Great Falls

Finally writing a blog post in the same month as a trip.

Heidi had a training in Helena so she suggested that we all go up to Great Falls since she had been wanting to see the mermaid bar at the Sip 'n' Dip and one of my bucket list items was to ride a mechanical bull, the closest of which was at the Flamingo in Great Falls.
So, I left work early on Friday and picked up Trudy and Christie for the four hour ride up to Great Falls. It was an awesome ride up and when we got there, we used Trudy's Droid to check Trip Advisor for a recommendation for dinner. The number one restaurant in Great Falls was a

place called "Goode's Q and Bayou Grill." Of course, Fuddrucker's and Perkins also made the list so it was a little suspect but we still got in the car and headed over. What... an.. AWESOME... decision. It was about 20 minutes 'til closing and there was only one other table in the small restaraunt but we went in anyway. The staff was incredibly friendly and greeted us all with smiles and let us sit anywhere. As we were waiting to order, the owner himself came in and chatted with us. He was so impressed that we came over because of Trip Advisor that he ordered us an etouffe (the house special) for the table. Delicious food, wonderful atmosphere, will have to go back some time.

We then went over to the Flamingo where I had tracked down the only mechanical bull in montana. Or at least the closest one I could find. It was about 9:30 when we got there and it looked for a little bit like I might not get to ride the bull. They need at least eight people to sign up before they blow up the safety mat and there weren't enough people in the bar. We were all anxious to get over to the Sip 'n' Dip because we didn't want to miss the mermaid. Luckily, a big group of people came in and all wanted to ride the bull. So I got my $4 ($4!) ticket and waited my turn to ride the mechanical bull. I had no clue what I was doing but it was totally awesome. I ended up riding twice because Trudy (Thanks Trudy!) bought me another ticket. She and Christie also got to ride when some other folks dropped tickets off at our table.
We then went to the Mermaid Bar where the piano player was still in residence. She is probably older than dirt and doesn't sing, per, se, but is very fun. There are also two large windows behind the bar which look into the pool and, on the weekend, feature swimming mermaids. The picture on the left is me pretending to be a mermaid the next morning.
The next morning, we again consulted Trip Advisor and had breakfast at Five Loaves in Great Falls. It was okay. More of a coffee shop than a breakfast place but the coffee was excellent and my bacon and cheddar pocket was pretty yummy.
We then hit the Charles Russell Museum which was a dream of Heidi's to see.
On the road again, we stopped in Helena, which is actually a cute little place and also in Townsend, to see the glass blowing place there.

South Dakota-Thursday, Friday

Our plan for the trip was to have one day where we didn't get out of our jammies. It wasn't quite accomplished, but we came pretty close. I woke up and did some yoga. It wasn't my own first time on the ranch as I had done a little on Wednesday but it was the most extended session I had. It was absolutely wonderful to wake up, climb up a hill and actually greet the rising sun with some Sun Salutations. After the ladies and I went on a four-mile walk down to visit the site of the house where Allie grew up, we settled in to read. 'Cause we had planned a day of not changing out of our jammies and this was pretty darn close. After some quick naps, we also went out in the truck to see more of the Murphy family ranch.

Puppies in a truck!

"Do not worry little penguin. You will not be alone for long. I will build you a family."

Trying to stay cool and just being cool.