Western Trip 2016 - The Fab Four hit the trail west - 9/9/16

Leaving Albany at 6:30 am was better than leaving at 5:15 am like our last trip.  Cheri and Dottie got bumped up to 1^st class!

Before we knew it we had transited through Chicago where we got "to-go" at Frontera and had landed at Bozeman International.  We loved the Cazeula breakfast that Cheri got at Frontera so much that we replicated it for several mornings afterward at our condo, but that's getting ahead of the story. 

We got our amazing 7 seater Grand Caravan rental vehicle.  And while some might have been wondering why we might need such a large vehicle, by the end of the trip there was no doubt that it was their perfect vehicle for us!!  John the Driver and Paul the Navigator assumed their positions and we were off.

We spun into Bozeman itself and ate at Cheri's beloved Montana Teds.  It quickly became beloved by all.  The first bison burger of the trip!!  After we chowed down, Dottie and Cheri ventured into the first rock store and acquired a rose quartz crystal for Dottie's office. 

Now onto our first adventure as we headed for Great Falls, MT through the Lewis and Clark National Forest.  We drove out of Bozeman viewing ranches everywhere with purple mountains in the distance.  As we drove, the landscape began to change.  We saw our first elk and pronghorn antelopes in the fields.  Then we headed into evergreen country, surrounded by big old trees and we drove along a beautiful stream. 

Our first hike was at the perfect time of day.  We hiked at Memorial Falls to two waterfalls through beautiful multicolor quartzite landscape; salmon, pink, orange, red, black and more.  The sun was hitting the first waterfall perfectly and creating a beautiful colored drop.  Cheri created an image of the sun through the trees that looked like a star and Dottie shot the pickup stick trees that had fallen everywhere.   As we came out of the woods we saw the first of many "Bear in the area" signed!  It felt so good to stretch our legs after so much sitting.

The only disappointment was that we missed the Lewis and Clark visitor center because the part we visited was newly minted and had no visitor center.  John had been looking forward to watching a 30 minute, award-winning documentary on Lewis and Clark, Oh well.

We spent the night in Great Falls, MT at the Crystal Inn and Suites next door to a Denny's.  We had dinner late, all exhausted, so let's go close we think. There is a Denny's next door....oh boy...the waitress got every order wrong!  Grease it was....John bought Tums directly after eating.  First resolution from the Fab Four....no more Denny's!