We had a lovely, lovely dinner the other night. After ordering, I swore I'd take photos of the food, but it arrived & we dug right in.
I ordered Cioppino (an Italian-style seafood soup), Susanne had Miso Honey Salmon. We shared a salad with chevre (goat cheese), beets & mixed greens, an unlikely combo but wonderful. Everything was fabulous! The best meal out we've had in a very long time and to think it was here Montana.
We've sworn to go back again before we leave. (And maybe even take some food pics!)
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We took a short drive into the Bozeman countryside. This part of Montana has been having unsettled weather; we experienced it during the drive.
Even in July there is mountain snow. The lower ranges have snow patches, the higher peaks remain covered.
There always seems to be a thunder shower going on somewhere.
Not having a super-wide angle lens on my little point-and-shoot Nikon, I took a vid to show the variety of weather conditions existing simultaneously.
Note: You can't view any video in an email. You'll need to click on the post title above "Getting Settled" to see it in your browser.
After this shot, we headed back to town and ended up driving right through the downpour.
We did our annual tour of the Museum of the Rockies.
Click here for their website: WEBSITE
MOR is most famous for its dinosaur exhibit, very extensive. It turns out that the earth's layer containing the dinosaur fossils is most exposed in Montana. Here are some pics.
Big Mike as he is called, is actually a life size sculpture of a T-Rex.
Here's another T-Rex inside.
And a pair of Triceratops, a baby & a young adult. Brown = actual bones, white is plaster fill-in.
Here's a shot to give scale to the size some of these guys can be.
There was a current exhibit all about Genghis Kahn. The first thing we learned was the Mongolian pronunciation of his name...the first "G" is soft, as in "judge".
We took a guided tour, got so enthralled, didn't take any photos. Major points:
1.) Lived 1160-1227 AD, was illiterate. His tribe did not have a written language; he developed one later.
2.) Conquered more territory than anyone else, including Alexander the Great. Employed superior military tactics & had a better weapon. His bow surpassed the English long bow of 200 years later; could fire an arrow 100 meters farther.
3.) Ran a merit based organization which is how he was able to organize so many tribes and build a large army. To advance in his military command, there were only two requirements: You had to have a special skill and you had to be trustworthy. Tribal/family origin & religion were irrelevant to GK. Contrast this with European military commands that were hereditary up through WW I.
4.) He was totally ruthless...certain death to any person, village or tribe who opposed or betrayed him.
Fascinating guy.
GRIZZLY TIME!!!
What's a visit to Montana without a (safe, well controlled) grizzly encounter?
Meet Bella, born in Alaska, came to this sanctuary as a cub, now five years old.
Grizzlies are not particularly social animals so although there are four grizzlies here, they only show them one or two (if they're mutually compatible) at a time. Bella is characterized as a mischievous teenager who needs her own space.
Here's a Bella-vid. Fortunately she's further away than this telescopic view would indicate.
Here is the sanctuary website: WEBSITE
That's it for now. Will send this on its way.
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