Bozeman Montana

Spent the morning driving from Missoula to Butte (about 130 miles), had lunch at a local eatery and then spent the entire afternoon at the World Mining Museum. We spent 90 minutes underground with a mining engineer who showed us the tools used and gave us a lot of information on the culture and life of those times. I was there two years ago and it was the same tour guide -- he was awesome. Also stopped by the Berkeley Pit which with a pH of 2.2 is an Environmental Superfund Site. They are doing a very interesting remediation project -- running a pilot program now but planning to start with the pit water in 2018. Drove another 90 miles to Bozeman, MT and stopped for dinner. The restaurant we chose (Ted's Montana Grill) turns out to be owned by Ted Turner. We just missed him (he was there last evening). The restaurant is located in the old Baxter Hotel -- a gorgeous Art Deco building constructed in 1929 and gorgeously restored. The hotel rooms are now apartments. Downtown Bozeman is a lot of fun so this would be an incredible place to stay. We both love Bozeman. Tired so hunkered down near the freeway and on to Sheridan, WY tomorrow (270 miles) and then on to Rapid City (another 243 miles). There is an excellent museum in Bozeman so we will spend a few hours there and then hit the road -- the conference begins Wednesday with some pre-events on the 17th so the timing is perfect. Taking a bit more time on the way back -- heading through Yellowstone and Oregon. The dogs are having a wonderful time -- I folded down the two back seats and put some carpeting and padding down for them. They snooze while we drive and we stop every couple of hours for them to rumble around for a bit. I have my two and Lulu has Augie -- a 70 pound GoldenDoodle. Day three!