arriving at the Missoula Airport
We flew to Montana so that Traci could check off state #29 in her quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states. While we were there, we did a road trip to admire some of Montana's awesome attractions.
We had a 6:48 AM flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to the Missoula Montana Airport via a 1-hour layover at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Montana would be the 29th state in Traci's quest to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in all 50 states of the United States. We arrived in Missoula on Tuesday; however, the running events would not take place until the weekend. As usual, Traci left me in charge of planning the sightseeing portion of our trip. Ordinarily, we prefer to do the sightseeing after the running events but given this was the end of June, sightseeing after the half marathon would mean that we would be competing with July 4th crowds. Therefore, we decided to do our sightseeing beforehand. We will need to rethink this strategy for future runcations. I'll discuss this more later in this trip report.
arriving at the Missoula Airport
The Missoula airport is small. It did not take us long to retrieve our luggage and pick up our rental car - a Toyota Camry. I had put together an aggressive sightseeing road trip itinerary. Leaving the airport, we set off on a 2-hour drive to get to our first place of interest - Butte, Montana. Initially, the drive reminded me of riding through West Virginia with its green tree-filled mountains. As we got closer to Butte, I saw mountains that had snow at their summits. These are the Rocky Mountains. Traci and I were awestruck by this picturesque scene because it is something we do not see on the east coast of the U.S. where we live. There were not many cars on the road. The speed limit was 80 miles per hour. This is the fastest speed limit I have ever encountered during our travels. It felt really strange to whiz by a police car parked in the median at that speed.
Butte, Montana was once referred to as the "The Richest Hill on Earth" because of all the copper it produced. Gold and silver mining began in the 1800's. Copper mining became dominate starting in the early 1900's due to the growing popularity of electricity. Copper mining dried up in the 1980's but new veins were found in the late 1990's. Copper mining continues today in Butte. The city definitely has a copper theme going. There is a KOPR radio station. We noticed that several local businesses and streets have "Copper" in their names. Another fun fact about Butte is that the famous daredevil, Evel Knieval, was born, raised, and buried in Butte.
Headframes from Butte's early mining days are a common sight.
Our first stop in Butte was Berkeley Pit. It is a highly toxic lake that resulted from the early days of Butte's copper mining industry. The water is 900 feet deep in some places. The lake is so toxic that machines are used to scare birds away from landing on the water! The odd thing about our visit to the Berkeley Pit is that we were charged $6 per person to look at the polluted water. I have to admit that this is some clever marketing.
Berkeley Pit is a highly toxic lake
tunnel leading to Berkeley Pit
We had some time to kill before the next activity on our itinerary; therefore, I sought out something I had seen on YouTube when researching Montana - a pasty (pronounced pass-tee). It is a beef and potatoes turnover that miners used to carry in their pockets to be eaten as a meal during their breaks in the mines. I asked the cashier at the Berkeley Pit where I could get a pasty and he recommended Joe's Pasty Shop.
Joe's Pasty Shop is a small eatery with friendly service. The friendly service part was not a surprise because by now, we were learning that the people of Montana are friendly and welcoming. We had so many good conversations with strangers during our visit. Traci and I shared a pasty. I enjoyed it. We both agreed that the chunks of potatoes were the best part. This worked out because Traci rarely eats red meat. She mainly ate the potatoes that were inside the pasty.
enjoying local cuisine called a pasty
We still had more time to kill after our pasty meal, so we drove around the city's historic downtown region where there are old hotels and a slew of mom & pop restaurants. It feels odd to call Butte a city. It feels more like a suburb when compared to the cities on the east coast of the U.S.. An interesting thing about the relatively large cities in Montana is that it is not uncommon to spot a large letter on a nearby mountain. Butte has an 'M' on its mountain. It represents the Montana School of Mines and was constructed in 1910. Missoula has an "M" for the University of Montana on one of its mountains and an "L" for Loyola Sacred Heart Catholic High School on another mountain.
We did not do any walking in downtown Butte until Traci happened to spot a beauty supply store. We did not see many people who looked like us, e.g., black people, during our visit to Montana. This is what made this beauty supply store stand out. Its posters and advertisements contained pictures of black women advertising hair care products. We thought that maybe we had stumbled across a community of black people. After perusing the aisles of the store, Traci did not find any black hair care products.
It was time for us to make our way to our final activity in Butte - Our Lady of the Rockies Tour. Our Lady of the Rockies is a 90-foot statue that overlooks the city of Butte from high upon a nearby mountain. Its construction began in 1979 and was completed December 17, 1985. You can take a tour that takes you to the top of the mountain to see the statue up close. I had reserved our tour a few weeks before our Montana trip. Our three-hour tour began at 6 PM but it was recommended that you arrive 45 minutes early so that you can view the film about the statue's construction.
The tour leaves from the Butte Plaza Mall. This is one of the most depressing shopping malls I have ever seen. It looks like it was a bustling place back in the day, but similar to many places in the U.S., shopping malls are no longer popular. Many have closed. This one seems to be on life support. There were only a handful of stores still open. Other than that, all we saw were empty corridors and closed businesses. The stores that were still open contained seemingly bored employees and no customers.
