Montana is on another scale!

Quite simply, driving from the hotel car park this morning and being advised to turn right and drive 328 miles to our destination, puts the size of Montana into perspective. Then consider driving this distance through rolling grasslands, along duel carriageway, with seldom another vehicle in sight, and arriving in dead on four hours! Yes, its big and has a small population. We were headed for Billings and en route spotted little of exceptional interest other than the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Not wanting to sound blase about it, we had visited this site before and decided to pass it on this occasion. to enable us to spend more time in Billings. We arrived in downtown Billings a little after midday and was pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel (a BW+) had a great location and the rooms were very nice. It was a sunny afternoon and we decided to take a stroll around the area surrounding 27th and Broadway, close to the hotel. This area boasts many fine old building of a class American style, many of which have changed usage or ripe for redevelopment.

 Its the classic tale of a city centre undergoing a transformation from a retail and commercial hub, to become a centre of entertainment and dining. We stopped for lunch at the Montana Brewery Bar and its was excellent. Moving on we discovered the Coffee Brewery Bar, a privately owned coffee bar, stuffed with motorcycle and musical references. In the window was a poster that basically stated that the local paper, The Gazette, was barred from the premises and that its readers should either leave it at home or, better, burn it! The grounds? Apparently, its full of bullshit (fake news, I guess!). We couldn't resist but to go in and enquire further; an interesting conversation ensued with the young barristers and the owner's son.

Apparently, Billings has a homeless problem, not helped by the fact that a neighbouring city (Missoula) doesn't have a homeless shelter and offers vagrants the choice of a night in the cells or a bus ride to Billings! Anyway, some months ago, a guy was stabbed outside the coffee shop in an incident involving a homeless person. The Gazette printed the story together with a picture of the coffee shop's owner! Nice reporting!! We said our goodbyes and beat our way back to the hotel for some laundry duty, prior to returning to the Brewery Pub for dinner. (It turns out, too, that we are revisiting Billings on the eve of its strawberry festival, just as before!)

In the absence of any music specifically relevant to driving across Montana, I thought that Canned Heat's 'Going up country' might be a good choice, today