Welcome to Montana (we're here!)

 

But first, a bit about the route, to Montana from Sheridan, Wyo.  On the morning that we leave our little motel here, we come across the fantastically fronted Mint Bar on North Main Street.  A neon cowboy rides atop a small facade of vertical logs.  The time is a little after 10 a.m. and way too early for us to partake, but it looks like some Sheridan regulars are belly-up to the bar (scroll to the  bottom of http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/sheridan2.html).  They must be drinking coffee (?) and doing a bit of the town's business. The entire Main Street is bustling on this weekday morning.

Our route out of Wyoming takes us northwest, through the Big Horn mountains where snow dominates the scenery as we gain altitude.  Reports on individual basins, in fact, are for snow levels about 115% above normal this year. 

We're told by a ranger at the top of a pass that we can't take a scenic road just north of Yellowstone; it's closed due to avalanches. So, to get to Bozeman -- our stop for the night -- we go lower, through Greybull and Cody.  We eat Tex-Mex at Lisa's in Greybull (http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Overview/3070/lisas) and just before we get to Cody, we turn off onto what we think is a "Scenic Byway" (http://www.byways.org/explore/states/MT/). It's not. It turns out to be a road into land owned by Friends Of A Legacy (FOAL) -- a group dedicated to protecting remaining wild mustang after a controversial round-up in 2005 by the Bureau of Land Management (http://www.wlt.org/wlt_collaborations_foal_project.asp). 

We don't see the horses. But we do meet two old gals outfitted with two-feet-long birdwatching cameras. "Did you see any horses?" they ask as they slow down their massive pickup. "No," we answer lamely. "We're just here looking for scenic roads." And, of course, everything around us is "Scenic" with a capital "S" -- spectacular vistas of red rock, sage brush and mountains as far as the eye can see. We wish each other luck and move on.

I do find abstract "art" in rocks and weathered wood. Below, I see it in the usually bone-dry high-plains  dirt, now-shiny and water-soaked at our feet. Rain and snow have been a constant here over winter and into spring.

Many back roads are under construction as we cross into Montana (bullet holes dot a sign, as often happens in this state)...

...and motor out Interstate 90 to Bozemen, and south a few miles to the Gallatin Gateway Inn. 

It's an old railway hotel -- the last stop for 19th Century folks journeying to Yellowstone -- and we relax, relax, relax in some civilized elegance. There's a fine, white-linen-tablecloth pub meal in the hotel's Porter House and a long night's sleep under cotton sheets of a high(?) thread count, with windows open and high-meadow birds chirping as we rise the following morning. We breakfast just off of the inn's vaulted lobby...

... and I make one last stop to a pristine, old, turn-of-the-century women's restroom, if only to snap a photo of what those long-skirted gals would've found after a long journey by train.

We drive west and southwest from Bozeman to cross the The Big Hole River and its surrounding meadows. The river is HIGH and threatening to flood the little town of Wisdom.  We cross it several times on our way to the Bitterroot Valley. Mountains are always on the horizon.

 

And we also drive by the sad and incredibly beautiful Big Hole National Battlefield (http://www.nps.gov/biho/index.htm), where the sleeping, peaceful Nez Perce Indians were slaughtered in 1877.  A visitors' center there is under construction and we decide to move on.

At the top of Lost Trail Pass, on the Montana and Idaho border, we venture into a welcome center and find a gas stove blazing -- there's several feet of snow outside -- and a sign, "We'll be back soon." We pick up folder after leaflet after map of information on both states, sign a guest book and thank whoever runs the place for their trust and generosity.

Some 2,065 miles later, we pull in to our destination for the month, Hamilton, Mt., about 40 miles south of Missoula (http://www.travelmt.com/mt-cities-Hamilton.html) and home to great coffee at the aptly named River Rising (http://www.riverrisingbakery.com/); great local beer at Bitter Root Brewery (http://www.bitterrootbrewing.com/); and funky new/old Montana postcards by Duckboy Cards (http://www.duckboy.com/). We find our little blue rental cottage. It's been raining off and on in Hamilton for weeks (they so want some sun!), but we find our nearly 100-year-old house and patio relatively dry and in great condition, surrounded by lush Lily of the Valley and verdant lawn. A big red patio umbrella, table, chairs and an American flag also greet us.

Bright orange California poppies wave at us from a garden across the street...

And once we're inside, we're completely charmed by the chic little cottage and its clean, if shabby-chic style.

We're here!!! And as soon as the rain lets up, we'll plan hikes and fly-fishing expeditions. For now, we cozy up in the cottage, or walk to get an espresso and wonder at the misty mountain scene...

... just at the end of our street!!