Montana Drive - Day 9 - Butte

Last day in Washington and in Montana. Got up early at 6:30 am to leave before 8 am. Went to Incrediburgers for breakfast. They had the best avocado toast!! Despite the $5 I had from the hotel, I still had to pay $5. Expensive place! 

Left before 8 am. But I had forgotten that I would lose 1 hour. It was yet again a pleasant drive. I was on I-90-E all the way. I had one detour today on Hwy 93-N to see the Thousand Buddhas. It was about 22 mi north of I-90. It was a beautiful place. How did they think about making this in the middle of nowhere (just like the sculptures in the wild). It was peaceful and beautifully maintained. There were the thousand buddhas, all radiating out of the center Buddha. There were 6 spokes in the circle. All six points had some meaning. We are supposed to walk clockwise (as we always do anyway in temples). At all the six points, there were some buddha statue with a beautiful garden and in one case a beautiful pond. All in all, very nice place. And I got there at perfect time, as I was leaving, so many people came and with kids. All were noisy. Good timing. 

I got back on the highway. I always made sure to have a full tank of gas wherever I could. And here also I did. It was a nice Travel center on the junction of 93 and 90. I was not going to have lunch today as I have to eat at Pekin Noodles in Butte. 

The drive on I-90 E was all scenic. There were mountains all through and 90% of the time there was a river or stream parallel to the highway. There was some construction or other going on, but still got to Butte around 3 pm. 

Berkeley Pit

First stop was going to be the Berkley Pit. I passed it first and had to come back. A small building/gift shop etc. was the entrance. $3 entrance fee to see a pool of water. Really!! Why are Americans making money on every little thing?! Went through a little tunnel to see the pit. It was interesting. I could see the mining from even 1-15, when I was going to Helena, but since the pit is deeper, it is not possible to see the water from anywhere but this particular location. This water has a ton of minerals dissolved in it and is highly acidic pH 2.5. The mine is producing only copper now. Butte is an old mining town, more than 150 years old. It was mining, gold, silver, molybdenum and so much more. When pit mining started, then this pit was created. Slowly water collected in it and dissolved all the minerals, good and bad. It is very toxic at this time. 

Could see the Madonna from almost everywhere in Butte.

Our Lady of the Rockies

Next stop was the Memorial. It was a somber place, dedicated to more than 100 miners who died earlier in 20^th century. I could see the mining operation from there, but not Berkeley Pit.

Next stop was the mining museum. that was last on my list as I don’t care too much for museums. But now I wish I had gone there earlier because I missed the tour of the mines. Oh well. I still had an hour and a half to see the resemblance of a mining town. Some of the buildings were original, but a lot were replicas. The most interesting part was the machinery. I cannot imagine how they would have made all these in 1900s. Just wow! Mining is a really complicated process and the owners are never really bothered about safety for the miners. It took about an hour to see all this.  

It was about 6 pm. Decided to check into my room before going for dinner. Again this hotel does not have an elevator! What are they thinking?!! I am on the 2^nd floor and had to have some take my suitcase up. I was so tired of all the driving. Room is really good though. Checked into my flight for tomorrow. So far so good. 

Dinner was at Pekin noodles, the first Chinese restaurant in Butte. It was interesting, instead of having one big room, they had small rooms/compartments for 4 people. I had chow mein. Not very good. maybe it was, I just don’t care too much for Chinese food, except fried rice. I thought I would try something different. It was not very expensive though. 

Then I found a Walmart to return all the stuff I had bought as backup just in case. That is it! Now time to clean up and pack. I will try to get to Bozeman by 9:00 am.