Heavy Industries, Uglyness, and Desolation Greet the Traveler. Low Quality.
“ They [Sylvia Y& John Sutherland] talk once in a while in as few pained words as possible about "it" or "it all" as in the sentence, "There is just no escape from it." And if I asked, "From what?" the answer might be "The whole thing," or "The whole organized bit," or even "The system." Sylvia once said defensively, "Well, you know how to cope with it," which puffed me up so much at the time I was embarrassed to ask what "it" was and so remained somewhat puzzled. I thought it was something more mysterious than technology. But now I see that the "it" was mainly, if not entirely, technology. But, that doesn’t sound right either. The "it" is a kind of force that gives rise to technology, something undefined, but inhuman, mechanical, lifeless, a blind monster, a death force. Something hideous they are running from but know they can never escape. I’m putting it way too heavily here but in a less emphatic and less defined way this is what it is. “
I-94 entering Billings, MT. Typical for the Narrator, scenery or situations he does not approve of, get no mention in ZMM. Evidently the Narrator did not stop in Billings! As was twice the case for myself, I did not stop here, nor did I have any desire to do so. The passage above was part an explanation of the Sutherlands feelings re Minneapolis and their modern society generally.
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From My Truck Stop Camp Ground I Can Just Barely Discern the Distant Mountains to the South.
“At Laurel, in sight of the mountains at last, we stop for the night. The evening breeze is cool now. It comes down off the snow. Although the sun must have disappeared behind the mountains an hour ago, there’s still good light in the sky from behind the range."
Laurel, MT.If you look very closely you can see the line of the darker grey-blue mountains just below the top of the larger trees in the distance. I must have arrived at about the same hour as the Narrator, and took this photo from my Truck Stop Campground prior to setting up my tent. I could not identify the “cool breeze from the mountains”. Just off the 1st Laurel I-94 exit, this truck stop also had a coin operated laundry. An opportunity I did not miss, although one travel-day later than ZMM! Research is my excuse. New topic re my travel route: After Casper, MT., I again got off I-94 where a sign that directed me to see Lewis and Clark’s “Pompey’s Pillar” http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=HsgexperienceZmmRoute&id=105_0565_IMG This area is now a small National Park, and a good place to rest and cool off. Just East of the National Park there is an older public park and a big shade tree. I continued on the old US 10/312 to Huntley, MT. where I returned to I-94.
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Sunset on West Main. West view.
“Sylvia and John and Chris and I walk up the long main street in the gathering dusk and feel the presence of the mountains even though we talk about other things. I feel happy to be here, and still a little sad to be here too. Sometimes it’s a little better to travel than to arrive.“ West Main Street, Laurel, MT. The Hotel where John, Sylvia, Chris and the narrator stayed is one block to the right of East Main Street, shortly after they entered town. “To travel is better to travel than to arrive …. ”is one of the many often repeated phrases in ZMM. It is thus yet another ZMM “master motif”. Our ZMM Travelers arrived after sunset. This gave them enough time to check-in to their hotel, finish supper and be out walking at dusk. Our ZMM travelers apparently had much more enjoyable weather this day of their trip, than the previous several days. As you can tell from my photos for both 2002 and 2006, I had mostly good weather from Plevna, MT to the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park.
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The Hotel Hurzler front entrance is shaded in the cool early morning air
“ I wake up wondering if we’re near mountains because of memory or because of something in the air.“ Pennsylvania Avenue at First Street, Laurel MT My own early morning was spent at the Laurel Public Library researching for 1968 Laurel hotels that would have had a common wash room, and/or a back porch with trees. Ms. Mary Schrader and Ms. Peggy Arnold are very helpful with my quest when I showed them the Laurel MT passages from ZMM. Ms. Arnold said one possibility could have been the “Yellowstone Hotel. However it “did not look to the East and did not have a second level porch”. A far better possibility was the “Hewetzer” [Her pronunciation.]. Also spelled “Hurzeler”. She supplied me with a Xeroxed page titled “History of the Hurzler Hotel” from book “Laurel City History”. As I was leaving, she directed me 4 blocks “straight down 1st Street to Pennsylvania Avenue”.
