Heading from Yellowstone to Missoula, Montana

Our Yellowstone Cabin

On Day 7 of our cross-country road trip, we left our quaint cabin in Yellowstone and headed out to Missoula, Montana. When we awoke that morning, we were greeted by a steady snowfall that was slowly accumulating on the ground. Snow in June? Why, yes! I guess this wasn't so abnormal. What WAS abnormal was the gorgeous, warm weather we had (highs in the 70s) the day before--lucky us! We had actually been really fortunate with the great weather at both Badlands and Yellowstone. Now, as we were leaving, we encountered ominous gray skies, snow, and rain.

Within Yellowstone, some roads were closed due to snow and what I'm guessing are dangerous conditions. While driving out, we pulled over several times and joined the throes of cars that had spotted bears. During our time in Yellowstone, we had seen 7 grizzly bears (from a distance, of course), a whole lot of buffalo, elk, geese, rabbits, chipmunks. We had been hoping to see a moose, but we were told that while there were about 200 of them in the park, they were rarely seen. Darn!

Before we knew it, we had entered Montana and were on our way to Missoula for the evening. Before that, we passed through Bozeman and stopped in Butte, MT for lunch. one of our USA guidebooks had highly recommended a Chinese restaurant in Butte (who knew?). Steve and I were both intrigued by the Peking Noodle Parlor. Chinese food in a small town in Montana? We were feeling adventurous! Also, we were tired of eating buffalo and elk burgers, so Chinese food would be a pleasant change. Though it only had 4 reviewers on Yelp, it did get 3.5 stars. To our disappointment, the restaurant was closed on Tuesdays, and it did happen to be a Tuesday. Darn x 2! Steve quickly checked Yelp for another dining recommendation, and we made our way to Joe's Pasty Shop. Pasties, pronounced "pass-tees," are turnovers filled with meat and potatoes that were often eaten by miners in Butte. From Joe's Pasty Shop's website:

When the Welshmen and Cornishmen who pioneered hard rock mining in Butte came over from the Old Country, they brought over meat pies which they enjoy even as the Irish reputedly love corn-beef-and-cabbage. To the "Cousin Jacks" and "Cousin Jennies" as the Welsh and Cornish people are still called in Butte, the Pasty was a tradition as well as food and a miner finding one in his lunch box would fondly refer to it as "a letter from 'ome."


Steve ordered a pasty with gravy--or rather, gravy with a pasty. Seriously, 16 ounces of gravy with his meat pie, and he ate every bite of it. I had the original, which I surprisingly couldn't finish. I guess I don't have the stomach of a miner.


On to Missoula for the night!