The photo above is a view of the smoke pillar from the Columbine Forest Fire in Yellowstone National Park later in the trip.
Well, we left Syracuse on August 1 to fly to Billings, Montana. Not too exciting, eh? Needless to say, it does get better. We had planned the trip for about 7 months and we were all really excited about getting off the beaten path and seeing some country and small towns in a part of the country that we had yet to explore! We started the Montana Experience in Billings that night. We have been to Billings several times so after a quick breakfast the next morning, we headed to Old Montana Prison in Deer Lodge. We got a glimpse of what life must have been like during the territory days of Montana. While we were there, we visited the prison gift shop. You always hear those stories about prisoners making license plates but ..... these men and women weave intricate designs with horsehair. If you have need of a bridle or halter, these were unbelievable. I did bring back a few pieces of the weavings but they do not compare to the larger pieces. The prisoners also do leather tooling and we saw some amazing patterns.
We stopped in town for lunch at an A&W Drive-In with carside service. There is just something about A&W served on a tray hanging on your window that can not be beat. After lunch, we drove to the state capital of Helena where we toured some historic buildings and then stayed the night. We were a bit concerned about forest fires as they had broken out in many locations. I was able to talk to one of the National Forest firefighters while we were in the hotel. Their job is quite interesting since it not only involves putting fires out but also deciding which ones to let burn out. We found out that we could make it through to our next stop - Seeley Lake - without any imminent fire danger. We left the next morning.
