Hardin, MT

Looks like a town near us is making the news. They want the Gitmo prisoners.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090430/us_time/08599189437300

Well, that's one way to get some national attention.

Road Trip!!

We got out of our one-horse town for a night. Woo-hoo! Or shall I say, "Yee-haw!"

Couple of observations about Montana...

• Not everyone wears cowboy boots and hats, but enough people do to make you take notice.
  
• Big sky country -- no kidding! 
  
• Miles upon miles of fence line the roads here. Who put up all the fence?
  
• Dirty cars and pickup trucks are a badge of honor around here. If your car is shiny and clean, you must be a city-slicker. 
  
• Montana doesn't have an accent, per se. There is a bit of a "twang" to the speak, so I fit in nicely.
  

Last week, the kids and I took a quick road trip to Bozeman, the home of Montana State University. We drove through a snow storm to get there and it was cold. We totally missed out on the lovely scenery of the drive. There is a reason why I went to Bozeman, but I'm not telling anyone yet. You'll find out soon enough. 

I wanted to actually "see" Bozeman, so we decided to go back, this time with Joe. This time there weren't any snowstorms to cloud our view. My oh my, was it beautiful or what? I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

Bozeman sits in the mountainous part of the state (in the west) and is about 1 1/2 hours north of Yellowstone. It's a college town, that's for sure and reminds me of a larger version of Oxford, Ohio. We don't have pictures of the actual town, even though we did walk around. These pictures are of the drive along I-90 between Billings and Bozeman. 

View of the mountains that sit next to Bozeman.

It's official

After proving I am who I am by showing lots of paperwork and even giving them a vial of blood, I now have a Montana drivers license. 

Ok, so I didn't have to give a vial of blood, but I did have to hand over several pieces of paper to prove that I am who I say I am and that I do, indeed, live in the state of Montana. They even wanted to see my marriage license along with my birth certificate. 

We also have Montana plates for the car (just arrived today in the mail). I'm actually glad to get the plates. I'm tired of people looking at me funny when I go to the store or get gas -- She's from Illinois? Where's Illinois? She's not from these parts, that I can tell.

Joe and I are now officially Montana residents. 

We don't own a gun. I guess that's next.