"But with Montana it is Love"

When we happened upon this Steinbeck quote outside yet another charming shop in Bozeman deep into our second day in Montana, it struck us all as immediately true.  We anticipated when the double rainbow ended our first night here that this might be a special place, and it has not disappointed.

I'm writing a double post late the night of July 10th, as we got in late last night and left early this morning to stop by the clinic to be sure Maddie didn't have strep throat (she doesn't, but we did get some reassurance and some stronger medicine to combat her sort throat).   Luckily, her sore throat hasn't gotten in the way of her enjoyment of this magnificent state.

First a few photos from our lakeside condo, and a quick video of Daniel entertaining us outside the window before we got on our way yesterday.

                                         Daniel was beyond ready to get on with the day!

 While yesterday was overcast throughout, with sporadic rain throughout the day, we first explored Big Sky, itself.  A resort ski town, the vast majority of the shops and restaurants have been built within the past ten years.  We mostly window shopped, as the prices are consistent with the resort town reputation, but the kids enjoyed trying on lots of different cowboy hats.

Though the weather was questionable, we decided to chance it and make the hike we had planned to Ousel Falls in Custer Gallatin National Forest.   At just about a mile and a half, we figured we'd give it a try.  Turned out that having the cloud coverage made the hike all the more beautiful.

While we passed a few groups coming and going, for the most part we had the trail, the waterfall and the peace and quiet to ourselves.  The kids have become expert photographers of each other for their Instagram posts, and their expertise has resulted in offers by a few different apparel companies asking them to be an ambassador of the fashion line (for a discounted price on the clothes).  They haven't yet opted to do so, but they sure have fun preparing each post.

 We climbed to the top of the waterfall, and the kids also climbed to the bottom.  The rain held off the entire time, and we had an amazing time, followed by a delicious Italian dinner back in town before we headed back to the condo for an episode of Stranger Things and sleep.

Our plan for today was to head to two ghost towns and Bozeman.   When Maddie woke not feeling much better from last night, we substituted the clinic for the ghost towns, and spent the day in Bozeman, which is about an hour away.  As much as we've been enchanted by Big Sky, our love for Montana grew exponentially after spending the day in this charming most-livable town.   Daniel is always on the hunt for a local music store, but this one - Music Villa  - was truly extraordinary.  We learned that Bozeman houses the factory that creates every Gibson acoustic guitar, and Music Villa had an enormous selection of them to try out.

After jamming on a whole bunch of guitars, we had a delicious lunch, shopped around, had ice cream in a wonderful local shop where we were able to leave a magnetic ad for Daniel's music, and continued walking around and enjoying the Bozeman vibe. 

At around 7, we headed back, with beautiful scenery and fly fishermen providing the perfect backdrop, before arriving at our dinner spot on the Gallatin River, where the food was delicious, the music live and lovely, and the view as peaceful and spectacular as one could imagine.

We finally had success finding the perfect hats in Bozeman, so plan to see a lot more photos of my favorite cowboy and cowgirl.

In addition to the live music, there was even a ping pong table for some indoor exercise and competition.  Daniel threatened he might never leave.

Tomorrow, we have a full day of hiking, zip lining, and, after staring at it from the ground for two days, an expedition to the top of Lone Mountain.   We'll see if we love Montana as much from over 11,000 feet as we've been loving it from 7,218.   Considering Daniel and Maddie are already planning to own a home here, it's difficult to imagine this love affair will lessen any time soon.