July 3,4,5 Montana Final Wrap-Up...more catch up.

We're WAY behind on this story, so here goes:

The last days of Montana were fun filled with fireworks and visitin'. What did we see and do?

Rory and I took a side trip to visit downtown Billings, while the cousins slept and Kristin and Parker built a shed. We found a great small co-op style market - Good Earth, for snacks that would launch us through the Badlands. My fave was the green tea in a tiny 6 oz. can. We chilled these babies down and I would later use them to keep me awake on the road. Brilliant concept, small size, just tea and very effective.


Old Subway Sandwich sign, which Rory liked:

Historic downtown has horse shoes as border fencing and tree grates - very cool. 

 Billing's Zoo, ZooMontana was one of our real faves with 70 acres and 100 animals. Turns out that it's Montana's only zoo, perfect with easy access to animals, low key crowds and minimalist landscapes with great paths and plants. Don't miss it.

Rory remarked that he'd never heard a sheep "Baa". 

We fed this goat. 

Do they know their beauty? What a perfect display. 

Farmer Rory (with mohawk and pig tails) and Cow Owen. 

Taking a break from the stroll. Rory was hitting a wall today (fairly low energy). 

Great picture, but this giraffe is not real. 

Real. 

It's no Giant, but the little Red Panda is awfully cute. 

Moose and Bear...wait, that was back at Kristin's prior to fireworks. 

Good ole smoke bombs. The Montana variety is saturated in color, but lasting only 15 seconds of toxic inhalation. Jump it baby!

 And then we joined the neighbors....just look at all of those kids. No adults in sight. Rory with lighter in hand. You get the picture.

Laurel's (near Billings) Firefighter's fireworks display was fantastic. The entire neighborhood was well stocked, the mosquitoes were easy going, we had a blast, literally. Bedtime came around midnight...right when the internet went out for the remainder of our stay (hence the delay in posting/writing, well sort of).

July 5th we were up for walking to feed horses, meeting a man who repairs old cookie factory machines across the US - he has a Twinkie machine!!! We also visited the little swimming hole, aka drainage ditch. Tons of fun was had.

See Jake or Kirby in the water. They were near constant into the water to fetch and then have us throw again. 

Even Liam gets a dip. 

Rory never actually entered the water, but had fun swinging and then covering himself with mud. Too bad there were dozens of flesh eating bugs buried in the mud. He was covered with bites when we rinsed it off, but he took it quite well. Owen seems to be enjoying the scene with his cousin from Oregon. 

Laurel was a great stay. We said goodbye to the Marquardt's and the swimming hole and hit the road. 

(see Own in mud photos above!)

Coffee candies in hand, snack coolers well packed, we were ready to conquer the open road of Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota.

Hugs from Gretchan and Rory!