Another half of Montana

We hit three big cities today: Bozeman, Helena and finally our destination of Missoula.

Bozeman is a beautiful city. We got a great education on paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies. We also got some great coffee and an excellent leg stretch.

We are on a streak of visiting state capitols. (In fact, our friend Shawna was going to drive us to the edge of Idaho, but was afraid we'd insist on going all the way to Coeur d'Alene.) Helena Montana is a beautiful city. The capitol is stunning. It feels like a statement of pride about the state. Full of beauty and color and imagery.

Interesting carryover from older days in the Montana State Capitol building

We also visited the Cathedral of St. Helena (opulent), as well as an old mining-era street called Reeder's Alley. Tiny little buildings on a hill, all tied together by a tiny little street. Modern businesses are there, including a restaurant called Karmadillo's that had my favorite sign of the day:

We drove the back way to Missoula, along the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers. It felt like a picture right out of "A River Runs Through It" (which is about Missoula). We saw fly fishermen in action, standing knee or thigh deep in clear streams, casting their lines overhead. Really idyllic.

We are now in Missoula, where we will spend three days with Jan's colleague and our friend Shawna. Hooray for a few days in one place!

Final note: For all the rugged image of Montana, we have seen so much beauty and whimsy. On the way to Helena, we saw what I thought was a large herd of horses in a wheat field. On closer inspection, it was a really large sculpture exhibit. About 40 life-sized horse sculptures, in all kinds of real horse postures. It brought a smile to our faces.


Best story of the day: A fly had been hitchhiking with us for a day and a half, and every time I tried to shoo it out the window, it flew back into the back seat. We were really getting fed up with this freeloader. It landed on Jan's thigh. He asked for a map with which he meant to swat the fly. Since he was driving 78 miles per hour, I thought it was better that I swat the fly. So I did. And I got the fly. In fact, I got both flies. I know it shouldn't have been so funny. But I did laugh for about 10 minutes afterward.