One Week

Technically, I've been in Montana for exactly seven days. Though I've really only been in Bozeman for three of those. So really, my conclusions on a state, or even the city are likely inconclusive...but at this moment, I love it.

I hiked a mountain.

This photo does make Mt. Helena look shockingly epic. But I think most mountain photos do that. In reality, we were just over a mile high. But we gained 1,300' from where we started! So that's a lot of elevation gain, especially since a good number of us were at sea level-ish the day before.

As for Bozeman, it might just be one of the cutest towns ever. I keep on walking around and falling more in love, every single time. My wee apartment is two houses away from a little park, and the neighborhood as a whole I would say has a smaller Sherman Hill feel. The houses are smaller, and there is a mix of old and new, but there is a similar indie vibe going on. 

Though, after tonights walk, I just think it might be the whole town with that vibe (except for the new west half of town.) 

I came home, made dinner, and then was going to work on finding homes for all the random things that don't have one yet (and find my blasted bookbag; seriously, how can I misplace it here?) But as has happened every other day, I just think of how much time I'll spend inside in the winter, and I just can't stay in here any longer - I just have to be outside. So I walked to the atm to deposit some money. And then I just kept on walking. I stopped by one of the bike shops, on the hunt for cute grocery panniers. Then I ended up at the very local grocery store (Heebs.) I bought a block of cheese, because I'm almost out. Then I continued on to the library, where I discovered a small sculpture garden, and a wonderful park that stretches from behind the library down to the hospital. The nice part was, it's up on the bluff, so you can see a nice view of downtown, and the forest to the north. The sun was setting, and it was just perfect. 

On my way down, I walked along the south side of Main, which I hadn't walked at all - I found the park where the Farmer's Market meets, and decided (This is really where I was going with this) that South of Main is pretty cute and artsy like the North side. Same sort of small, unique houses, with lots of trees and tons of people out walking and biking.

Yesterday we hiked the M trail, whose trailhead is only four miles from  my doorway. So if that's not incentive to visit...