Montana

I made it to Montana last Sunday afternoon. My dad drove with me and we had a really nice time traveling out here together! Luckily when we arrived on Sunday it was sunny and 70s so we were able to explore because Monday was about 35 and rain/snow.

Sunday Dad and I went to lunch at Montana Brewing Co. downtown Billings. Really excellent beer and good food served as well! They have a nice little outdoor patio so that will be fun to visit in the summer. It also looks like a potentially solid spot to watch the World Cup over the summer so that’s exciting! We then went down to Riverfront Park and hiked around for awhile. It’s a really nice little park on the Yellowstone River. I’ve already been back there to walk around and just sit by the river with some coffee.

Billings is surrounded by what they call the RimRocks. It’s this huge wall of sandstone bluffs that surround the city. I was so curious about how these formed and turns out that this area used to be an outlet of the Arctic Ocean. As the ocean started to recede the waves slammed up against the coast compacting different elements of sand. This constant movement and compacting is what formed these RimRocks! Then the Yellowstone river started carving its way through these rocks and that is how the town became outlined. I found that very interesting. It’s so weird to think that this used to be completely underwater. Although, I guess everything used to be completely underwater but just bizarre when you see things like that. Anyway, Dad and I went and walked along these. There’s really great views of the Beartooth Mountains from up there. I’ve gone running along that path a few times since being here. Really pretty and very peaceful!

I started work Wednesday. My orientation group was me and another travel nurse and that was it. Turns out me and this other travel nurse, Casey, really hit it off so that was happy. We’ve already done a little hike together and hit up a brewery in town. We are planning out a few hiking trips over the next couple months. She’s from Seattle and also on her second travel assignment. So it will be fun to have a travel buddy. Also, as it turns out, the girl that she is renting a room from (who is also a nurse) is really good friends with the nurse that trained me at the hospital the last two nights. She and I also hit it off and are planning on doing a day trip or two next weekend. She is from Wisconsin as well and has been doing travel nursing for 3 years and loves Billings so she is actually permanently moving here. So I’m happy to have met two people in the first week here that seem like we share similar interests and will have some fun together.

Meeting them has helped my outlook quite a bit. I’ve told a lot of you that I’ve had a harder time adjusting to this Montana move than I did North Carolina. I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the fact that I was only home from Vietnam for 24 hours before jetting off to Montana. In addition, which I’ve also told quite a few of you, I am living with a guy, his wife, their 5 year old daughter and three other guys who are renting from him and living downstairs. I was in such a rush to find housing before Vietnam that I did not ask questions and had no idea this was the case so I have been a bit shell shocked. It’s been quite an adjustment living with 6 other humans that are complete strangers. That being said, they are all incredibly nice and seem really laid back. I suppose you have to be to open your home to that many random people. I have my own room and my own bathroom – thank the good lord for that. My bedroom is upstairs and all the guys are downstairs. Also thankful for that. I have actually only met one of the guys. I haven’t even seen the others. They apparently work at the oil refinery here in town and I hear them get home around 9pm and get up at 4:50am so they must work awful hours.

Anyway, I am sure I will adjust. I am already starting to feel a little more comfortable. I say this as I am sitting in a coffee shop typing this up because I’m trying to stay out of the house haha. I told a few people I am going to have to print up a photo of my dream home and plaster it everywhere to remind myself why I am doing this. My ultimate goal is to save enough money to buy a house by the time I’m done traveling and I am saving a ton of money by just renting a room instead of an entire place. Full on gypsying here.

The weather has been gorgeous so I have been able to hike and go for runs around town almost every day since I’ve been here. I actually have a pretty solid tan going already! You all know how I love my summer tan. I am looking forward to getting paid this upcoming week. With every paycheck I need to start purchasing legit hiking gear. First on the list are some nice hiking shoes. I think I’d have some issues trying to hike through these Rockies in my running shoes.

Speaking of hiking, have any of you heard of the app MeetUp? I had discovered it when I went down to North Carolina and had joined a few “adventure” and “hiking” groups but never utilized it because of my work schedule. So I joined another adventure and hiking one before heading out to Montana. Last night I forced myself to actually go to an event. I’m really glad I did it. I met up with 8 other people at one of the parks in town and we did a two hour hike through this really gorgeous park. I was nervous going there, of course, as I did not know a single person. Turned out to be a lot of fun! Isn’t that always the way though? You are nervous to do something and then once you start in on it you’re always glad you did it. It’s like exercise. You hate the thought of it but you never regret it afterwards. Anyway, there was quite an eclectic mix of people who went and all different age groups. One of the ladies on the hike had grown up in Sheboygan and one of her brothers lives in Mequon and works at UWM. I’ve only been here a week and have met 4 people from Wisconsin. So funny. A few of us went out to dinner and grabbed a drink afterwards. We are doing another hike next week and then trivia after – love me some trivia!

I was thinking on the way home from the restaurant last night how it’s funny, my life, the last few months. I am constantly pushing past my limits of comfort. This is exactly what I set out to do but it is interesting the ebbs and flows of emotions that come along with it. I think it’s good though. This whole year is about me learning as much as I can and there’s not really a better way to do that than to push the limits. Plus good stories come from these types of things 🙂

So, I looked into fly fishing lessons because I fully plan on living out A River Runs Through It while I’m here. So stay tuned for photos of me in high waste rubber boots and a fly fishing pole. Lessons are insanely expensive though but I’m hoping to try and find somewhere that I can at least try it out. I think that’d be hilarious.

I’ll leave you all with the image of me struggling in the middle of a river in rubber boots. I’ll post after a few adventures next weekend. I am heading to Red Lodge next week with the two girls I had mentioned earlier. It’s supposed to be a cute little mountain town right outside Yellowstone and not too far from Billings. Looking forward to that!

Peace.