Bozeman Montana 2009

I have to say my summer in Bozeman Montana was really special.  I love the managers at the Bozeman KOA and will always treasure my time there.  I learned to really love the town of Bozeman also.  One of the reasons I had chosen to work in Bozeman is the proximity to Yellowstone National Park.  While it is about 90 miles to the the west entrance to the park it is a beautiful drive.
One of my first visits to the park was with my friends Bob and Vicki. They were passing through the area on their way to visit Alaska!  

Bob and Vicki and I seem to run into each other often in our travels.  It is always great to visit with them!  Vicki had fixed us a yummy lunch and after we ate we decided to go into Yellowstone.  It was a fantastic day for me.  I was excited for them and the great adventure they were heading out on to Alaska.  
One of my jobs at the Bozeman KOA other than the usual of working the front desk was doing Tye Dye on Saturday mornings.  I loved working with the kids however it sure was hot some days out in the sun!  One of my first projects was to make Tye Dye shirts for all of the workampers.  I grabbed a bunch of old shirts and turned them into works of art!

We had a fun crew and most everyone was willing to wear their shirts on the weekend to promote our Tye Dye craft time.  It was the first time I had ever done any Tye Dye and I must admit it was fun to see how each shirt turned out!
I discovered another natural treasure in the area.  Hyalite canyon is a few miles south of Bozeman.  While it is not a really huge place it is a really pretty little canyon.  There are several hiking trails you can take up to really pretty waterfalls.  My new workamper buddies Nancy and John and I took a hike up to Grotto falls one beautiful summer day.

I was also able to see my friend Shirley from my winter job in Arizona as she lives in Bozeman.  We decided to take a day trip together and went to the ghost towns of Virginia and Nevada City.  When we went it was the off season so there were not many people around.  We had a great lunch at a little hole in the wall place in Nevada City and also discovered a two story outhouse...hmmm.  Not too sure that was a bright idea!

After visiting the ghost towns we went up to Lewis and Clark Caverns.  While I was not sure about visiting yet another cave in my lifetime Shirley assured me that this one was different.  We had to climb about a 3/4 mile pretty steep trail to get up to the Cavern.  There was one guy in our group that I was not sure would make it but he did!  I was glad it was a fairly cool day!  I must admit the climb was worth the trip as this is a unique cavern.  The story of how it was discovered is also interesting.  While it is named after Lewis and Clark there is no evidence they ever were in it!  There are lots of stairs inside and several places where you have to get down to go under low ceilings so I do not advise this trip for everyone.  However if you are in fairly good shape and like caves this one is special.  It was also great fun to spend the day sight seeing with Shirley.
I really enjoyed my summer in Bozeman.  It is a great place to live and work in the summer....not sure I would survive a winter there!  I managed to get out of town 3 days before the first snowfall!