Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman had a similar “this is so nice” vibe to Missoula, but is pleasantly bigger. It didn’t start off so great, though, as it has a bus stop, not station, and it’s in a Wal-Mart parking lot:

It was right across from my motel, though, where I first sighted the mountains & view that everywhere in Bozeman is blessed with:

The town itself is so great. A classic western mountain town with very chill vibes. It has really nice, low-key, neighborhoods & homes:

food truck corrals:

quirky statues:

and a perfect old-town main street:

The area has great hiking, but most of the good trails require a car to get to. Luckily, though, there is a fairly good one that started right from downtown:

Chill vibes on the trail also:

But the weather was not so chill — the big sky sun was incessant & threatened my tender, fearful skin, so I was armored up most of the time I was outside (recognize the white hat?):

We’re in the mountains, however, so the weather can change rapidly:

It was sunny & hot most of the time I was there, so I found a local swimming spot:

As luck* would have it, that building at the top right of the picture above is a brew pub! So, I just walked around the lake after my swim:

And arrived at perhaps the most perfect brew pub I’ve ever been to:

The setting; the building; the beer. So good. The staff all seemed to just be killing time until ski season, so had that awesome, laid-back, “slow down dude” attitude. My Dad asked me if i was going to rate all the brew pubs I went to after this trip, and, while I’m not, I’m not sure how you can get much better than this one.

Brew pubs in Montana do have some quirks: 1- You’re only allowed to have three pints total, and then they cut you off; 2- They have to close @ 8pm. This tight licensing was apparently put in to limit their competition with standard bars & restaurants. The brew pubs can upgrade to one of those standard licenses, but they’re very, very expensive. This type of over-regulation seems a little weird for conservative Montana, but there’s no sales tax in the state so 🤷

Another quirk I noticed is that every place I went to charged an extra 3% if you used a credit card. I’ve seen this some back East, but it seemed to be everywhere here.

Speaking of prices, beers were so cheap! In the brew pubs a pint was $5-6. Coors Original (which you order by asking for a “banquet”) was everywhere, and even cheaper:

The bars & restaurants were large & crowded, and had a western feel to them, but weren’t too over-the-top with it. Bozeman is the gateway to Yellowstone and great fishing, so there were lots of tourists, but there was also lots of regulars, including at this one where the locals were all gathered for their weekly, boisterous, bingo night:

I didn’t spend all my time in bars, though! I, of course, had to hit up the local library. Which was AMAZING:

with that killer view:

great seating:

including outside (with electric outlets!):

and had several well-stocked, instructor-led, maker spaces:

Just outside of the library was the local park, which was hosting their weekly farmers market, the best one I’ve ever been to – it was nestled amongst the trees!

And filled with so many outdoorsy locals, it was almost a caricature of a western mountain town:

I’ve only been staying in places for two nights each on this #workabout, but Bozeman was the first one I considered staying longer. It just feels like a very livable place that a person like me could have a great life in.

Alas, my awful night bus trip was set to begin, which meant it was time to head back to the Wal-Mart parking lot, this time @ 2am:

Is there fear in my eyes?

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_{*There was no luck involved — I actually knew it was there before, and partially decided to go swimming in that lake because of it}