Bozeman, MT “The Most Livable Place”

 We rolled our dusty, dirty rig into “The Most Livable Place” and checked into our new campground, Bozeman Trail Campground, which was just a mile off Main Street in downtown Bozeman.  Not much to say about his campground other than it’s great location…We asked the manager there where we could get the camper and truck washed.  They actually

had no idea 🙁, so we set out on our own and found a great place just a few miles up the road.  The Rapid Clean Car Wash had one big bay we could just barely fit into but it proved to be a very good washing system.  Vic and I set to work while Agi and Bodi sat in the truck and patiently waited for us to get the job done. 

Once again, we set out in search of Triple D’s Guy Fieri’s hidden gems in Bozeman and settled on “Roost”, a fun little fried chicken casual diner. We enjoyed the guilty pleasure after a hard day of driving and scrubbing our rig clean. 

Sorry, but this was really yummy!

Our next morning, we dropped Agi and Bodi off at a doggy daycare for the day while Vic and I spent the day on the Upper Maddison River learning to fly fish from our friendly guide Nathan. Nathan picked us up at our campground with fishing boat in tow and drove us the hour long drive up into the surrounding mountains where he had his favorite fishing spots. 

I caught a Whitefish

Vic caught a trout and several others: whitefish, rainbow and brown trouts

2 eagles searching for lunch

It was an exhausting 8 hours of fly fishing but we learned so much that day.  Hope to do it again!

Another day of laundry and general housekeeping was rounded out with a visit to the Museum of the Rockies, right there in Bozeman and a fun dinner on Main Street at a local brewery Main Line Ale Works.

A pair of Triceratops at the Museum of the Rockies

Vic in front of the Tyrannosaurus Rex 

We devoured our dinner of Bison meatloaf and Bison Tritips at Main Line Ale Works with a couple local brews.  We can see the truth in Bozeman’s motto about being the “Most Livable”, but I would reserve my judgment of that after spending a couple winters there…

Next stop, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, just a little over an hour outside of Bozeman, where we took an adventurous hike through the foothills of the mountains there.  One evening we attended what we thought was going to be a lecture from a local tribesman who was going to discuss the history of the native peoples in these areas.  Unfortunately, he was unable to attend and the ranger on duty gave us a lecture on the rocks we were surrounded by and the story they tell of what periods they are from.  The Rockies are fascinating with the disruption of the layers of rock and how they show up at the surface for us to take a peek at the past.  Besides the onslaught of the mosquitoes at the amphitheater, it was a lovely evening. 

Any early afternoon hike with the caverns high up the mountain (we did not go there)

Pretty cool to see this!

Bodi inspects the abandoned gypsum mine shaft

Chilling out after our hot hike

At the park’s amphitheater, we attended a rocks lecture from the ranger.  Check out the background!

Next day, we packed things up and again continued on our trek westward through the Continental Divide at the Homestake Pass at 6329 feet elevation.  A big climb for truck and camper taking our gas mileage down the toilet.  But, the scenery was breathtaking while the drive was a bit challenging. Sorry, no pictures as my attention was needed on the road and Vic was diligently working through the whole pass.  Goodbye, Montana!