Bozeman 8/3-8/5 2010

Hmmm the pictures were side by side in the "compose" mode, but I guess you can figure out which picture is which in our previous blog. We had a short drive from Livingston to Bozeman so arrived around 1:00 p.m. We spent the afternoon planning our trips, and drove into town to get groceries and a DQ :-) Around 5:00 the picked up from a gentle breeze to 40 mph and the temp dropped from 90 degrees to 71 degrees in less than an hour. WOW!

Wednesday we drove about 25 miles west on 90 to the Missouri Headwaters State Park. The area was beautiful and the interpretive signs were very good. The area may have more trees and bushes than in 1806, but it's easy to imagine what the Lewis and Clark party saw. We ate lunch back in Bozeman and then went to the American Computer Museum which tied the information age from early pictographs through the smart phone and IPAD. Really interesting! Do wish I could find a Nortel Display phone to add to their collection! On our way back to the KOA we stopped at Mall but was just every other mall -- no unique stores to visit.

Thursday we drove back into Bozeman and went to the Museum of the Rockies. WOW!!!! They are known for their prehistoric studies and their dinosaurs. I guess so! As we drove up, we were greeted by "Big Mike" a copper casting of one of the complete dinosaurs the museum has on exhibit. There was also a planetarium which was showing videos on the age of the dinosaurs called The Dinosaur Chronicals that started back when all the continents were loosely joined and went up through modern day man. There was also one on Lewis and Clark and the parallel to the Kennedy space explorations. Another wing was all about the inventions of Leonardo de Vinci. They had taken many of his drawings and made working models. Another section was on the history of Montana. Outside they had a Living History area with a house built by a homesteader in the 1800's and an 1880 garden with heirloom plants. Many I'd never heard of. One of the docents met us and we were talking about some of the plants, and she mentioned that the alpine strawberries were soooo sweet and delicious. We'd never heard of white strawberries, so she picked some and she was right! Sure beat our genetically improved red ones!!!!

Friday we pulled out of Bozeman and drove 199 miles to Missoula. This KOA is in the city, across the street from a Costco and down the block from Jack's favorite playground--Lowe's. It's a very large KOA - several blocks long with a swimming pool, hot tub, rec room and a gathering room which serves breakfast and in the evenings ice cream....for a price of course!