Day 6 - The great Jubilee/Benedictine/48-state Pilgrimage of 2025!

We were scheduled to start our day, the combo feast of Sts. Clare and Susanna, at Mass. Alas, the need to fix the car before moving forward took precedence so DH was up and out early and headed to the oil change place to seek a resolution. He said the guy was able to fix it quickly but wondered why he seemed somewhat unhappy. DH being dh, engaged the guy in conversation and found out the concern was the California license plates on the van. The explanation came that "people in this area" aren't terribly fond of people from California. Got it...traveling without a map for sure. So, we made sure to lead with "we're from PA, driving to WA and flying home" in all our interactions to follow.

Because of the delayed start, we were all able to make up some sleep from the night in the monastery (Why do we stay in monasteries...we should visit, spend the day, then stay nearby. Yes, I hear the Holy Spirit chuckling over the struggle with an obvious softball trial and my whining at such). Anyway, we enjoyed the slow wake up and family time and were grateful when DH returned with a fixed van.

She drew the short straw and got the couch...

To be fair, it was a HUGE couch!

I so wish this was a 5-hour drive from our house. I would be there at least twice a year. There were even pelicans on the lake! Much needed rest at the mid-point of the journey.

Grateful for the good night (and laundry facilities!) we packed up and said goodbye from our little piece of paradise in Great Falls, Montana. 

Bear-friend has also visited 48 states!

Goodbye beautiful lake!

We headed slightly west then south to Helena. Our next stop was the Jubilee site at the Cathedral of St. Helena. 

Beautiful cathedral - very grand

Can you imagine the complaints that would happen on the East coast?

St. Helena and a very cool baptismal font

St. Alphonsus has made himself one of my patrons so I was grateful to see him so many times on the journey.

There were no candles to light here so I prayed for our Godchildren's vocations at St. John Vianney's relic. Equally good. 

We didn't make it to Mass but were delighted to spend some time with St. Clare on her special day.

This was on the lower level and is one of my favorites. Everyone looks so tired (or maybe it was just how I was feeling on the journey). Always happy to pray with the Holy Family - uniting our pilgrimage with them.

Helena was such a cool (kind of hip, really) little town and, because it was a very short driving day (3 hours...pretty sure it was the shortest of the trip) we took time to enjoy the beautiful day. We left the car at the Cathedral and took a walk through the neighborhood to drop by The Grateful Bread cafe to pick up some lunch. As I said, it's kind of a hip area and one of our children was not too excited to find tomato jam on a sandwich. Very pleased that said child eventually finished it and grew a bit in the process.

We returned to the Cathedral and sat on some benches to finish our lunch and enjoy the day.

We even saw a passing train :0)

I was grateful that the car time was short this day - people were starting to get a bit stir crazy...

We don't have that road at home...

Similar?

No idea...one benefit of kids with phones - you get to see a whole different aspect of the trip.

Just before arriving at our final destination, we stopped to see a very unique site. 

Our Lady of the Rockies - where else can you see a 90-ft Blessed Mother looking down over the city? 

We were all grateful to arrive early to Butte, our resting place for the night. I had booked the top floor of a municipal building that was converted to a loft. It was an amazing space and definitely worth the three long flights of stairs it took to get there! (Grateful for strong boys to carry suitcases).

Huge space to spread out!

and burn some pent-up car energy

The scholar in her natural habitat ;0)

The poker table was a nice addition

Every window had an amazing view

Because we arrived so early, we were able to go out for dinner at an actual restaurant. Metals is in the city proper of Butte, in a converted bank building. I didn't even take a picture because it was such a good, relaxing meal. I did get my bison burger and was pleased, compared to the buffalo I had prior, that it had the gamey taste I had remembered. 

Bellies full and energy expended, we headed back to the loft for bed. (No worries about the calories consumed, that stair climb burned them all!) Tomorrow was an early morning and long day of driving (full of quirky Idaho things). Sleeping (literally) under the gaze of Our Lady - we are blessed.

Day 5 - The great Jubilee/Benedictine/48-state Pilgrimage of 2025!

 So, after a night of no sleep (see the bells in the previous post) I woke up thinking, "Oh, my, what did we do? We still have another week!" Luckily, after waking up at morning prayer and having the most delightful, elderly monk walk by after and say "Breakfast" it was hard to stay grumpy.

After breakfast was Sunday Mass. I don't believe I've ever attended Sunday Mass in a monastery choir before. It is a unique and wonderful experience (and you get a front row seat because the Abbot gives his homily from the back of the sanctuary). This homily was so very appropriate. From Luke:" You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." 

Father Abbot spoke about travel and perseverance and what happens when you get to the end of the map...there was a story about warfare and soldiers from the front sending word to HQ to tell them "we've reached the end of the map." (Still wasn't awake enough for long-term memory storage!)Yes, we had our Google machine to provide the car's direction but there would be several times over the course of the week that we would run out of map. All thanks to God for this homily to remind us to keep walking His way before we resumed our journey.

I was grateful that the travel planner made it another, somewhat, short driving day (that's 7+ hours instead of 10 - these are BIG states). I have to pause and withdraw a bit of shade from my previous Nebraska post...the road from Richardton, ND into Montana was not even a road. Grateful it was Sunday with few travelers, we did the best we could. We came away with only a broken heat shield so we consider that a win.

