Billings, MT

As we headed out of ND we pointed ourselves straight for Billings, MT. We arrived minutes after my parents and Grandma had rolled in all the way from Colorado and got to hug and laugh over the fact that the travelers had met with family from FL and CO in a place we've never been in. We stayed in the Billings KOA along the banks of the Yellowstone River. 

Thanks for visiting!!

It sounds a bit nicer than it actually was. It has the potential to be a nice campground, but...it isn't. I have no problem camping in run down campgrounds that feel like they are on the rise, but when a camp feels like it's on the decline it is just kind of...sad. There is a lake, but it's half empty with some water pipe spraying water continuously to keep the slime away. There is the Yellowstone River, but it's not visible and the path to the river is littered with trash. There are nice lawns, but most are brown. There are great bathrooms, but they are all a bit dirty. You get the idea. To add to the scene, it was Sturgis week in SD and most of Montana was headed its way, right through our campground. Every night they rumbled in and every morning they roared out with their booming voices and bellies. One morning I found myself outside in my pajamas at 6:30am throwing my arms up in the air in a clear WTF??? manner as a guy blasted "Low Rider" on his Harley stereo. 

Welcome to the palace Grandma!

I was really surprised to find that Billings itself had a very similar feel to me. The buildings looked sturdy, but weren't pretty. The women's prison was directly next door to the visitor's center. It felt like the town went out of its way to display large parking lots of snow removal equipment, construction activity, and a Conoco plant. After just cruising through the gorgeous landscape that was ND, it was a bit of let down to roll into Montana, one of the most beautiful states there is, to be camped in this little treasure of an area. Keeping in our fashion though, we set out a plan to explore the area and get to know some of its corners. We were surprised to find that after driving through sad streets, when you walk through the doors of the different establishments, there really were treasures. In fact, we weren't disappointed once by food, service or entertainment!

We visited the Moss Mansion that was incredibly beautiful. It had details that rivaled the Pabst Mansion we visited in Wisconsin and it provided a lot of history of Billings as instead of being one in a hundred mansions, it has literally been the only mansion. The Moss family brought telephones, daily use of electricity, and the banking world to Billings. 

We went to eat at Stella's. Stella's will go down as the breakfast joint every town should have. They were warm, welcoming, had a huge menu and tons of pastries to choose from for something sweet to go with your coffee. For my parent's anniversary we ended up at The Fieldhouse which was nothing short of completely delicious. They feature farm to table foods and beer from a local brewery, Angry Hanks. Chris and I went on a date and found ourselves at Uberbrew where I had the best candied bacon and deviled eggs to go along with a really great black IPA. The decor was modern and the staff were extremely friendly. On our last night there our entire crew headed out to a local baseball game to cheer on the Billings Mustangs. Growing up in Colorado and being there for the inaugurational year of the Colorado Rockies, it's hard to beat going to the Coors Field and taking in a game, but Dehler Park will be right up there. The whole town seems to come together to sit under the Big Sky of MT and cheer on this little team that won the championships last year. We got great seats (it's hard not to in this neighborhood park) and though they lost we won as we chatted with some locals and spent time outside in one of the prettiest parts of this town. 

Rocky the porcupine

Our friend had recommended visiting Red Lodge, so we took a day and devoted it to the scenic drive and a lunch in this little town that reminded me of the small mountain towns of home. The cafe we chose had a garden that was attached and the boys were taken back to pick their own carrots. Afterwards we visited the wildlife sanctuary and saw some animals such as bison, black bears, coyotes and wolves all living out the rest of their lives after being rescued from captivity. As we were admiring one of the bears we noticed it making some weird noises. On closer examination, it started puking. It turns out black bears can vomit quite a bit, and it does not smell nice. Our boys took that as a cue to turn away as they have sadly sensitive gag reflexes (sorry future spouses...I'm not sure if they will ever be the poop-picker-upper or diaper changer, or if they will ever rub your back as you are sick.  We are trying to toughen them up, I promise.) Well, too much had been seen and sure enough Oliver's entire salmon lunch was now lying back on the ground and I saw Austin dry heaving in the bushes. My mom and I sprinted them away and went to announce that a clean up was needed on aisle "bear". "It's not the first time!" the worker told us which left me wondering if he meant the bear, children, or a combination of both?? 

On the road again...

The week ended on Saturday morning when my parents, Chris, the boys and I all went off and slid the city. Grandma sat this one out as she's not one for getting her hair wet, but the rest of us all went to ride down a 1000 foot long water slide on tubes. The day dawned rainy and 60 degrees so my dad kindly offered to be the videographer and towel provider and selflessly backed out of actually going down the slide. It was pretty hysterical and a really great town event. If we get the chance to do it with friends in the future I think we's splurge on multiple rides for the kids because picturing them circling this huge slide with friends would make for a great day! We warmed up with coffee at City Coffee and hugged our goodbyes. They pointed their motorhome due South and we headed North.