Day 9--Butte to Bozeman

We took it easy again in the morning; slept in, had a late breakfast, found a hotel in Bozeman (hotwire is so great for this type of trip), and then headed out for the easy hour and a half drive down I-90.  Maybe I'm a snobby San Franciscan, but Bozeman was a much nicer place than Butte.

Have you seen pictures of Butte?  There's a big massive open pit mine that dominates the scenery.  Isn't that mine insane?  You can see it from every single part of the city.  It does make me want to read more on the copper industry and that town's history though.

The drive to Bozeman saw us pass our second thousand mile mark.  Bozeman is a beautiful town surrounded by the Rockies.  We headed on down to main street and made our first stop at a great local grocery store called the Community Food Co-Op where we had some great soup and a nice cheese & ham scone.

We drove a little further down main street and then hopped out and walked the five or so blocks and did a little shopping/gift buying.  Lots of nice little mom and pop stores along with restaurants and cafes.

Aurelia tried on a cute monkey hat at one of the stores.

We then checked into our hotel and returned to main street to have an excellent dinner at Montana Ale Works.  Good local beers, good bison potstickers, good specials, and a tasty dessert.  One of the best meals we've had so far on the trip I think--though that Elk Chorizo and Bison Enchilada was super good in Whitefish...

After dinner we were back at our hotel and caught the end of "The Name of the Rose."  One of my all time favorite novels but not the best movie adaption.  I did like Sean Connery's face when the library/labrinth is burning.  I think that was him acting out the great lament William gives to Adso in the last few pages of the book.