We found our way to the Our Lady of the Rockies office in the Butte Plaza Mall where we were welcomed by a friendly lady who was eager for us to learn about the statue. But first, she recommended that I move my car to the front of the mall where the business is located because she said that shady activity sometimes take place in the empty parking lot at the back of the mall where we parked initially. After thanking her for the warning and moving our rental car, we were led to a room where we were shown an interesting 45-minute film on the construction of the Our Lady of the Rockies statue. It was the idea of a man who made a promise to God that if He healed his wife, he would build a statue. He never imaged a statue this large would be built. Many people donated their time and talents to realizing the dream. I enjoyed the film.
After the film, we were led to the van that would take us up the mountain. Sometimes a school bus is used but since there were only seven of us tourists that evening, the van sufficed. It took about 40 minutes to get to the top of the mountain. About 35 minutes of this drive was on a bumpy gravel private road. Construction has begun on an aerial tram that will take visitors to the top in about 5 minutes. Until the project completes, tourists will need to endure the bumpy gravel road.
Our Lady of the Rockies statue overlooks Butte from the mountain
30 minutes on this bumpy gravel road to the Our Lady of the Rockies statue
Our driver told us that we would cross the Continental Divide six times during the tour. The Continental Divide is a delineation in the Rocky Mountains where rivers flow towards the Pacific Ocean on one side and towards the Atlantic Ocean on the other side. We were jostled quite a bit on the gravel road. Despite the bounciness, we had a good time. The driver was personable, witty, and knowledgeable. Three of the people in the van were locals. This was interesting to me because I normally do not do touristy things in the place where I live even though I know that I should take the time to do so. Typical of Montanans, the people in our van were friendly. It did not take long before we were getting along like a happy family with lots of conversation and laughter.
In addition to the Montanans, there was a couple on our van who were very quiet. I noticed that they spoke French to each other. Even though they did not have a Canadian accent, I initially thought they were Canadian since Montana shares a border with Canada. Those who have read my trip reports know that I decided to work on becoming bilingual many years ago. Even though I thought I would have more opportunities to use a foreign language if I learned Spanish, I decided to study French since I studied it in high school. I have really been enjoying the challenge over the years. Besides, I heard that learning a foreign language is good for your brain as you age. As much as I wanted to speak French to the couple in our van, I decided not to because I assumed that they also spoke English. It was not until the husband helped me with my seat belt that had gotten caught in the door that I realized that the couple did not speak English - and so began a pleasant French conversation with the couple. It turns out that they were from Paris and were doing a western U.S. road trip. They have been to the U.S. several times. I've been amazed at how many opportunities I have had to speak French over the years through travel - Europe, Africa, South Pacific, Canada, and the Caribbean. However, it is these unexpected locations that seem to be the most memorable - Ireland, Argentina, and now Montana! I could not wait to tell my Saturday morning French conversation group that I used the language in Montana!
We eventually reached the summit where the 90-foot Our Lady of the Rockies statue stands. The view of Butte from the top of the mountain was awesome. You could see for miles. Our guide pointed out a few landmarks but mostly left us to enjoy our time at the top of the mountain on our own. Had I known that I would have a nice view of Berkeley Pit from here, I would not have paid to visit it in town.
Our guide unlocked the base of the statue so that we could have a look inside. People leave rosaries, photos, prayers, and even ashes inside the statue.
view from the statue
People leave rosaries, photos, prayers, and even ashes inside the statue.
view from the statue
In addition to the statue, there were other attractions at the summit - a chapel and a Memorial Wall. Our guide was sure to point out the new restroom facilities up there. They are spacious, well-maintained, and clean. He said the old restrooms were terrible.
We were given about 45 minutes at the top of the mountain to explore on our own. One of the ladies in our group was convinced that she saw mountain lion footprints. I don't know what it is about being in tourist mode, but it somehow makes us temporarily lose our sense of reason. Traci and I decided to follow the lady on a path to look at the footprints. I was not convinced that the tracks were made by a mountain lion but whatever type of animal made them, it seemed to be large with a long stride. I would not want to meet it.
It is a good idea to have a jacket with you because it can get chilly up there even if it is warm in town. Another caution is to have some protection against mosquitoes. They were really a nuisance during our visit.
Back down the mountain we bounced. We said goodbye and au revoir to our travel mates. We had had a wonderful three hours together.
Traci and I still had a 1.5-hour drive to get to our hotel in Bozeman, Montana. We decided to get something to eat in Butte before hitting the road because we were not sure if any eateries would be open when we arrived in Bozeman. We found a Dickey's Barbecue Pit in Butte. We arrived less than 10 minutes before its 9 PM closing time. Despite this, the two women behind the counter were so welcoming and accommodating to us even as they were closing the restaurant for the day. I can't stress enough how much I appreciated the kindness of the people of Montana. While we were eating, another customer walked in to pick up his takeout order. On the way out the door, he stopped to chat with Traci and me as if we were friends of his. The people of Montana are amazing!
With our bellies full of delicious BBQ, Traci and I got in the car for our drive to Bozeman. Even though it was after 9 PM, it was not dark yet. Montana receives many hours of sunlight in June. It does not get dark until after 10 PM.
The drive to Bozeman was a typical Montana drive - mainly through farmland and wide open spaces. There were not many vehicles on the road. It was finally dark by the time we arrived in Bozeman. We had to make a detour because the exit indicated by our GPS was closed due to road work. Continue...
Other Road Trips:
