Montana Wheat Co. in Three Forks (just outside of Bozeman) offers very tasty bakery products.
Co-op grocery store in Bozeman serves up healthy and semi-reasonably priced food at their salad bar/hot food station, and the Bozo Bread that they sell is good. They use the sourdough for their grilled cheeses, if you want to try it out first. Good overall food selection as well, with high-quality yogurts and juices.
The original MacKenzie River Pizza Co. is in Bozeman, on the east end of Main Street.
Bozeman's public library has a free magazine bin inside, just in front of the actual library entrance, where people can drop off and pick up old magazines. Worth a stop for a few minutes to see what is available for the taking.
Overpriced clothing (like $175 for a shirt) can be had at Schnee's, on Main Street. They have a discount store on 19th, I believe. Good shoe selection at both stores.
Cheaper clothing, but usually with a good selection, can be found at the Goodwill that is just off the interstate on Baxter Lane. The offerings are still relatively pricey for a Goodwill, however.
Museum of the Rockies gets very good reviews, although I've never been. Might be worth a visit if you have kids or the museum is running some temporary exhibition that you are interested in.
Yellowstone is just 90 minutes away from Bozeman, although it would likely be pretty busy there this time of year. There are, of course, various hiking trails in the Bozeman area if you are so inclined.
Great Falls has both the Lewis and Clark Museum as well as the Charlie Russell art gallery.
Not sure if you drove down to Great Falls from Calgary..but if you did, you could drive north towards Polson (south end of Flathead Lake) and stop in at the Buffao Preserve along the way. I believe it is the largest buffalo in the US and you see all kinds of wildlife as you drive through.
Lots of nice little mountain lakes...with warm water...at the north end of Flathead Lake. We have been to Blaine Lake a couple of times and like that area.
If you do come this way, head to Eureka to get back into Canada. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Preserve is close by and while you can not drive far into the Wilderness area, there are many hiking trails, and horseback rides can arranged into the Wilderness area itself.
And if you have never driven the Driving to the Sun road, over Logan Pass, you really should consider that as well. It is very scenic and you drive very high up so the views are incredible. We have driven it both ways but prefer to start at Columbia Falls and end up at St. Mary's. There are a couple of really old lodges to see along the way as well, one of which used 900 year old timber when it was built.
Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
- Norman Maclean
so norman liked fishing then? i wonder if he ever made a contribution to penthouse letters - as friends of mine have described submissions where the author compared parts of his female companion to petals of a rose on a dewy summer morning........
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If I do not come back avenge my death
My two favorite highways in the Western States are California highway 1 and Montana 287. Both move along slowly but you want to drive 80 in these areas if not 60 to try to take it all in. Along this stretch that can lead you to Yellowstone National Park you will pass along the best fishing in North America at Ennis (Madison River). Quake Lake is along this stretch also, formed from a quake that blocked the Madison. Then Hebgen Lake which is another good place to stop along the way. Going west the highway takes you to Helena which like Great Falls isn't the best side of Montana but you can jump back on the 287 and link your way all the way up to Glacier National Park and Whitefish. Simply an amazing part of the world that is freckled with a few mid sized cities that you can just pass through.
