Crossing Montana

Friday, July 20, 2012--Helena to Bozeman to Billings to Miles City

My goal today was just to get across Montana.  Most of what is worth seeing is in the western part of the state, but I needed to be ready to enter North Dakota tomorrow morning.  That meant traveling eastward across much of the state.  I left around 9:00 in the morning and got to Miles City at 17:30.

I made only one big stop on the way.  That was to see Bozeman which I've heard and read good things about.  I first went to the Montana State University campus.  It is a big campus with lots of open grass lawns and views of the mountains in the distance.  But I was not impressed with the buildings.  The 4-5 older buildings were rather plain looking on the exterior.  The student center, which is among these, had a nice lounge with a mural inside, however.   And the many buildings from the 1960s-80s were even plainer looking--essentially just brick boxes with windows for the most part.  There were a couple of recent buildings that were better than others, especially the biology/biochemistry building.

I intended to also walk downtown, but when I got there, it was so crowded with people that I just drove through.  It gave me the impression of the downtown in Boulder (minus the pedestrian mall) with lots of local people crowding the sidewalks to visit and shop.

I had thought to explore downtown Billings and its riverfront, too, but time was slipping away by the time I got there.  Instead, I pulled off at Costco to get gasoline and continued on my way.

Miles City isn't a tourist town.  It's downtown is 1/3 empty, probably due to the new Walmart near my motel.  There is a wonderful old theater called the Montana that is still operating.  Too bad I didn't have time to see the feature showing there which started at 19:00.  It was already 19:30 by the time I researched my reservations for the weekend and got down there.

Tomorrow will be a busy day.  I will visit the Badlands in both North and South Dakota (along the western side of both states) and will probably camp somewhere there.

Steps Walked:  9187
Miles Driven:  411