Welcome Guest Faith Blum!

by

Last year, I had the opportunity to go to the location my first series was set in, Castle Town, Montana. It’s a ghost town now, although it is inhabited by cattle rather than ghosts. Even so, it was fun to see it. And now I feel like I need to rewrite my series. But I won’t.

Castle Town was a small mining town back in the late 1800s. There are lots of rocks, pine trees, and hills all around it. The only buildings left standing are the foundation of the general store and another building that is actually mostly standing yet.

I loved going there to see where my characters lived, even if it wasn’t quite the way I had imagined it. It had been a dream of mine for a few years to go to Montana mainly because of my books, and I was blessed to have a husband who willingly let me fulfill that dream.

I’m sharing a few pictures with some explanations from the area around Castle Town as well as Castle Town itself.

This sign guided us to the direction we were headed. But first we went to the right because there was a cute little church over there that we couldn’t resist looking at.
This sign was outside of the town. The bottom half says, “This road was the main street of Castle, Incorporated in 1891 with a population of about 1,500 people. The first mine registered was the North Carolina Mine in 1884. In the next 7 years, 991 claims were located. The rock basement is the remains of Baker’s General Store and Post Office. Berg’s Meat Market and Kidd’s Furniture Store were across the street. On the far hillside was Minnie’s Sporting House. The silver panic of 1893 caused the town to die a rapid death.
A panorama of the town.
A closeup of the foundation.
Obviously, there are some recent updates to the church, but doesn’t this look like something from a western?
This is the road leading to Castle Town. It is a one-lane road and you can only hope no one comes barrelling around the corner toward you. It definitely fit the rustic feel of the area.
These rocks lined the road. I don’t know if they were original to the area or put there from somewhere else.

It was so peaceful out there. The only creatures around were the cattle and the only sounds were of the cattle moving and the wind in the trees. I think I need to stop talking about it before I start wanting to back again.

If you ever find yourself near Bozeman, Montana, it’s only a two-hour drive north and a little east to get there. It’s a slow drive there, but fun.

What was your favorite vacation? Why was it your favorite?

Today, I am giving away one free ebook of my book that spends the most time in Castle Town, Montana,  Lily of the Valley. It is the fourth in the series, but it can be read as a standalone.

+ posts

11 thoughts on “Welcome Guest Faith Blum!”

  3. My favorite vacation was going to Wyoming and seeing The Tetons, Jackson Hole, and Yellowstone. I’d dreamed of this vacation and saved for it 4 long years. I can’t wait to go back.
    You have a great day and Happy Early Thanksgiving.

    • You need to go back with more time on your hands. I’d love to make a trip up that way. The west coast area is the area I never got to travel.

  5. Mine was a road trip with all the kids who are now grown. We read Harry Potter while we drove and we all got into it. We had so much with that the places we stopped.

  6. Oh my I’m terrible about picking favorite anythings so I’ll just say a ski trip with my parents, one of my sisters, one of my brothers and his wife and kids and my step-sister and her husband to Creste Butte, Colorado. It was a first trip for many of them but not me. My parents and most of my family decided to take lesson but my step-sister and her husband decided to just go up with me. “They had this” they thought. Lol. Not. Well I was taking them on a slope called the Yellow Brick road. I still wonder why they didn’t have signs since this slope meandered around the mountain and crossed the harder slopes. It was a beginners slope. Well back to no signs, I accidentally took them down a black slope with I missed one of the meandering parts. It had so many moguls it was ridiculous. Oh my, saying my sister and her husband were mad is an understatement. They would stand and fall, stand and fall… it took us so long to get off that slope that they were beyond exhausted to say the least. I still think they think I did that on purpose. It was a great family trip though.

  7. It looks so pretty in Montana. My favorite vacation was when I went to Hawaii for my 40th birthday. My ex took me every summer and after we divorced, he moved there. We remained friends and for my 40th birthday, he bought a trip for me to go visit him. he paid for a hotel room overlooking Waikiki Beach and took me to see all of the places he discovered while living there. One of the reasons the trip was so special was there were no strings attached. We were just good friends spending time together. I still consider him one of my best friends and we talk or email nearly every day.

  10. I love going to Cumberland Falls and then on to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Thanks for sharing your trip.

Comments are closed.