Day Six - Missoula MT

Saturday began by dropping Victoria off for class at The University of Montana around 7:30 am. She had a full day of lectures and group work from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm.



My mission for the day was to make it into Idaho and knock that state off my list of states visited.

I left Missoula mid-morning and followed Highway 12, which is essentially the historical Lolo Trail, through Lolo Pass into Idaho.



Mission accomplished!



There is a very convenient Visitor Center on the Idaho side of the Montana / Idaho state line. And yes, there is still snow at that elevation.



My whole round trip from Missoula into Idaho and back to Missoula only took a couple of hours so I was back at the hotel for lunch. I spent a leisurely Saturday afternoon watching a movie and doing some trip planning for our return to Ohio.

After picking Victoria up, and having a light dinner, we accomplished the mundane task of getting our laundry done.

Victoria said one of her favorite memories of the day was the smell of all the Lilac and Jasmine bushes blooming.

We're now halfway through our trip and will be generally eastbound for the remainder of it.

Day Five - Billings MT to Missoula MT

Good morning beautiful blue Montana morning sky!

Energized by a hearty breakfast, we started the last leg of our l-o-n-g drive to Missoula.

Victoria says she may have found her beautiful Montana ranch she's been pining for. What a spot!



Captain William Clark apparently thought so many years ago. He and his group, Sacagawea among them, set up camp here.



The beauty of the distant snow peaked mountains, the spring-green high plains, the winding Yellowstone and Clark Fork Rivers made the five-hour drive rom Billings to Missoula go by rather quickly.

Once we arrived in Missoula, we decided to hike the "M" on Sentinel Mountain, a University of Montana tradition. We made it up and down safe and sound.



Another soak in the hot tub and then lights out early since Victoria has a full day of class Saturday. That is the "real" reason for this trip after all.

Day Four - Keystone SD to Billings MT

Like I mentioned yesterday, the view to begin Thursday morning was awesome.



The first goal for Thursday:­­ walk the presidential trail at Mt. Rushmore and get as close as possible to the colossal faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. Mission accomplished!



Did you know that Washington’s stone-carved nose is 21-ft long? The other three presidential proboscises are a foot shorter...just in case you were wondering.

What Gutzon Borglum and his workers blasted and carved into the granite face of Mt. Rushmore most certainly displays the power of vision and determination.



Beautiful forests and lake-side scenes rounded out the rest of our drive through Black Hills National Forest. Places like Deadwood (and more trivia) now take a place in my memory’s data bank. A quick drive through Sturgis SD, and we were back on I-90 heading to the high plains of Wyoming.



The rain started as we drove into Wyoming and that just added to the sense of desolation as we drove. Talk about un-populated areas! At times I found myself thinking of science-fiction movies depicting an abandoned planet.



We finally made it to Montana, driving into Crow territory. Beautiful hills where the deer still roam. Instead of buffalo, however, we saw cattle.



Once we reached Billings MT another hot tub was waiting to sooth our tired bodies. Friday will be our final travel day to Missoula MT.