Land Acknowledgement: This is the land of the Apsáalooke (Crow), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ) and Salish people. They were stewards of this land from time immemorial. Click the links above to learn more about these native people.

From Missoula we headed to Garnet Ghost Town, Montana's most intact ghost town. The history and ability to walk through the old buildings including a general store, school, speakeasy, and numerous cabins made this a memorable stop. It was fun to imagine living here over a hundred years ago. The kids loved that they provided a scavenger hunt to find different things around the town, and scurried around crossing them all off their list. After our visit, we got back in the car and headed out towards the arrow that said I-90, but we must have chosen the wrong road because the one we eventually ended up on was ROUGH! Not only that, it was essentially only wide enough for one car, so if we encountered any other cars coming up the road we would have had to back up to a turnout (which were very few and far between). Thankfully we did not meet up with any other cars and we did eventually make it to I-90, but that was one heck of a drive to get there, I think our max speed down the road topped out at about 8 miles per hour!

After our lengthy wild ride we ended up getting into Bozeman around 9:15 and toppled into bed at our new AirBnB after a quick dinner of quesadillas.

The next day was school and a long work day for Kyle so we got out a little later than planned. We ended up driving around Bozeman which is really nice! Lots of fun shops and restaurants downtown, beautiful tree-lined streets, historic homes and a fun college vibe. Both Kyle and I said we could live here ;)

Our final day in Bozeman started with school and work and then we headed to the Museum of the Rockies. This was a great museum with lots of dinosaurs (including an authentic full T-Rex). I really enjoyed the exhibit, Apsáalooke Women and Warriors. It gave a detailed history of these amazing people and also included contemporary art and an entire fashion line designed by Della Bighair-Stump. I loved the celebration of culture!

Another really cool part was an original 1886 homestead house that was moved to the museum 1986 and turned into a Living History Museum and Farm. They have a volunteers dressed up in period clothes and talk about the house and what life was like living in the area over a hundred years ago. The grounds included a root cellar, chicken coop (which Noelle loved!), barns and stable. There was also a garden filled with heirloom vegetables and a gorgeous flower garden. Many of the trees and plants were taken from the original homestead so it is all very authentic. Kyle got talking with one of the volunteers who was very nice (and chatty). He graciously offered to let me take some hollyhock seeds from around the house, so Noelle and I collected some new cool looking ones. Can't wait to plant them back in Prosser!

After the museum we meandered through downtown and checked out a few stores. By that time we were a bit hungry, so we hit a restaurant called Revelry. Good food, but pricey and the kids weren't too happy with their choices. Well, you win some, you lose some ;)

The next day we packed up and headed to Victor, ID which is just across the pass from the Teton National Park.