Billings, Montana

Before we hit the road for Billings, we went to 9 am mass at St. Anthony of Padua in Cody.  Well, it was a huge day for that parish in that 16 deacons were ordained in the diocese this past week -- four from this one parish!  They also honored the graduates from the local high school.  The Knights of Columbus were there in capes and plumes and all their finery.  There was incense being dispersed all over the altar area.......truly a major event!

Driving up from Cody, we passed some beautiful scenery again.  Seeing a sign for a town named Belfry, we both wondered whether there were any bats in Belfry.  The next thing we passed was the local high school; and sure enough the sign on the fence said Belfry HS, home of the Bats.....we laughed so  hard we forgot to take a picture so you'll have to take our word for it.

Later we were tooling along at 65 miles per hour on a lovely two-land road when we suddenly saw a sign that read, "Pavement Ends."  This is not something you take lightly, so we slowed down to about 10 mph and crept for a couple of miles on a pock-marked subsurface.......lots of fun.

When we finally returned to real pavement, we thought we had it made.  Not so fast!  A mile later, the same thing happened again.  Oh well, stuff happens.

Arriving in Billings, we took a ride to what is called "uptown" and walked around.  Not much to talk about except for the Rim Rocks, a natural feature rising straight up for 400 feet and towering over the city for the entire length.  At one end, we took a road to the top and drove along the rim.  But all the other streets in town came to an abrupt end.....weird!

On our way back to the hotel, Joan saw a sign for a "Sample Sale" and immediately followed the balloons for a few blocks until we found it.  Bear in mind that it was Joan's idea to go inside and see what bargains she could find.  I was just along for the ride.  So guess who came out with nothing and who came out with two incredible bargains!