Coffee In Bozeman

Late last night, I found myself craving a coffee. I had a ton of work to do, had been up since six in the morning, and wanted nothing more than a nice cup of coffee to get myself through the night. The problem? I was out of coffee grounds. At five till eleven that didn't leave me with much of a choice in terms of coffee spots. So I packed my computer, grabbed my wallet, and decided to bike to Smiths. Hopefully before it closed. Halfway there, though, I saw something amazing. It was like the holy grail of coffee.

A Coffee shop. At eleven at night. A coffee shop that was open.

At that point it didn't matter how good their coffee was. All that mattered was that they had wifi, tables, and were about three miles closer than Smiths. It turns out, their coffee is amazing. I sat at the table, practically bouncing in my seat over how amazing it was, when a long haired teenager came out and started singing. 

Turns out, in addition to having free refills, they also have live music at night. It took almost the entire hour Cold Smoke was open, but I got my project finished, and biked uphill with a grin on my face. Long story short, I went back there today, and they were just as good. Sorry Starbucks, I've found a new coffee shop. The only question now is how long it will take me to get to sleep afterwords.

To check out more about the amazing Cold Smoke Coffeehouse, check out their website, at http://coldsmokemt.com/.

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do

Climbing Around Town

The entire week has been gorgeous. The sun is shining, there are birds, and the bugs are still frozen from winter. You can go for a walk in the mountains, or bike through town. It's nearly warm enough to go floating without a wetsuit. Last week I said I would do something inside, and so naturally it was gorgeous and pretty. So we decided to do two different things. By we, I mean my roommate Rachel and I.

She was less excited by the prospect of a field trip, because she had to work until midnight the night before. So when I threw open the blinds, turned on all the lights, and calmly explained that we were going on an adventure, she was less than excited. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have used silly string. Or decided that we needed to leave before eight in the morning.

Amid Rachel's protests of "But I don't like heights!", and "I want to go back to bed." We walked the two or so miles to the coolest place ever. Spire Climbing Center. It's 6,000 feet of pure fun. It's a climbing center with a 38 foot roof, and 2200 extra feet of bouldering. They have great routes, and everyone is super friendly. There was just one tiny flaw in our plan. It was nine. The rock climbing gym opens at noon.

After a few minutes of not entirely unjustified yelling on Rachel's part, I decided we were going somewhere else. Sticking with the theme of the morning, we wandered over to Pete's hill. It's got this gorgeous network of paths through the woods, and over the hills. Somewhere, on one of those paths through meadows, and trees, and up hills, there is a big plastic rock.

It's about seven feet tall, and there's a little tunnel to crawl through. The nice thing about it, is that it is meant for bouldering. For people who don't know what that is, it's climbing a shorter wall but without a rope or harness. The rock is easier to climb on some sides than others, making it perfect for basically anyone.

So Rachel and I messed around for a while, went to get ice cream and by the time we were back at the Spire climbing center it was open. We rented shoes, climbed, and then walked home all sweaty and exhausted. All in all, it was a good adventure. Even Rachel admitted she had fun.

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do

Hyalite Canyon

The rain let up for a day, leaving me and a couple of friends in the perfect position to take advantage of the weather. We could have done quite a few things, and we should have been doing any number of others, but instead we decided to take a trip to Hyalite Canyon. Despite having lived in Montana for three years, I had never gone. Needless to say, I was the butt of a few jokes on the way up. We rounded the corner, and I was shocked. When you are somewhere for a while, you start to block things out, and it takes a little more than just rolling out of bed in the morning to fully appreciate the beauty of where you live. Then something happens, and you are just struck all over again by how lucky you are to be here. In Montana. Where a walk on a sunny afternoon looks like this.

The hike wasn't bad. It was about three miles to Blackmore lake. I wasn't out of breath by the time we got there, but I couldn't say the same of one of my friends. It's not a bad hike, but she isn't in the best shape. She said it was worth it, though, and handled the whole thing with a smile. She almost fell down a few times, but the only thing to come from that was her brand new nickname: Rockslide Rachel. We had a nice picnic lunch, and swam in the lake. It was a little cold. 

The lake is gorgeous, but going swimming when it had been in the fifties for the last few weeks? Maybe not our best plan. So we scurried our way back to the house, snuggled up in front of a movie, grabbed some popcorn, and called the day a success. Next week, we're going somewhere inside, though, unless it warms up. The outdoors? Not so fun when you jump in a lake with your clothes on. 

Montana is a great place to visit, but an even better place to live. To learn more about becoming a part of the Montana Experience, contact Tom Clark (406) 581 2829, drop me an e-mail at tom@realestator.net, or visit my site: http://tomsclark.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/HomePageGetAction.do