The World's Largest Animals

Here are a few pictures from our drive through North Dakota. Salem Sue, the world's largest Holstein cow and the world's largest sandhill crane. We ended up staying in Bozeman for a night then pushing on through Missoula to Spokane, where I am now. As we got into Montana, we noticed smoke east of Billings. As we headed west, the smoke continued and actually became thicker. By the time we reached Missoula, visibility was down to probably just under a mile and even breathing became an irritating occupation. I've been in the mountains during fire season, but for Mallory, this was completely unheard of. However, as a firefighter, she was delighted to be around so much smoke.

Arriving in Montana was like a breath of fresh air (if not literally due to the smoke) due to a couple of things. As we made our way through western North Dakota, the gentle roll of the hills began to whet my appetite for mountains. The Midwest is just too flat for me. And the further we headed west, the bigger the mountains got. By the time we were winding our way through the Montana/Idaho border, I was stuffed full of mountains. Wonderful feast for the eyes. The second delight for me was stopping at the Montana Ale Works in Bozeman. With some 30 beers on draught and half of those being local Montana brews, there were more microbrews in this one pub than the entirety of the Midwest. Good mountains, good beer, the Great Northwest.

I'm now on break and may not update my blog until I hit the road again in September. I'll be travelling through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon for the fall. Till then!