A Night in Montana and a Day at Little Bighorn~

The drive from Lovell, Wyoming, to Billings, Montana, was a pretty one...

Big sky country, for sure <3...

We weren't in a big hurry, we got there eventually ;)...

After a stop at one of our favorite dinner spots, HuHot, we headed over to Cabela's to do some more winter gear shopping.  We love Cabela's, they have the best wildlife displays/exhibits.  The kids had fun watching the fish and I was able to knock out a few more items on our list.  Win, win :).

A good night's sleep and we were ready to go again.  We wanted to go have some fun, but first we had to take care of business...that shopping thing that needed to be done.  Ugh.  A couple more stops and we lucked up at Shopko (of all places!).  Gloves, hats, scarves, snow pants, and even a few of the needed jackets.  Yes!  Hallelujah, now we could be done! ;) hahaha...

We still had a 5 hour drive to get back to Williston, so we only had time for a quick(ish) stop.  Looking at the map we decided to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  It was in the same direction we were heading, with just a slight detour.

We started in the Visitor Center, checking out the displays, the video, etc...

Then it was time to head outside...

We walked the paths, quietly taking it all in.  Two days of fierce battle, so many lives lost... Custer and his men... Sioux and Cheyenne warriors...

A visit to a Battlefield isn't what I would call fun.  It's a very solemn thing...it makes you think, reflect, remember.  And that's good.  We need to remember...

There was a cold front blowing in the day we were there, the wind had an icy edge to it that kept us from staying outside very long.  We followed the path back into the VC so that the kids could finish up their Jr. Ranger books and turn them in.  The Ranger who helped them was so nice, we really liked talking with him :)...

Before leaving, we took a minute to check out the bookstore onsite.  The kids found something that has been so fun for them with our travels, Kids National Parks Passport Books!  If you don't have one of these and you go to a lot of NPS sites, I highly recommend getting one.  The kids really look forward to getting a new stamp for their books at each new place we visit :).