Episode 2884

	Sesame Street
	Trip to Montana — Big Bird's letters / Arrow Creek picnic
Air date	November 21, 1991
Season	Season 23 (1991-1992)
Written by	Tony Geiss
Production	June 1991 (Montana); September 12, 1991 (studio)
Sponsors	F, M, 19, the United States Postal Service

Picture	Segment	Description
	COLD OPEN	Gordon points to his map of the United States of America, certain that Snuffy is going to ask where Montana is again. Snuffy arrives, but doesn't need to know where Montana is; Gordon showed him yesterday. Snuffy is joined by an exhausted postal worker (David Rudman), who has brought a giant letter sent from Big Bird all the way from Montana, prompting Snuffy to ask Gordon to point it out on the map again. "Wow! Right where it was yesterday!" This is followed by the Montana version of the "Sesame Street Theme."
	SCENE 1	Gordon starts to read the letter to Snuffy, detailing events from their first two days in Montana (with flashback footage). He continues with what occurred the day he wrote this particular letter...
	SCENE 1 cont'd	Big Bird, Luis, the Count, Gabi, and Maria accompany the family on a picnic at Arrow Creek to help acquaint Francis with the country, as he's used to living in the city. Maria watches as Billie Rose saddles up her horse Red before teaching Big Bird how to mount a horse himself. He isn't able to get on by climbing or hopping until they put up a ramp for him; he ends up mounting the horse backwards at first before correcting himself. Big Bird opts to join some of the others in the truck instead to continue their trip, while Maria finally rides a horse (taking her the wrong way).
	Cartoon	Rap #19 (First: Episode 2560)
	Muppets	Astronaut Prairie Dawn floats on a space shuttle, when Elmo pops up out of nowhere, offering to help her. He soon learns that there is no need for a policeman, a construction worker, or a farmer in space (unless there's a cow). (First: Episode 2862)
	Film	Storks fly around and dance in their nest as flamenco music plays. (First: Episode 2862)
	Cartoon	A flame burns through a capital letter F, ultimately revealing a lowercase letter f. (First: Episode 2288)
	Muppets	The Hispanic community of Anything Muppets sings "It Sure is Hot!" (First: Episode 2601)
	Cartoon	Cap'n Feenie asks, "What is it?" It's the ocean. Artist: ArtistMike (First: Episode 2710)
	SCENE 2	Big Bird's letter continues as he describes the games the kids play at Arrow Creek, including one where they pretend to be a bucking horse, a game involving an elk's tooth, and a mudslide. A girl named Lauren demonstrates her elk calls. At lunch, Big Bird eats some fry-bread with plenty of dried corn.
	Cartoon	Bruce the moose invites Toulouse LaGoose over for juice. (First: Episode 2498)
	Muppets	Bert sings "Keep the Park Clean for the Pigeons" to address the importance of proper trash disposal for the sake of pigeons. (First: Episode 2727)
	Cartoon	M for Mask (First: Episode 2079)
	Song	"Hot in the City" (First: Episode 2751)
	Muppets	Muppet & Kid Moment — Kermit the Frog and Joey talk about body parts. (First: Episode 2149)
	Animation	Luxo Sr. examines a box. Luxo Jr. pops out of the box, demonstrating "surprise." (First: Episode 2851)
	SCENE 3	Snuffy asks Gordon to read some more, but his letter abruptly ends one sentence later: "Next we put up the..." The weary postal worker drudges in a large postcard at that moment. It completes the sentence: "teepee." Gordon explains what a teepee is to Snuffy.
	SCENE 3 cont'd	In Montana, Big Bird learns what a teepee is and watches as the kids put one together while Philip narrates what they're doing. Big Bird wants to go inside once the teepee's finished and takes up the entire space, being able to walk around with it still on him!
	Cartoon	40 lemmings (doo-wop) (First: Episode 2873)
	Muppets	Marshal Grover: Looks for Water — Marshal Grover becomes dehydrated and suffers from mirages in the desert. (First: Episode 2874)
	Cartoon	A party is full of "Nineteen" of things. (First: Episode 2827)
	Film	Feet wearing all different types of shoes dance. (First: Episode 2601)
	Muppets	The Sublime Miss M performs "The Sublime Ms. M." (First: Episode 2837)
	Cartoon	A baby and father illustrate up and down. (First: Episode 2687)
	SCENE 4	Big Bird comes across Philip, Lonn, and Billie Rose "feeding" the river as a way of thanking it for helping sustain life on the Earth. They inform Big Bird that all things in nature are gifts that we must take care of. He proceeds to sing "What a Gift" in appreciation of his surroundings.
	Animation	Fred the fish needs water to swim in, and Betty the bird needs air to fly in. Vanessa the vacuum cleaner sucks up all the air and water, but can't hold it all in. (new narration by Jim Thurman added) (First: Episode 2564)
	Muppets / Celebrity	Whoopi Goldberg talks with Hoots the Owl about how proud they are of their body parts. (First: Episode 2835)
	Song	Kevin Clash sings "Skin." (First: Episode 2749)
	Cartoon	F stands for flower, forest, fox, frog and fantastic. (First: Episode 1102)
	SCENE 5	As Gordon continues reading, Big Bird can barely contain his excitement for the ceremony tomorrow. He sees Francis inside wearing his ceremonial outfit and practicing his dance. Big Bird starts to practice too, but decides to head right to bed; the faster he goes to sleep, the sooner tomorrow will come. He perks up, though, wondering what special name Francis will be given (perhaps "Dances with Big Bird?").
	SCENE 5 cont'd	Snuffy is upset that there isn't more to the letter when the postal employee returns with another giant postcard, reading "Love, your best friend, Big Bird." Before he heads off, the postman announces the sponsors, making sure to include "the United States Postal Service" as one of them.