other a mixture of painting, sculpture and ceramics. They have First Friday events, and a whole calendar of art openings with top notch highly respected artists.

Below are a few of my favorite pieces they are currently showing:

I continue to see a vast amount of art and unfortunately have not been keeping up with my blog as much as I’d like to. I’ve been working very hard on my own ceramic work, and I’d love for you to take a look at what I left in Missoula!

On our way back to Seattle we stopped in Wallace, Idaho for coffee. A really cute town of under 1000 people. We now can both say we’ve been to Idaho.

We saw a cool dust devil along the side of the highway.

We stopped at Gingko Petrified Forest State Park, a spectacular view of the Columbia River. A must see. Truth be told the drive back to Seattle was even prettier.