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Dark wood and cool moist mountain air
“The sun is shining on the dark wood through the window shade, but even with the shade drawn I can sense that we’re near mountains. There’s mountain air in this room. It’s cool and moist and almost fragrant. One deep breath makes me ready for the next one and then the next one and with each deep breath I feel a little readier until I jump out of bed and pull up the shade and let all that sunlight in . . . brilliant, cool, bright, sharp and clear. .. An urge grows to go over and push Chris up and down to bounce him awake to see all this, but out of kindness, or respect maybe, he is allowed to sleep a while longer, ….“ Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT Librarian Ms. Arnold, when finished reading the above passage, explained that Laurel folks do not consider they breath “mountain air” when around their own town (3300 ft elevation). For any person living in Laurel, “Mountain air” doesn’t start until they really get up into the mountains over ~7000 feet elevation!
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Hotel entrance Lobby and Stairway to Second Floor
Mr. Guenthner wants you to see this architectural feature. No ZMM passage. Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT Mr. Howard Guenthner, here pointing to the stairs, generously gave permission to photograph his interesting hotel. As Mr. Guenthner demonstrated showing me around, he at many places suggested (indeed subtly urged) that I photograph certain architectural features of his wonderful antique building. Clearly he was eager to show this old structure to the wider public. From this publicity, I truly hope some person will adopt this structure and put it to use so it will be preserve for future ZMM Enthusiasts. This photo and the next, are possibly not sufficiently related to ZMM. They will be placed in a special album as soon as possible.
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A Well Preserved Transom Above Door, as Seen From Inside a Typical Room
Mr. Guenthner wanted you to see this Architecture Feature. No ZMM passage. Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT Each of the Hurzler’s rooms was provided with a transom over each hallway door. During a summer heat wave these ventilation features would provide cooling breeze, while maintaining suitable privacy, especially on the second floor which is in close contact with the summer heat coming thru the flat roof. This may be the reason the Narrator was aware of, indeed emphasized, “cool and moist and almost fragrant …. mountain air” in his room. You don’t see transoms any more because they have long since been banned. If a building fire ever gets started, the transom’s very effective ventilation contributes too much fresh air. This photo and the previous, are possibly not sufficiently related to ZMM. They will be placed in a special album as soon as possible.
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The common washroom at end of the corridor, to the right
“ ….. and so with razor and soap I go to a common washroom …..“ Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT
This series of three sinks gets the job done! They and the surrounding room are simple, unadorned, and effective. This description fits most other parts of the Hurzler. This “Spartan style”, no doubt, is because the Hurzler was originally constructed as a Rail Road Employee Dormitory. The Hurzler had most recently had been used for low cost housing for the elderly, which explains many of the furnishings seen in various of its rooms, especially the cooking and kitchen type equipment you saw in the previous photo of the lobby and stairway. A small fire from a lightning strike several years ago and water used to extinguish it, together with rain getting in the damaged roof, caused sufficient overall structural and water damage that the Hurzler was closed.
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Indeed the Hurzler Has Creaky Old Wooden Hall Floors All the Way
“ …..[The washroom is] at the other end of a long corridor of the same dark wood, floorboards creaking all the way.“ Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT Be sure to note the series of transoms over each door to each room in progression all the way down the corridor. Mr. Guenthner, seen in the doorway, later showed me how a layer of old newspapers had been placed under the rubber runner (mat) the entire length of the corridor. This would inexpensively and effectively cushion heavy foot steps and absorb sound. He lifted a portion of this mat and carefully showed me one of the news pages. He offered me a specimen, dated ~1935, which I have in my files. Like many persons mentioned in ZMM as having Quality, Mr. Guenthner clearly cares about this old structure and the things he does in his life. Quality (capital Q) is mentioned 403 times in ZMM, quality (lower case q) 72 times.
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One of Those Old Victorian Bath Tubs, But with Its “Lion Clawed” Feet Covered By “Modernization”!
