Today was a down day but we found the coolest place along the way. The goals today were to sleep late, and eventually end the day in Billing, Montana. But first, we started another day at our beautiful little cabin
We woke up without an alarm clock, and enjoyed coffee and sweet rolls on the front porch. It was so peaceful. We loaded up the car and cooler, and grabbed our sandwiches for lunch – who knew Mom’s Restaurant catered 🤪 – and were on our way.
We started our drive, and it was beautiful- again, pictures don’t do it justice.
First stop, the capital of Montana: Helena. We didn’t have any plans to stop in Helena. Our fishing Guide, Grant, and his girlfriend just moved to Helena, so we asked him if there was anything we should see in Helena? He responded simply: Nah. So, we snapped the capital and rolled on…
Months ago when we were planning this trip, Michael saw something online about a Grizzly Bear rescue place in Montana. Turns out it is in Bozeman, Montana and was started by Casey Anderson, the host of Nat Geo Expedition Wild, one of boys’ favorite shows when they were younger.
If you don’t know the story of Brutus the Bear, you really should check out his story on YouTube:
Anyway, long story short, Casey rescued Brutus and when he got too big to live at Casey’s house, they built the Montana Grizzly Encounter.
We love love love some cheesy roadside stuff, and we love animals. Perfect stop for the Brown’s!
Inside the enclosure was Max. Max is a 2 year old grizzly found orphaned on an island in Alaska. Since his mom hadn’t taught him how to hunt and forage , he wouldn’t survive in the wild. He was taken in by the Grizzly Encounter, and he has been with them since then.
Max is about 500 lbs and they expect him to reach 1,400 when he’s full grown. But right now, Max is a complete ham! I swear he was posing for pictures 📸
He was literally the cutest bear we’ve ever seen. We also loved that when the bears get hungry, or are ready to go inside, they go to this door and scratch.
The staff open a door to the left, and in they go. Underneath there is a larger facility for the bears. Once Max went inside, out came Bella. Bella is an 800 lb 8 year old. The staff said she acted like Max’s mom when they are together.
And then the talk from the staff started. I honestly can’t remember what this guy’s real name was but he was exactly like Dwight Shrute from The Office.
Grizzly Dwight: Some people think bells scare off grizzlies. That is false.
Grizzly Dwight: Some people think running down a hill will hep you outrun a Grizzly. That is false.
Grizzly Dwight: Some say that grizzlies can’t climb trees. That is false.
If Grizzly Dwight had started talking about beets or paper, I think the 4 of us would have lost it! 🤣🤣🤣 It was seriously the best!
We got back to car, grabbed our sandwiches and got back on the road headed toward Billings. Once we unpacked, we headed to the pool for a little energy release
Then headed out into Billings for dinner. We decided to check out the downtown, and found a great place, Montana Brewing Co. They had the greatest ad for hiring
Again, we all had something different and everything was great. Mike even tried huckleberry beer. It was pretty good. Then we got desserts – apparently giant desserts is Montana staple! They’ve all been doing giant!
We headed back to hotel intending to swim a bit more but instead we pajama’d up and just enjoyed having absolutely no where to go until tomorrow 😉
Brown Family Adventures: 50 States by Graduation 