Montana Travel Guide

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is a great place to learn about nature and the exploration of the west.

If you enjoy nature, then you'll love Montana.  Constant beauty surrounds you from rolling fields, the fluttering of the cotton wood trees to the majestic mountains.

Whatever you do in life, NEVER stop in Lodge Grass after dark. I drove through the town looking for a gas station, hotel, or restaurant. Instead, I felt like I stepped off into the Twilight Zone, or into a Stephen King novel. The streets looked like downtown Beirut with junk cars in front of every other house. I drove by a house with two kids in diapers playing in the yard at 10 PM. The car in the front had four adults sitting in the dark car smoking. As I drove past, the car with the four smoking passengers started the engine, and left the house, and the kids, and started following us. This was not your regular neighborhood watch. They ended up passing me, and pulling into the house at the end of the street. The passenger jumped out of the car, and waved his arms. He never made it to the front door of the house. But everyone seemed to know each other, and walked past the passenger. There were four cars in the drive way as people came walking out of the house in the dark. Next thing I know, four cars are following me. The side streets are blocked with cars, one street was blocked with a horizontal telephone pole. I feel like I am being herded into a cul-de-sac . At a "Y" intersection just before the cul-de-sac, at the end of the street, a fifth car almost front-ended my vehicle as it accelerated off a dirt road, and swerved at the last second. That was when I took a chance, and swerved to the right down a rut filled dirt road that was lined with shabby trailer homes and double wides. As I passed the first double wide, a woman slid out of her couch on her porch, and opened the gate. Then she sicced her dogs on me. Three dogs were barking and snapping at the car, running along side as they barked and yapped. They were weaving in between my vehicle, and the cars following me. I finally had to make a conscious decision. Forget the dogs, to hell with all these cars and traffic on these narrow dirt roads, and I just plowed ahead. There was no cell phone reception in this miserable town, so I was on my own. It was a "shoot first, let God sort 'em out" mentality as I drove straight ahead, despite the dogs, the cars trying to pass on the front lawns of the double wides, the dimly lit dirt road filled with potholes and covered in gravel. The cars followed me for about 5 more miles as I finally made it back to the freeway. As I was getting closer to the city limits, I almost let my guard down, and started to breathe again. But I was not out of this weird, dimly lit, cockeyed urban hell. Out of the shadows, a man crossed the road just inches away from my bumper. He never looked to the left or the right, he just walked straight ahead. He had the thousand yard stare like he had nothing to lose in life. He simply walked out of the shadows, near a bent over cyclone fence. It was an eerie experince as he was lit up by my car headlights and passed in front of me without even blinking. He looked like he simply floated across the road. He was wearing light colored clothes, and looked almost transparent at that moment. When I finally hit Highway 90, I accelerated to 90-95 MPH, and did not stop until I hit Billings.... It was an experience that I will never forget. My next cross country drive will miss Montana, thanks to the hospitality of Lodge Grass, Montana....  

Yellowstone National Park - Admission.  If you are a Senior Citizen or have one with you they can buy the park pass that can be used to lower your costs at National Parks. Wildife can be viewed at a distance and I have some great shots. Keep your eyes open as they can be anywhere. If you are the first to spot them then you have the best chance for good pictures before other people notice. People will try and get as close as possible to the wildlife and when the wildlife moves deeper into the park the people tend to move in closer. Thus you will sometimes lose great pics as people don't know how to stay at a distance. CAUTION: Feeding of the wildlife is done which is against FEDERAL LAW. You Will Be Dealt With If Caught and SEVERELY. This has caused numerous wildlife to be destroyed and people being hurt or killed due to this ignorance. You will see plenty of elk, bison, deer, fox, coyote, etc. Take plenty of pictures as the views are magnificent. Food and giftshops are found in the park as well as a post office. The park really needs a few days to see it all. You cannot see it all in one day. Old Faithful - There are a lot of seats and basically anywhere the seats are you have a good view.  However if you want to sit you need to get there either early before the eruption or sit there a while until the next.   There are quiet a few geysers just not as spectacular elsewhere in the park.  Also there are quiet a few boiling mud pits around as well.  CAUTION:  STAY ON THE WALKWAYS/PATHS.  There have been a lot of people falling through the very then crust around some of the geysers and mud pits and either have been scalded or died due to negligence.  You will be near heat but it usually isn't to hot as you will feel breezes usually to help with that.  Also expect to smell sulfer sometimes very slightly to enough to almost take your breath away. Most of the walkways are wheelchair accessible.