Mr. Guenthner wanted you to see this Architecture Feature. No ZMM passage. Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT
This single bath tub, warmed by an old steam radiator, was the only bath tub available to the second floor guests. It was at the end of the long corridor (See next photo.) and opposite the washroom.(See the second next photo.) I was with Mr. Guenthner for over an hour. He enthusiastically shared much Hurzler history, which I have incorporated into these photo captions. He agrees that the old Yellowstone Hotel does not fit the Laurel hotel descriptions in ZMM, and doesn’t know of any other probable candidates. Mr. Guenthner shared with me his accomplishments as an active leader, with his wife Rosemary, in the “Germans from Russia Heritage Society” (AHSGR), and has even had one of his (stage theater) plays, concerning his heritage, performed before the Society. More info at http://www.ahsgr.org
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. “ Through the window beyond the mirror I see there is a porch out in back, …. “ Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT Since the Hurzler’s back “porch” is mounted to the same wall as the second floor washroom sinks, “beyond the mirror … I see a porch” to the porch, might mean straight through the mirror and the wall it is mounted on. Also it might mean, to the left “beyond the mirror” and out the window of the rear hall door. (See 2nd previous photo.) Mr. Guenthner explained the reason for the Hurzler’s simple utilitarian construction style and the reason for the shared washrooms, in a time (1968) when fancier hotels/motels would have modernized to private bathrooms. Constructed in 1920 by a railroad engineer, Carl Hurzler, and operated by his wife, Jessie, this hotel was designed to be a “sleeping facility” for long distance railroad crews. The rooms were rented in 8 hr “shifts” around the clock not unlike a factory!!
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Trees Respond to the Wind Around This Exterior Second Level “Porch”
“ ….. I see there is a porch out in back, and when done go out and stand on it. It’s at a level with the tops of the trees surrounding the hotel which seem to respond to this morning air the same way I do. The branches and leaves move with each light breeze as if it were expected, were what had been waited for all this time.“ Hotel Hurzler, Laurel MT When I first approached the Hurzler and saw this “porch,” really a fire escape, I knew right away, this must be the ZMM Hotel in Laurel! All the doors were locked, so my next problem was how to get a chance to see and photograph the interior to confirm the ZMM evidence. Neighbors told me that the owner, Howard Guenthner might appear at any time because he tended his nearby garden. I did not have to wait very long for Mr. Guenthner to appear. After explaining my research, he readily agreed to help.
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Hotel Hurzler Lobby and Front Door
“Chris is soon up and Sylvia comes out of her room saying she and John have already eaten breakfast and he is out walking somewhere, but she will go with Chris and me and walk down with us to breakfast.“ Laurel MT
Since the time the Hurzler was closed, the lobby has been used for storage and to keep Mr. Guenthner’s garden plants from frost, as seen in this photo. All the trees and cool green grass around the Hurzler are compliments of irrigation. An old irrigation ditch may be seen further East on 1st Street.
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The Railroad, with a Giant Switch Yard at Left, Is Large Enough to Support Nearby Hotels and Café’
“ We are in love with everything this morning and talk about good things all the way down a sunlit morning street to a restaurant.“ Main Street by Railroad Yard, Laurel MT
A giant Railroad Switch yard (2nd next photo), which runs parallel to Main Street, is to the immediate left in this photo. Ahead at right by trees is the Hurzler’s nearest restaurant and the only 1968 Laurel restaurant close enough for walking rather than crank up the machines and ride. From the Hurzler it is one shady sunlit block South to Main Street and just over one block West to the Restaurant. Beside it is, you guessed it, a Bar!! The large brick building with yellow bricked-in windows, was previously also an old hotel, probably for the paying RR passengers, rather than RR employees. I believe this is the Old Yellowstone Hotel. On close investigation this hotel does not fit the clues re the ZMM hotel in Laurel. The back (and sides) of this building did not have any evidence of having had an earlier rear second level porch. For example, I did not see at the second level; doorways, old mounting bolts, flashing, water stains, etc. Nor was there any places to have had a porch on account of a close adjacent street, close adjacent buildings, and a tight fitting alley at rear, etc.
