Ghost Towns, Hip Strips, Bison Ranges … Oh My!

After Tia (from Glacier Country Tourism) forcibly removed us (I kid) from our glamorous glamping accommodations, we headed back towards Missoula, but made a very cool stop along the way.

Garnet Ghost Town, perched at 6000 feet, beckoned.

We spent some time exploring the town and I’ll confess to being a wee bit creeped out. We moseyed around wondering how in the world nearly 1000 people made this their home in 1898.

After we determined that they didn’t leave any gold behind, we jumped back in the car and made our way into Missoula just in time for lunch. Lunch at Biga Pizza.

I would tell you how good it was but I’ll let Mayhem’s plate do the talking …

Missoula is easy to explore on foot, which is awesome with a five-year-old in tow. And we were lucky enough to be there on a Thursday night to enjoy the fun festivities of Downtown ToNight at Caras Park. There was plenty of music, fun, food and people watching to keep us entertained.

We found the Hip Strip.

And did our best to act hip. Fake it ’til you make it, right?

And as we made our way to the Carousel for Missoula, Tia opted out of riding stating “it goes kind of fast for me”. I thought to myself, “It’s a carousel … how fast can it go?!?!”

But when we set foot in the building, I took one look and totally understood. Then I deferred parental riding duties to Keith. After all, someone had to snag a photo, right?

We saved ice cream at Big Dipper for after the spinning. Because we’re smart like that.

And while Mayhem wasn’t exactly ready to head back to the hotel at 7:30pm, we were able to bribe her with the chance to swim before bed. We knew there was no chance she could resist a pool, and we’d be able to get her in bed at a decent hour. Win win.

The next morning, we got out early enough to have Dragon Hollow play area to ourselves.

OK, the real truth is that we were just up and out before many of the restaurants were open. (Eastern time people in the Mountain time zone …) We decided to check out Catalyst for breakfast based on some raving reviews by friends, and I have to say, it was better than they raved about. Our cute waitress recognized Mayhem as the paper dress girl and double checked with the kitchen on ALL of our allergy questions. Side note here, Tia had checked EVERY.SINGLE. food establishment on our itinerary ahead of time to make sure they could accommodate Mayhem’s allergies. I cannot express how much we appreciated that detail as the food allergies are easily our biggest travel concern. But Tia made sure we had EXCELLENT food our entire week in Montana.

Catalyst, however, was not on the itinerary (we were originally just planning to have breakfast at the hotel). But we couldn’t, and we’re glad we didn’t, resist the reviews from friends. Keith recommends The Heap, while I haven’t stopped thinking about the Chilaquiles. Seriously, it’s the best breakfast I’ve ever had. And I don’t take breakfast lightly 😉

After breakfast Tia picked us up and we hit the road for our next stop, The National Bison Range.

But not without a pit stop along the way. At the Windmill Village Bakery.

Yes, we had just gorged on breakfast.

Yes, stopping for the most incredible fresh made/still warm glazed donuts we have ever had was a good fantastic idea.

That’s actually ALWAYS a good idea. For the record.

At the National Bison Range, I expected to see bison. Which we did.

But I had no idea that we’d see bears too. As in a grizzly bear flipping boulders with one paw while scratching for food with the other.

And then rounding the corner to see a black bear (cub) playing in a field.

He even sat still so Mayhem could draw him in her “Aminals (yes that’s how she says it) of Montana” book.

We took in spectacular views on our drive through the range.

This would have made for a perfect day if we did nothing else.

But Tia and Montana weren’t even close to being finished showing off. So we made our way towards Flathead Lake. And one of Montana’s best kept secrets.

Stay tuned … 😉

PS – I need one of you to take this incredible prize pack off my hands:

After we finished up our travels in Montana, I mentioned to Tia that I picked up a few Montana goodies because I wanted to share a little Montana love with our followers and I thought a little giveaway would be fun. Shortly after, she let me know that the Glacier MT team was sending over some additional items for our giveaway. Including the drop dead gorgeous handmade leather tote from T Bird Leather you see pictured above. I’ve been inhaling it’s amazing smell and trying to find ways to not give it away. Unfortunately, I have a conscience. We’ve got all kinds of Montana made goodies in this bag including huckleberry licorice and lipbalm, a red bus replica like the one we rode across the Going to the Sun road, an MT beanie to keep you warm and a badass Montana necklace from Badass Babe.

This is going to be an Instagram only giveaway but entry is super easy:

1. Follow GlacierMT on instagram.

2. Find the Montana giveaway post on our instagram feed and comment telling us where you’d be most excited to visit based on the #MayhemTakesMontana location tags and tag the friend you’d most like to take with you.

That’s it! We’ll choose a winner tomorrow … July 15, 2015. So get on it!!!

Massive thanks to Tia and the Glacier MT team for the spectacular Montana itinerary they put together and for the awesome Montana made items they provided for our giveaway!