After leaving Missoula this morning, we stopped at an info centre and found out that there was a scenic route that would add 10 miles to our trip but would be more... scenic. So, we made the turn and ended up on Highway 1. It was another one of those roads with a 70 mph speed limit that you want to do at 50 so you can see things and stop. And, that's pretty much what we did.
Our first stop was at a field with one of the giant irrigation machines that travels in an arc or circle. They also cut the fields in the same pattern. We'd seen this from the highway but could never stop.
Our next stop was a u-turn to go back and see two hawks sitting on a nest. But, by fluke, the place I turned was next to this cool, old barn. And the hawks were gone when we got back...
As I was taking the picture of the barn I noticed movement inside. At first, I thought it was a person. But then this guy came to the doorway. He just stared at me as I took the photo. Not sure why he would be in the building.
The next section of the road went up a mountain to about 6400 feet. We were surprised to see a series of small lakes up there. It turns out that they dammed a few rivers and made the lakes.
After rejoining the regular highway, we headed off to Butte, Montana. It was similar to a number of small cities we've seen on our trip in that they have preserved most of the old buildings in the downtown area. Butte had a lot of streets and buildings that were works in progress but the core still had some beautiful old, restored buildings. We had coffee at this little basement level cafe. Following are some other interesting buildings. Sorry if this seems like a version of Architectural Digest, but we really found it interesting to see how important it was for these towns to maintain the old buildings.
After our coffee break, we were on the road again to Bozeman, Montana. This was the best of the cities we've seen. It's in a high traffic skiing, hunting, fishing area and there is a lot of money around. As a result, the town is much more revitalized with quite a few high end stores and more restaurants than you can count.
We'd definitely return to Bozeman, maybe when we come back this way to go to Yellowstone Park. The next part of our day involved getting to Billings, Montana. We drove through some more desert and mountain areas. As we approached one mountainous area, I really wanted to get some pictures but you just couldn't stop on the highway. So, we took the next exit and ended up on a closed road next to a restricted railroad area. No trains were around so I got out and took a few pictures that didn't have wires or roads in them.
After another couple of hours of driving, we arrived in Billings. It was our least favourite of the three cities. Billings has more industrialization and less revitalization. The downtown area is quite small and not too busy. We did find the historical district and, although small, it did have some interesting buildings and restaurants. It was after 5:00 so most of the stores were closed.
The best part of Billings was dinner. We found a cool micro brewery called Uberbrew. It was originally some kind of garage. You know you're in Montana when there's an elk head mounted in the brewery. You really know you're in Montana when a girl who works in the bar shot the elk and donated the head!
Being a micro brewery, Uberbrew had a great selection of beers. I had to try the Black Hops Tactical IPA. And I bought the t-shirt!
The food was largely home style type offerings that went well with beer. I had a slab of meat loaf that was grilled and covered with caramelized onions and whiskey sauce. Marilyn had grown up mac and cheese.
Tomorrow we will be heading for Hill City, South Dakota but,on the way, we plan to visit Devil's Tower. I'm so excited!!
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