Day 2

September 1^st- Day 2 of the Montana Saga

Alan writes:

Mimi and I woke up in Billings (which is fitting since that’s where we went to sleep), ate a great breakfast and spent a little time walking around the local farmer’s market.  We saw every kind of vegetable and fruit but the most interesting thing was people who looked vaguely Amish/Mennonite in that all the men wore beards and the women all sported these little polka-dotted headscarves.  I told Mimi that I thought she would look good in one but she didn’t seem too excited.  We walked only a short time because I was eager to hit the trail for Great Falls.  We headed north on Hwy 3/12 passing through numerous small towns (Ryegate, Barber, Shawmut, Oxford, Judith Gap, etc), numerous newly cut wheat fields that looked like sand and a few wildlife (pronghorns, deer, cattle, fighting bulls).  When we came to Great Falls we decided to push on and that was the prettiest part of the day.  We sort of slipped over the top of Great Falls and hit Hwy 89/200.  We began to see the arroyos and canyons and buttes I love so much.  The end of the ride was a little marred for me by the fact that we were some miles from Helena, our ultimate destination, and we were very low on gas.  If you have been in this state you already know that there are not stations on every corner; in fact, there are not even many corners.  All ended well as we limped into a station just a few miles from Helena.  Mimi had pulled out the owner’s manual for our little rental Corolla and assured me that we had actually had many more safe miles of travel even though the gauge said “Empty,” and that I had worried for nothing.  This has helped me with my future resolve not to worry when I encounter similar circumstances.

Mimi says:

This “Big Sky” countryside is just as beautiful as Mike & Alan have described.  We drove today from about 10:45 a.m. til 6:30 p.m. without even stopping for a lunch break and we were totally mesmerized by the changing scenery…from beautiful sand colored fields to streams and green mountains that even changed textures and colors depending on their location. Very interesting! We’ve decided to hold up at the Hampton Inn in Helena for 2 nights to take a few day trips on some of the scenic roads/passes in the area.