To me, the highlight of the trip was going to the Museum of the Rockies. Because the museum is just across the field from my Great Grandparents' condo, and because we got free admittance with their membership, we got to go there several times. The first tour of the museum took just under an hour... I was so excited to see everything that I RAN from display to display, barely allowing my Momma and Dad to even catch up. The second time around I decided to be a paleontologist (and yes, I can say that word by myself), and gave my Momma and Dad a tour of the dinosaurs. This visit took much longer, and was more fun, too.
I liked Big Mike so much that Dad took me to visit "Big Mike" (the T-Rex outside of the museum) every day...
...meeting Big Mike for the first time.
He is SO BIG my Dad had to lift me up REALLY high so I could look into his mouth!
...showing off my cool Museum of the Rockies T-shirt that I got from my cousin Brandon
...posing in front of some dinosaur skulls that are related to crocodiles (my favorite "live" animals)
They had a life-sized model of a Triceratops, along with a whole bunch of real triceratops skulls ranging from juvenile to fully grown. My Mom really likes the display of the Triceratops.
RAAAWWWWWRRRR!
The Museum of the Rockies also has a very nice collection of Old West items, including a life-size homestead cabin, some weapons, tools, cars, wagons, and much much more. We enjoyed going through the Charleston display, which is very much like a live Oregon Trail experience. Very hands-on, and very cleverly set up.
As mentioned earlier, Dad took me back to visit Big Mike every day. :o)
Big Mike was cool from any perspective!
...too bad... that would have been fun!
The final visit to say goodbye to Big Mike, just before leaving Bozeman...
Bye bye, Big Mike, and Bye Bye, Bozeman!!!
*in a big scruffy T-Rex-voice*: "Bye Bye, Mark!"
