Billings, Montana

August 11-12, 2019:

I get on the road by 8:30 traveling on route 90 and exit for almost all towns close to the road.  Big Timber was very interesting, but Reed Point, Columbus and Laurel were fairly poor looking and not much of interest.  It was mostly cloudy all the way which was disappointing as much of it was beautiful country following the Yellowstone River and the Railroad.

Big Timber main street

The Grand Hotel is in fine condition

Great Big Timber Bar sign

Sweet Grass Arts Theater in Big Timber

The old Reed Point grain elevator appears to be rotting away

Those days are long gone

New Atlas Bar in Columbus is looking rather old and rough these days

Everything in Columbus is looking rough

They still believe coal mining is the answer

And the country would be better if it was one huge cattle ranch   

Palace Bar in Laurel offers hope

Sonny Oday's bar in Laurel is vacant and for sale

Laurel needs more than prayer

The way Laurel looked in days long past

The current look

I arrive in downtown Billings at noon and go to the McCormick Cafe for lunch.  It is across from the old Great Northern Railroad Depot and is in a string of historic old buildings converted into restaurants, hotels, brew pubs and specialty shops.  They have a series of great history interpretive panels along the railroad tracks that I looked at as I walked around this area.  I then drove a few blocks away and explored more in the central business district.  It’s all bringing back memories, my memory is failing in most areas, but I always remember my photos, I was saying over and over, oh yeah I took that photo before, but it may be slightly different this time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billings,_Montana

McCormick Cafe was excellent

Love the curve and colors of the rainbow

Beautiful sign

How Billings came to be

He was a great one

A good thought

Great artistry on this electrical cabinet

Once upon a time at the Babcock Theater 

The notice was taken seriously

Been a while since I've seen Beavis or Butthead 

Beautiful stone building

The renovation will convert it into condos, I kind of agree with the comment

This is another situation where I will use a link to my previous blog post from 2015, because, I must admit, it was really good.

http://travelswithtwinkles.blogspot.com/2015/08/billings-montana.html

It’s late afternoon and I decide to check out the Riverfront Park.  It turns out to be a heavily wooded park with many giant cottonwood trees on the river.  It starts to cloud up after an hour and I then notice very dark skies in one direction that seem to be moving quickly in my direction. It looks stormy and I’m remembering our incident with the Cottonwood limb falling on our RV roof a few years ago. Within minutes as I pull out of the park, the storm is arriving with wind driven blasts of rain and dust.  The wind is really gusting perhaps 50 MPH.  About a mile down the road, I pull into a McDonalds parking lot to wait it out and within 15 minutes it is all over, a sudden but violet storm.  Latter, when I traveled back to downtown Billings, I saw many streets covered with leaves from the trees and minor flooding along sides of some streets and intersections.  There was even a report of a funnel cloud seen.  

After another night on the street I must do laundry, a job I’m not fond of, but I luck out with a decent laundramat.  Getting there early in the morning is the key, there are plenty of machines, no wait, this place has an attendant, is clean and well maintained with even has free coffee.  Afterwards, it’s the local library, I should have compiled a list of all the public libraries I have been to in the past 7 years, it would be incredible.  Public libraries are often really great and many have areas specifically geared to the children, it's nice to see.  It’s sometimes interesting to just look around at the people, there will be many seniors, there will be teenagers on the computers mostly doing nonsense, the young mothers with their children getting books and almost always a few homeless types who have found this to be a great place to hang out, read and use a computer.

I’m feeling sort of grungy today and my weekly motel visit is overdue so I review my options on line and pick the “Vegas Hotel and Casino” with complimentary cook to order breakfast.  It sounds exotic but really wasn’t, although it was one of my better choices to date.  These Montana Casinos are pathetic, they are everywhere with dumpy looking dingy, dark rooms filled with electronic poker type games and a small bar.  They usually are smoky, smoking is still being a popular thing here, very normal ? I suppose it’s a throwback to the lore of the old western saloon. 

Now it’s about 1PM and I haven’t really learned anything new yet today, a total failure so far.  I then decide I need to go up on top of the bluff in Rimrock Park to check out the grave of one of my historical western hero's Luther Sage "Yellowstone" Kelly.  It’s also a great place for a walk along the bluff top overlooking the city of Billings.  I had visited this gravesite back in 2015 and had complained about the condition of the gravesite in my blog.

I had a hard time finding the gravesite this time, the park is a mess, the signage is terrible, but when I did get there I was pleasantly surprised.  The city has improved the grave and put up a series of interpretive signs to tell the story of Yellowstone Kelly.  I would like to think that they read my blog post and as a result took this action.  I doubt that, but it’s a good thought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Kelly

It's a commanding view of Billings from the bluff top

Walking amongst the rocks on the bluff

Yellowstone Kellys Gravesite

He was a dashing young man who found his way through the wilderness when there were
no maps, he made the maps, he was an army guide, was a personal friend of
Theodore Roosevelt and even went on an Alaskan expedition. 

Nicely done signs

   

I find a nice antique store in Billings and I love looking about in them, although I usually don't buy much.  I've become hooked on old postcards though and almost all antique stores have them.

Next stop is somewhere near the Little Bighorn River Battle site.