It's day 10 of our road trip and today....the books finally emerged from the backpacks! I had bought them each their book of choice from the Pre-AP Summer reading list, and brand new highlighters. As a kid that would have been the first thing out of my bag on a summer road trip. A brand new book to read and annotate?! love.
We reached Bozeman near lunchtime, but on the way into town we stopped at the Grizzly Bear Rescue Center. They have four grizzlies that have been rescued from all over and since they were all born into captivity, they can't be released into the wild. The center uses them to educate people.
It was very interesting and the college intern that was there to answer questions and teach us about the bears, grew up in Austin! He was a student at the University of Montana and majoring in Fishing and Wildlife Management. Even grew up in the same neighborhood as Scott!
Just in case you should be in bear country this summer. You need a cooler that locks or screws shut. The holes you see on the one above are teeth marks, but since it screwed shut the bear couldn't get in. Ever seen a bear carrying keys or a wrench? Bears have a sense of smell that is 350 times stronger than ours. One of the bears at this rescue has been in numerous tv shows and movies. They said the last movie he had a stunt where they put a salmon under an 1800 pound boulder and the bear flipped it over like it was nothing. These animals are powerful! And, I totally had to share this....a Ladies ONLY pink porta potty!! Genius.
The town of Bozeman is really pretty with an adorable Main Street & tons of shops. We had a great lunch outside on the patio and did a bit of shopping before heading to Virginia City.
Found this at one of the stores and totally had to get a pic for my friends Kristen and Annette!
From here we went to the old mining boomtown of Virginia City. This place is the real deal. Wooden sidewalks, screen doors....
Went to an awesome candy store...
You can see the old fashioned taffy pull in the window. A guy was pulling it off and putting it through a taffy cutter and hand wrapping it in wax paper! Yum.
About a mile down the road is Nevada City and it's pretty much an actual ghost town...
This HUGE abandoned old house is on the very edge of the little town. Amazing, but just a wee bit creepy too! I would LOVE to have seen the inside of this old house.
These were both old gold mining towns that were huge at one time. There were lots of old miner cabins that were abandoned and falling down. There was a sign that explained that in it's hey day Nevada City was a booming town, but by 1955 only 2 residents remained.
Our next stop was Butte, Montana. I'm going back there. Our friend Kristen grew up there and had suggested we have a pasty while we were there. It's pronounced "pass-tee." I whipped out my Food TV app and low and behold Man vs. Food had been to Butte to have a pasty too! Oh. My. Gosh. It's meat and potatoes wrapped in a soft, but flaky pastry shell and baked. The menu said they were Welsh in origin and that it was a common item for the miners to take for lunch. We ordered one of each and then all shared. So stinkin' good!
After our incredible dinner we drove around town. I am officially in love with Montana. The landscape is what you expect...big sky, beautiful hills and valleys. But, these towns. They are old, weathered and real, overflowing with character.
We found a hill that gave us a great overview of the city...
The big oil derrick looking things are mines! Copper mostly from what I read.
Home of the "Copper King" back in the day!
Another house I would have LOVED to have seen inside. It was for sale. Seriously, if money were no object, I'd travel the country buying up historic properties like these for restoration.
This was absolutely a town I'd love to spend more time exploring. Huge thanks to Kristen for her awesome suggestions! We wanna come back with you & Richie!
From here we drove about an hour to Helena for the night. Tomorrow we are checking out the capitol...of course. Then on to Glacier National Park!
Big Sky Blessings,
Leslie
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