Montana & Alberta pics

[mustang84]

I went to Montana and Alberta for a week over the July 4th holiday and took 6 gigs worth of pictures. The last time I was in Montana was 1997, so it had been a while and I had forgotten how wide open some parts of the state are. There is so little humidity that an 85 degree day felt really nice compared to back here.

I was in Great Falls most of the time because my grandma used to live there and my grandpa was stationed at Malmstrom AFB in the 50's (called Great Falls AFB at the time). We also passed through Helena, Butte, Billings, Bozeman, Virginia City, and Nevada City. Also, we took a day trip across the border to Writing-On-Stone provincial park near Milk River, AB, and saw the house where one of my relatives used to live near Coutts. My grandma was a little dismayed because they stopped making some Canadian brand of toffee that she always used to get there...apparently people stocked up on this stuff before it was discontinued.

Helena was a clean, pleasant little city that I wouldn't mind living in someday after I retire. Butte was also interesting because much of the historic building stock is still there. Walking through there is like going back to the turn of the century.

Also, I would highly recommend visiting Nevada City if you are ever in Montana. It is a collection of stores and homes from Montana's pioneer days that were moved to the site of the ghost town of Nevada City. Everything there is as it was...the buildings and the items inside are 100% authentic, much like they were just pulled out of time capsule. There is also a music hall with 100+ year old player pianos that you can start up by inserting some change. It's amazing how intricate and loud they were in a time before amplifiers! It was by far the most interesting thing there.

State Capitol in Helena

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Billings, Montana's largest city

Train station at the historical village in Hardin, Montana

Fetterman Battlefield near Story, WY - site of a massacre by the Sioux Tribe in 1866

Train near Raynesford, MT

Helena, Montana

Hotel Finley, Butte

Berkeley Mine in Butte, the largest open pit mine in the world

Early 1900s homes perched on the hillsides of Butte

[Intrepidation]

I really like this one:

[CSpec]

Nice pics. What camera are you using? I just went to the west coast with a Canon Rebel XS and I'm a bit disappointed with the pics but maybe I just didn't use the right settings.

[mustang84]

Virginia City, MT

Butte

Robber's Roost Historical Point, MT

Deadwood, South Dakota

Sheridan, WY - the building beyond was an old Ford-Lincoln-Mercury-Comet dealership

Reeder's Alley, Helena

Scenic overlook between Great Falls and Helena

Great Falls, MT

My Auntie Pat's old house near Coutts, AB, empty ever since she moved to Vancouver in the 40's

Milk River, AB

[mustang84]

Nice pics. What camera are you using? I just went to the west coast with a Canon Rebel XS and I'm a bit disappointed with the pics but maybe I just didn't use the right settings.

It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZE, with some light editing in Photoshop for a few of them

[trinacriabob]

Scenic overlook between Great Falls and Helena

Beautiful....so is the one that Dodgefan mentioned. Nice work.

I had a friend who worked as a consultant that got a fairly long assignment in Helena. She really liked it... and she's very East Coast-big city. They supposedly have a really interesting Catholic church/cathedral there.

Funny that names like Virginia City and Nevada City show up there...there is one in NV and CA, respectively. I go to CA's Nevada City every now and then...except that it's a mecca for granolas who work in the funky stores/restaurants.

[Robert Hall]

Looks like a beautiful place...I have a couple friends in Denver that are from Montana (Billings, Missoula). I'll have to make it up there sometime...as well as the Canadian Rockies.

Speaking of Helena and consultants, my sister is looking at gigs in Helena, Richmond, Va and Washington, DC for the next thing after her current Sacramento gig. There is nothing in Phoenix for her thing (large ERP project management).

Rob

[mustang84]

This will be the last set, even though I have plenty more

Oil derrick

Nevada City, MT

Peanut, a shy little dog at the Glocca Morra Hotel & Bar in Sweetgrass, MT

Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park

Storms building north of Billings

O Canada!

Where Great Falls got its name from

The Missouri River

A Tin Lizzie in Virginia, City

Somewhere west of Bozeman

Edited August 13, 2009 by mustang84

[caddycruiser]

Wow, great pics.

I've worked with a guy for 3 years, originally from Montana and now in Delaware after literally sampling every state except for Alaska & Hawaii, and if there's anything he still talks about...1) the lack of humidity ("I rolled down my window when I got here and I felt like I was wet...") and 2) the sites, rivers/streams, etc. out there. Not a place I could ever see myself, especially with his stories of a root cellar and a VW engine they had hooked up in their shed to "make" their electricity...but, you know, still an interesting place.

[mustang84]

I had a friend who worked as a consultant that got a fairly long assignment in Helena. She really liked it... and she's very East Coast-big city. They supposedly have a really interesting Catholic church/cathedral there.

Yep, they do...it's huge for a city of Helena's size (about 35K).

[trinacriabob]

Yep, they do...it's huge for a city of Helena's size (about 35K).

What's my Regal doing in the church parking lot? And who painted it white? LOL.

[loki]

Awesome pics!

never been north of the devils tower to yellowstone area, and that trip was back in ~92

[ocnblu]

Beautiful close encounter with Devil's Tower, mustang. All of the photos very nice. Looks and sounds like a great trip.

[knightfan26917]

Holy cow, Mustang ... those are some fine pics! Cool that you shared 'em with us!

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