We had entered "Big Sky" country and they're not kidding. That is the road ahead at the bottom right of the photo.

It seems there was an ocean here once? I really must get better at geography.

I actually enjoyed this day's sunset...from the porch of our house.

We had made it to Great Falls! DH and I spent some time working out where to get the car repaired in the morning and we had a good in-house dinner for a change. After that, the kids watched some tv (monasteries are missing those!) and we all prayed and went to bed. The morning would bring a much shorter travel day, some once-in-a-lifetime sights, and a pretty cool space to lodge overnight. 

We are blessed!

Day 4 - The great Jubilee/Benedictine/48-state Pilgrimage of 2025!

 On to the day of famous men and men who almost no one has heard of (guess which ones impressed me more???). 

First, however, we had to wake up and bid our giant steer goodbye. Walking out in the bright morning, I had to make some amends for my exhaustion/hunger/impatience induced mood the previous night that led me to declare Nebraska a place with nothing to offer. It still holds the record in the lower 48 for the worst road traveled but, seriously, check out these views. It was like being transported back to Little House on the Prairie. 

Into the car we went and headed Northeast...it didn't take long until we reached the last repeat state (DH was finally caught up!). 

A little bit farther down the road and we arrived at the place of the big men (or big heads, at least). I will say it was more impressive than the Worlds Only Corn Palace to the East but, also, likely is a once-per-lifetime visit. 

Sufficiently awed, we got back into the car, gave thanks that we had gotten there early before the throng that was descending, and headed due North. We would all get our first new state shortly and, more importantly, we needed to arrive at our destination by 5:10 PM for Vespers. First, though, a quick stop in Rapid City for some local fare.

DH was delighted to try the Sirloin Chislic (think steak tips with heavy seasoning) and this would be the first installment of my Buffalo/Bison faceoff. 

The buffalo burger was not dissimilar to beef, slightly less fatty, and with a very subtle gameish taste.

 

It seems, instead of cows or dinosaurs, the town of Rapid City, SD has a collection of US presidents scattered through the streets.

It was not a long driving day and we were all excited to arrive at our home for the evening. It was made extra-special by the monk running around the driveway when we arrived. This would be Brother Louie, the one with whom I had been corresponding, and he would be one of the people that made this place so special. 

The rooms were not fancy or air-conditioned and lacked a huge amount of space. I feel like I also have to mention the Abbey bells which, so lovely at the start, lose some attraction when you realize they ring all day and night, every.quarter.hour! 

That said, I think every single pilgrim on our trek agrees that this was the best 24ish hours of our journey. Assumption Abbey is a place where the monks understand the Benedictine hallmarks and perfect them on a daily basis. (small disclaimer...there is also an Assumption Abbey in Missouri but they are Cistercian, and they make fruitcake. They should not be confused with the Trappists in Kentucky, who make fruitcake and fudge!)

We made it in plenty of time - enough to check into our rooms and get a quick tour from Brother Louie.

After dropping our things, he returned to guide us into the choir seats for Vespers and help us navigate the books (this was a change from Conception, where we sat in the congregation). In the picture above, we were off to the right, in the back (until Sunday Mass, when they call everyone up from the choir to stand in the sanctuary for the Consecration because there are no kneelers in the choir stalls). 

After Vespers, we were invited to the refectory for dinner. This is kind of a big deal. Usually, the monks' refectory is a place that's not accessible to common folk. We processed in with all the monks, the Abbot led us in prayer, then asked Brother Louie, who the visitors might be. We introduced ourselves and were made most welcome. Brother Jacob was especially solicitous...sharing that tonight was "greatest hits" night (monk-lingo for leftovers), lol. By the end of the meal, the Abbot had made his way to our table and sat down for a chat. We talked about the kids who were attending St. Vincent, and potential for vocations, and just trying to live according to God's will.

This, friends, is my heavenly place. Breaking bread with clergy. I realize it's typical for a lot of people but, for whatever reason, we are not often blessed with such an occasion. How amazing (not really, ahem, Holy Spirit) to find that Father Abbot both knew the Archabbot at St. Vincent and was there fairly frequently for meetings and such. There were even two novices that had just returned from a conference at St. Vincent. How lovely and small God's world is. 

Oh, did I mention the entire back window of the refectory is glass, looking out over their property (that stretches for hundreds of acres)? Beautiful - inside and out.

I think this last one was breakfast the next morning!

We had a another short tour from Brother Louie - the monks in this abbey have a knack for reusing and repurposing things. The abbey was redone a while back and there are so many interesting touches.

For example, and it's hard to see, but if you look under the altar in the sanctuary picture above you can make out the two boxes that contain the relics, placed there when the abbey was reconsecrated. The boxes are actually the metal poor boxes from the front of the previous church, repurposed as relic holders. 

The arrow should point the other way ;0)

In the courtyard, outside our bedroom window

The vestment room - I vote "Odo" the best name!

Hilde!

We knew we should get to bed, which turned out to be a good decision - morning prayer began at 6:20 AM and, well, the BELLS...

Even when we don't sleep, we are blessed!