Day 51 - Bozeman
Today is our 22nd anniversary. The weather in MT is a little different than Miami Fl 22 years ago. Just so you know on our anniversary we go throughout the day and Gretchen reminds me of the different things we were doing and where we were. So the question that comes all through the day before our anniversary and on our anniversary is "Do you know what we were doing 22 years ago at this time?" Who would have ever thought we would have 5 kids, homeschool and be in MT 22 years later.
The day started with getting everyone up for an early start. After a good breakfast that included sausage, biscuits and Huckleberry Jam (from MT) we were ready to go. Going places in MT in the summer requires a couple things: water bottles, light jackets/sweatshirts and a change of clothes (in case of getting wet). I keep getting told I need to carry layers with me everywhere I go. Suprisingly enough we were in the car by about 8:40 and on the road. Our destination was Bozeman where a farmers market, The Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University (MSU) and the Madison Buffalo Jump reside.
The first stop of the day was the Bozeman Farmers Market. It is slightly larger than the Helena one and is held on the Gallitan County Fairgrounds. The first thing we could hear was violins playing. The first thing we smelled was kettle corn (our favorite). At this point we knew we were in the right place. We got to try fresh ground pepperoni, kilbasa, guacomole, jellies (lots of rhubarb), honey, croutons, and many more things. There were lots of fresh vegetables. People here eat fresh peas and snap beans as if they were M&M's. We got to see some awesome crafts like wine bottles melted into special dishes, home spun silk, yarn spun out of alpaca hair, buttons from elk horns, homemade jewelry and many ways to use a Montana License plate. We left with some pepperoni sticks, snap peas, strawberry rhubarb jelly, a beautiful dish from a wine bottle and of course a half eaten bag of kettle corn.
Next we took a quick driving tour of MSU which has a beautiful backdrop of the mountains. Oddly enough our next stop "The Museum of the Rockies" sits on the edge of the MSU campus. Montana is one of the places in the world where lots of dinosaur fossils have been found. Outside sits a "Big Mike" a very large T-Rex. Once inside we were able to tag along on a guided tour of the dinosaur section. There were tons of fossils inside and one of them is the largest T-Rex skull in the world measuring about 5 feet. After the dinasour exhibits we strolled into a native american exhibit and then we were taken to exhibits on how life was in the old west all the way up through the early 1900's. The museum is also currently housing a special exhibit on Napoleon Bonaparte which was very interesting. We also got to go to the planetarium and see a show on all the different constellations. Outside there is a working ranch to go through, which included a cool blacksmith's shop. In addition, there was a Lewis and Clark exhibit that had a replica of one of the boats they used for supplies along with a canoe that had been made out of a tree. Bozeman which sits on the Missouri River is on the path that Lewis & Clark took.
We finally packed up at the museum and left town. About 20 minutes outside of Bozeman is the Madison Buffalo Jump. The Buffalo Jump is a large rock face (cliff) where the Indians (over 200 years ago) used to drive the herds of buffalo over it. They would plan this for months and then as the buffalo fell to their deaths or severely injured themselves there would be Indians at the bottom ready to finish them off. The ladies would immediately start chopping up thousands of pounds of meat and skinning them. There are several of these Buffalo Jumps around the state and in the summer you are allowed to walk up and see where they fell. There are buffalo bones and Indian arrow heads that can be found 5-10 feet in the ground where this was done for hundreds of years. This was also an exciting place for us. Caleb, Rebecca and Sarah decided to take the walk to the bottom of the cliff and ran into a snake along the way. They also believe they continually heard rattlesnakes the whole time they were hiking. (we won't ask why they continued hiking)
All in all its been a great day seeing more of the Montana countryside and visiting these fun places.