Billings, Montana

Our drive into Montana was beautiful! We passed through the National Grasslands, and went from barren hills to hills with pine trees! We stayed in Billings, MT for a week. It is a town of about 90,000 people and is in the Yellowstone Valley where the Yellowstone River flows. There was a nice downtown area that seemed very clean and safe, and had lots of activities, including a "Burn the Point" classic car parade that we were able to see.

We decided to tackle the "Beartooth Mountain Scenic Hwy" which is suppose to be one of the most beautiful drives in America! It was beautiful, but also a white knuckle ride!!! Luckily for me, Art was driving! The road was a series of switchbacks and narrow areas that eventually went up about 11,000 ft! What we didn't know was they were doing constuction on the road! At the top, Art had a close encounter with a large steam roller! We had no place to go and closed our eyes as it passed! On the way home we traveled the "Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy". Not quite as scary, but also gorgeous! We ran into a group of cowboys with a small herd of cattle and a cattle dog going up the road! What a neat, but unexpected experience!

Billings was also close to "The Little Bighorn National Monument". The site is on Crow Indian property, but the Crows allow visitors. We went on a small bus tour with a guide, and as he explained things and we saw the actual sites, it made sense why Custer lost! We also visited the "Pictograph Caves" which have ancient indian cave pictures. It was interesting, but we had to walk up steep hills to get there and it was in the 90s! How did our ancestors live without air conditioning?????

As it happened, Mich State was playing the Montana State Bobcats while we were in Billings! The game was televised at Hooligans, an area sports bar. We met some Bobcat fans and cowboys and had a good time!