Great Falls, where we inadvertently learn the blessings of chain restaurants

Great Falls... I had originally planned that we would just get up and get going out of Great Falls.  But then we thought that maybe we should try to see these Great Falls.  And then we realized that there was a National Historic Site all about Lewis and Clark that we could visit for free with our Parks pass.  So we thought we'd just quickly check it out.

It was a terrific museum, despite Monkey stage whispering "Is it over?" every 30 seconds during the 20 minute movie.  They had age appropriate scavenger hunts for each of our children.  I wished I could have studied the displays more, as they were filled with fun tidbits.  For example, it isn't pronounced SACK-a-ja-wee-a, with the emphasis on the Sack.  It is Sa-CA-ga-we-a, with a hard G and the emphasis on the Ca sound.  S liked the movie.  G liked the activities.  Monkey loved the exhibit about how the translation worked when Lewis negotiated for horses with one tribe.  If you pushed the buttons in the right order you'd hear it in English, then French, then two different Native American languages, then the responses in reverse order.  The natives would only trade horses for guns, as we heard repeatedly.  Two hours later when we left, everyone was hungry.

And then lunch ... oh lunch was where we learned a key lesson.  We decided to try Taco Treat.  The yelp reviews were okay, and it seemed preferable to Sonic.  Big mistake.  Bleck and triple bleck.  I could barely digest the salad I got (iceberg lettuce, tomato, and bits of gristly chicken topped with some sort of shredded cheese spread product.)  S of course loved his quesadilla since it was filled with the same cheese stuff but the other kids could barely choke theirs down.  So bad that I went out to the car to get applesauce cups and spoons (since there were no spoons in the restaurant.)  We should have known better when we walked in (Keno machines next to the place you ordered, really awful uniforms and bad hairnets, etc.) but somehow didn't muster the energy to leave and go somewhere else.  Lesson learned - go to the big chain restaurants, where the food is at least edible.  J and I both felt slightly ill all day after this place.  (But even talking about it three months later, S still raves about it. hmmm.)

So that was the definite low of the day, but things only got better once we headed south and finally entered Yellowstone.  I had pictured valleys of wildlife and geysers and the canyon, but hadn't thought of the meandering brooks perfect for fly fishing.  It was so pretty!