Budget Inn Express Helena

... The name is bigger than the town but it was still kinda quaint. We pulled into the park for lunch, live country and western music was being played for a bday in the park which defo gave me the feeling of being in American Montana, state of the horse ranchers, cowboys and cowgirls. Later we were visited by the Americans who had been smashing down beers at the pub; they mentioned you were allowed to tent in the park for a fee. Shortly after the Dutch couple turned ...

... Helena and its past. Well, the AAA book failed to mention that the 5:30pm tour starts tomorrow, July 1 and today is the 30th. The guy said we could catch the 11am tour tomorrow. Ok, maybe next time we visit.

We took pictures of the capital building and some statues then we headed out Montana Ave to the Murdock Feed store. Yup, they had 50 pound bags of black oiler sunflower seeds for $17.95 so I bought two. Well Day would not approve ...

We day tripped in the car to Great Falls today. Jane drove the entire day and the two of us are still on speaking terms! We visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Even though it's about the third center we have been to, each one has taught us something new. Lewis and Clark were told by the Native Americans that they would know they were on the Missouri River if they saw the great falls. There is a dam there now, but the falls are ...

... to build their building. The most impressive thing in the Montana capitol is a mural in the House chambers.. It is a 12' by 24' mural by Charles M. Russell, the famous cowboy artist. He lived in Great Falls, MT, and painted this huge mural for $5,000--before he became so famous. The picture depicts Lewis and Clark meeting Native Americans in Montana.

From the capitol, we visited the ...

... the sun on the deck of   Karmadillo's restaurant in Reeder's Alley – a really welcome treat seeing as how we have not seen much sun since we left the Nevada desert!  For dessert we again missed the famed huckleberry ice cream, so unfortunately we will have no choice but to go get this for breakfast tomorrow morning.  ;)

... several times that the best food we have had the entire trip has all been here in Montana! Everything is so fresh here, and very reasonably priced. It also doesn’t hurt that my aunt and uncle are AWESOME cooks – Cheryl made turkey dinner and chili since we’ve been here and last night Dan gave us a bottle each of ...

... good reviews and found Wheat Montana, the most wonderful farm/bakery/deli that grows their own grains and bakes their own bread for supremely fresh sandwiches!  Now, had this been Mammoth it would have closed at 4:30 PM, but no, in Montana they stay open until 8:00 PM!  We were terribly impressed.

 
 When we arrived they ...

... occupying the kids. I felt terrible with all the injections in my mouth but it was great to get my hair cut after 3 months! Steve and the kids picked me up after I had finished and we had an hour to kill before I went back to have the crown fitted. So we went to the park and chilled for a while. At 5pm we were back in the surgery and I had the tooth fitted. I had a few MORE injections, in fact I lost count how many I had but it must ...

... and free) access to these public buildings and we are amazed that you are allowed to just wander around and take pictures - well it is the land of the free... Atop of the dome outside the building is the statue, "Montana" a personification of liberty, she looks down across a fantastic view of the Helena Valley. We wandered through the hallways past government offices climbed grand staircases, looked into; the old ...