Our travels to Columbia Falls were mostly uneventful. Both couples flew into Billings. Billings is the largest town in Montana with a population around 120,000 and just under 200,000 in the “metro” area. The entire state of Montana, the fourth largest by area, only has about 1.2 million residents. Montana’s capital, Helena, has a population around 35,000.

It took two flights for us (IAH-DEN-BIL), but three flights for Keith and Paula (GSP-ATL-SLC-BIL). We arrived a few hours before they did and picked up the rental car (there was a long line at the counter because 2 flights arrived about the same time!). We got checked into the hotel and went to find a bite of late lunch, then to the grocery store next to the hotel to pick up a case of water and distilled water. Then back to the hotel to rest a bit after our 4:30am wake-up, before heading to the airport to pick up Keith and Paula. The hotel was only 5 minutes from the airport and by the time we arrived and I walked in to baggage claim, their luggage was coming around the carousel. Good timing!

They got checked in to the hotel and freshened up and then we headed to dinner at the Montana Rib and Chop House. We had a long travel day and another long travel day the next day, so we made our plan to meet for breakfast, then called it a night.

The next morning, we went to a Billings legend, Stella’s Bakery, which had lots of conventioneers for an Agricultural Extension meeting also deciding to eat there. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, but then service was pretty slow. However, the food was good (especially the monster cinnamon rolls) and the coffee was hot! We got some bakery items to take with us, too.

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Then, it was back to the hotel to load up and get on the road for the 7-hour drive to our rental in Columbia Falls. We opted to drive the eastern route through Great Falls and Browning and took US 2 around the southern edge of Glacier National Park to get to Columbia Falls.

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It was an interesting drive, in a desolate sort of way. About the only trees to be seen were along rivers or creeks or had been planted around the houses which were often miles apart. We saw lots of fields of wheat, barley, and even what looked like canola (from our trip to Romania). And the Rockies always looming in the distance!

Great Falls was almost exactly half-way, so we made it our lunch stop and refueled, mostly because we knew there wouldn’t be a lot of options after that (there weren’t many between there and Billings either!). Great Falls is located on the Missouri River on the Lewis and Clark trail and has a museum dedicated to American West artist C.M. Russell. The population is around 60,000.

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Dave did an awesome job driving the whole way, through the monotony of the plains, then into the majestic mountains and across the Continental Divide. We had a couple of stops along the way to stretch our legs and check out local information. Just before entering the Blackfeet Indian Reservation on Hwy 89, we found an interesting informational pull-out along a stretch of the plains as we headed west toward the mountains.

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We were arriving later than originally planned, so instead of stopping at the house in Columbia Falls (pop. 5700), we drove on 10 minutes south to Kalispell (pop. 30,000) to the Costco to get breakfast items, deli meats, cheese, and a few other supplies like bear spray. Then across the street to Walmart, for a handful of other items that we didn’t need “Costco-sized”!

By the time we arrived at the house we rented for the next four days, it was after 7:30pm. We were thrilled to see that the house and description matched what we’d seen online. It is fairly recent build, and very, very nice. We unloaded everything, then got out the dinner snacks. The next thing I knew it was almost 10pm – and it was still light outside! But, time to start heading to bed to get rested for tomorrow’s adventure!