I had never been to Bozeman – or anywhere in Montana – before this trip. I will absolutely be back.

Having done my research, I decided to go for a short hike. Arriving at the hotel around 1:00 p.m. gave me plenty of time. I chose the College “M” trail, a hike with a few different options to the top (I picked the “easy” option) and sweeping views. It was only around 3 miles round trip with 750 feet of elevation gain, and it was busy enough that I didn’t have to worry about bears.

It was a gorgeous day with temperatures in the high 60’s – perfect for a hike. A quick $10 Uber ride took me to the trailhead and I set off. The reviews didn’t disappoint. While it was a bit of an aerobic workout going uphill given that I was already at 4,800 feet, the views were a splendid distraction. I took my time, FaceTimed Jeff several times so he could see the views, and had a nice break at the top before going back down again.

Between cruising on our boat and now living in Baltimore, I haven’t had much mountain scenery for the past eight years. I wouldn’t want to live in them, but visiting sure is easy on the eyes!

After another $10 Uber ride back to the hotel, I explored downtown a bit. I bought chocolates at La Chatelain Chocolat to bring home (they were amazing), and also bought Jeff some local coffee beans at Ghost Town Coffee Roasters.

I actually got lucky with the chocolate. Typically they would have been closed by the time I arrived, but since it was graduation weekend and downtown was busy, they had decided to stay open for a few extra hours. They were happy with the extra purchase, and I was happy that I was able to buy some chocolate!

I didn’t realize that Bozeman is only a few hours drive from Yellowstone National Park. That has been on our bucket list for awhile, and with Bozeman being so cute, we’ve decided that we’ll try to go there this fall once the tourist season has died down – but before the snow has started to fall! We can spend some time exploring Bozeman AND go to Yellowstone.

We had a 4:15 a.m. pickup time from the hotel the next day, but it was well worth it for such a fun layover. And as an added bonus, the Captain made an announcement to let us all know when we were flying over Mount Adams and Mount Rainier on our way to Seattle, so I was able to get a great picture!

It was a great trip, and one I would definitely do again.