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Former Owl Café’, Now the Owl Dinner Restaurant. And to Right, The Sonny O’Day Bar
“The eggs and hot cakes and coffee are from heaven. Sylvia and Chris talk intimately about his school and friends and personal things, ….“ Laurel MT Mr. Guenthner also explained the name for “Owl Café’ ”. He said that the railroad, which operated around the clock, needed meals for its employees at all hours straight through the night. Thus it was that the Northern Pacific RR, now the Burlington Northern, contracted with the restaurant to stay open all night and supply good-old hi-energy-home-cookin’ and lots of carry-out coffee in thermoses. Hence the names Owl AND Café’! Due to automation and modernization, RR crews are smaller and the need for a “stay awake” program has diminished. I understand the Owl is no longer open all night. The Northern Pacific Railroad came thru this area in 1882 and the terminal plus switch yard was planned in 1907.
New topic: On my second trip through Laurel, I almost did NOT get my interior photograph of the Owl Cafe' a second time. My son and I came here early evening and hungry. But we almost did not get in! That night they were hosting a big High School Reunion, and had a "CLOSED " sign on the door. But we did not notice it and barged right in. That was Good luck!! Because once in, we could plead that we had come all the way from S. Carolina, just to be there. Former owner Linda Frickel and her son Dirk Frickel the current owner and chef, were very gracious and worked us into their very busy serving schedule. We experienced surprisingly excellent food!! And later learned the reason: Dirk had learned his cooking art very well at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore! What Luck again!! WOW!!! More info re Owl Junction Diner, the most recent name.

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A Picture Window View from the Owl Cafe.' View Looking To the Southwest and Toward the Mountains of Wyoming.
“ …. while I listen and gaze through the large restaurant window at the storefront across the road. So different now from that lonely night in South Dakota. Beyond those buildings are mountains and snowfields. .. Sylvia says John has talked to someone in town about another route to Bozeman, south through Yellowstone Park."
Laurel, MT. This view out the window of the Owl Cafe’ l. Beyond those buildings and a giant switch yard of the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway, do lie distant mountains to the South and somewhat East. But to look in the direction of the highest mountains and Red Lodge, MT., would require looking at a considerable angle to the Southwest. This spatial orientation ability of the Narrator comes from his considerable previous mountain climbing experience plus his intimate knowledge of this local area as well as the distant mountains. As a traveler, the Narrator would have been able to project spatially the direction of the highest mountains from a site such as the Owl Café’. Pirsig would have a similar spatial orienting ability when writing ZMM. Within walking distance of the Hurzler Hotel, I did not see any other Laurel restaurant that would have been a better “fit” to the ZMM clues given above.
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A View the RR Yard With Giant Dandelions, One of Which Has a Seed Head.
“ At Laurel, in sight of the mountains …. “ RR Yard, East Main Street Laurel, MT. Look closely on both sides of the far white building. You will, faintly, see the dark of the distant mountains to the South and somewhat East. But to look in the direction of the highest mountains and Red Lodge MT, would require looking at an angle to the Southwest.
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The Narrator’s Vision
“South?" I say. “You mean Red Lodge?" .. I guess so." .. A memory comes to me of snowfields in June. “ That road goes way up above the timberline." .. “ Is that bad?" Sylvia asks. .. “ It’ll be cold." In the middle of the snowfields in my mind appear the cycles and us riding on them. “But just tremendous.“ , Laurel MT No bikers came through while I was in the snow fields, so you will have to imagine cycles & riders here! As anticipated by the Narrator, it was cold ….. but tremendous!! This area of Montana is known as “Beartooth Pass”. As a Google.com Internet Search will quickly reveal, Beartooth Pass has quite a reputation for its fantastic scenery and truly unique high altitude life-forms. Most amazing were the beautiful unique mountain wild flowers seen all along this highway. Having been there, I can say this trip above the timberline was “just tremendous.“ You will be able to locate many WebPages with tremendous pictures of the scenery. Upon email request, I will be glad to send my collection of WebPage Favorites (Bookmarks) to you.
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