Montana & Idaho

When Jeremy and I drove to Portland Oregon in 2011 we passed a small town in Idaho called Wallace (my maiden name).  It was a Sunday and everything was closed.  We have always wanted to come back to this town and thought the May long weekend was a good time to do just that.  This is a heavy picture post.  Click on the pictures to see a larger version.  

Fort Benton

This was a neat little place, I didn't get very many pictures for some reason.  They are the birthplace of Montana and you can read more about Fort Benton here.

Wallace, Idaho

Wallace is the silver capital of the world and situated up in mountains.  It was a booming town in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Its almost as if you stepped back in time in this town and they have preserved the past.  The buildings are truly amazing and its the perfect sized town.  Everything is in walking distance.  Its kinda neat too because the downtown area is right in the middle.  Surrounding it on a higher level (literally) is the residential areas.  There are several staircases throughout town that you take to get up into the houses.  Each staircase is over 100 feet high and most are over 80 steps.   There are lots of neat shops and good places to eat.  We needed another day to see more, so we will have to go back again.

Garnet Ghost Town

We ventured back to Montana and wanted to check out another well preserved town but this time it was abandoned.  The town is open year round but unfortunately some of the buildings were still locked until the following weekend.  This town was another mining town but for gold and garnets.  It became a ghost town in the early 1900's.  You can read more about it here.  It's pretty cool.

Fort Belknap

We drove by this church and had to stop.  Its up on a hill and is surrounded by a cemetery.  

Great Falls, Montana

Our trip started and ended in Great Falls.  Its a nice place and our hotel was right on the Missouri River.

Highway's and Interstates

And to prove that is did do some knitting on the road (we drove right across the 2nd largest state!) My handspun Hitchhiker which is on my list of crafty goals this year.

It was a nice getaway and the weather was perfect.  Can't wait to go on many more excursions this summer.