God's Country

I know why they call it God's country.... Montana is absolutely beautiful!!! 

     

 

           

               

   

Gates of the Mountain Aug 14

On the Missouri River, not far form present day Helena, Montana the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition toiled to move upstream.  Rock embankments made towing the shore impossible, and the deep channel forced the men to row. Suddenly from both sides of the river, limestone cliffs rose to a spectacular height of 1200 feet.  Lewis wrote that the rock looked like it would tumble down and at each bend of the waterway, stone walls seemed to block the passage, only to open like giant gates.  So he named it "Gates of the Mountain."

  

I took a two hour boat tour on the Missouri to see the Gates of the Mountain.  It was very pretty and the last part of my trip I saw a bald eagle that was young and had not developed the white head and tall yet.  

On my way home, there was a gorgeous sunset right outside Butte, Montana. These two shots are on the side of the road!

Helena Montana July 24, 2010

I went to state capital of Montana, Helena, which is about 2 hours away.  In 1864, gold was discovered in Helena and by 1888 more than 50 millionaires lived there which made it the richest city per capital in the US. Although, I did not find any gold I did have great ice cream at the famous Parrot candy store.

  

Downtown there is a nice walking mall with lots of shops and restaurants.

While driving home I saw this cute church out in the country so I had to stop and take some pictures.