There's a first time for everything..and well..this is my first post on THIS blog. Back in February of 2013, I took a pseudo-secret 2 day trip to Montana..more specifically Billings, Montana. The whole idea was to get in front of someone from a specific drilling company for an "Oil job" in North Dakota. On a side note, I had spoke SO MUCH about North Dakota (ironically one of the epicenters of the current oil boom) that my immediate family thought that's where I had gone. A Billings County North Dakota actually does exist Luckily nothing happened in those 2 days otherwise there would have been a lot of confusion.
I ate some "expensive ass" frys at the Mesa-Gateway airport prior to my flight to Billings,MT
Because of the low cost of flying on Allegiant Airlines, passengers were relegated to boarding our flight by way of the narrow stairs located at the rear end of the plane.
Check out Blue Man Group on the side of the plane!
It felt as though we were packed like sardines in this plane.
Here we go...
I got into Billings sometime after 8 pm. I took the free shuttle from the airport to the motel. The room was quite inexpensive, costing me only $50 a night..for two nights. The motel was located in an area that was considered the "bad" part of Billings. You only had one grocery chain..Albertsons, and there were two of them a "good" one and a "bad" one. You can guess which one was nearby me.
So early the next day I decided I would walk the three miles to the drilling company I had flown all this way to hopefully be employed by. The building above is a local television station.Using Google maps on my phone, it took a little over an hour to get to the offices of this drilling company.
Walking along the highway, I came across this "Muffler Man" on the side of the road.
"Muffler Men" were a common sight during the 60's and 70's. Made out of formed fiberglass, many have met their demise, and the ones still in existence have been re purposed to hawk whatever the business is selling that they're standing in front of. You can find more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffler_Men
I came across this street sign and immediately thought of my friend Mike...that's his last name. You have a lot of time to think about a lot of things when you're walking around a strange city, trying to familiarize yourself with it.
From what I can recall, Kings road basically becomes the freeway. So I had to get off and cut across fields and medians to get to my final destination.
You can't see it here, but there were hundreds of gopher holes throughout this median.
After I crossed this median, I had to climb an embankment that you can barely see in the distance..
..which led me to this overpass that I had to cross over, and after a short walk I found myself...
..in a business park where the "drilling company's" offices were located.This body of water was also there.
Upon further inspection what I thought was a pond,was just a bit of frozen runoff. Now to get to the end of this annoying and somewhat abrupt part of the story.The three mile trek I took,complete with five copies of my resume and palpable anticipation..and hope led to..nothing. The gentleman I got in front of, Russ (who was essensially the same age as me) basically said "Thanks..but no thanks" This was after what I thought was a good interview. Even today, many companies can't keep or retain workers due to the harsh conditions in that region.They missed out on a great opportunity and a great worker. Their loss.
After being dropped back off at the motel,since the day was still young, I headed back out to check out the one mall located in Billings, the Rimrock Mall. To get there I used a combonation of walking and public transportation (Buses). The one thing that stood out throughout my small town travels was the architecture.
For some reason I liked this mid century ranch style house. All kidding aside,there were as many "ugly-ass shacks" as there were attractive houses.
Another place I passed was "Central Park". I found this quite amusing, having been to the original in NYC many times as a young child. I wondered if anyone here had any idea of the enormity of this parks namesake
Walking through, even with all of the evergreens on the outer edges of the park, and the open field before me, I suddenly felt all alone..and I was. I realized I was over 1200 miles from my home in Peoria. I had no family and no friends with me or even nearby. I had undertaken this whole..now.. "exploratory" endeavor by myself.
As I got closer to the mall, I remembered that I needed to get money because by this point I was starving. Luckily I came across the Rimrock Credit Union. Since I already was a member of a credit union in AZ, I wouldn't be hit with any withdrawal fees.
One thing I forgot to mention,was that it gets COLD in Montana in February! Actually on the two days I was in Billings, it was pretty mild. I'd say by Montana standards, 43 degrees really isn't that cold. I'll take cold over heat ANY day though. Having my trusty favorite Carhartt jacket and a couple of pairs of long johns with me saved my ass on the trip.
Yep. 43 degrees...at 3:06 in the afternoon.
The Rimrock Mall is the largest mall in Montana. Actually, I believe it's the ONLY mall in Montana. Seriously. If anyone can remember an "old school" mall..like one from the 80's. I'm talking about one like the old Valley West Mall on 59th and Northern in Phoenix. It also reminded me of Christown Mall on 19th and Bethany AND the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove,NY..well..Long Island.We're talking about two anchor stores,a small food court, and a center area. That's it. This mall was as simplistic as they come. I mean I felt like I had stepped back into 1986 or 87'. The decor was dated. Hell, EVERYTHING was dated. I'm not kidding. The nostalgic part was nice though. It made me all warm and fuzzy..and yeah..a little sad, because these types of malls don't exist anymore. They don't work from a retail standpoint.
I had never heard of Herberger's. I didn't bother to go in to check it out either, but obviously it's a department store. I really liked the sign. It looked even more classy in person. Again, you don't see signage like this in malls..well really anywhere...anymore.
A better shot of the sign.
There was more retro signs to be found here,like this Orange Julius one in the food court.
Here's another one for "Bob's Pizza". Cool sign...totally suck ass pizza. Just horrible
Here's a pic of the lame-ass menu. I was starving and then after..disappointed.
If memory serves me well, I believe the pizza was on the expensive side as well..it's not like Montana is known for it's world famous pizza, right?
Dillards looking totally "old school"
They had this "Hurricane Simulator" there..it was like $2 for two minutes..what a deal...
JC Penney was ancient looking too...it was still cool though...
The bus depot outside the back of the mall..I ended up taking the bus back to the motel,as it was getting dark..and cold..
..a billings transit sign
Billings,Montana
A view of the mall from the bus depot....
...waiting for the bus to arrive
..at this point, the novelty of the trip had worn off, especially since I hadn't gotten the oil job. I was missing my family back in AZ..and I was getting cold..
The next morning at 8am, I was getting everything together for my trip back home and saw the weather for that day..
It was going to be a bit cold...
I saw this on the shower door in my motel bathroom...
after closer inspection..it looked to be a bear..with sleepy on his hat...
...a closeup of the shower door...
The First Interstate building in Billings...supposedly the TALLEST building in Montana....WTF?
...outside the "Mesa" airport in Billings...it's on top of a mesa...
...a view of the airport...
...another shot...
..the sign next to the statue "Range Rider of the Yellowstone""
..a plaque commemorating the statue
...Range Rider of the Yellowstone
Another shot of the "Range Rider of the Yellowstone"
...looking out from in front of the airport with the city of Billings in the distance...
..an old railroad train on display in front..
..detail of the railroad train..
...another shot..
..more pics..
...and more...
...even more....
...one more...
...an old sign...
...overcast sky...
..the small local history museum, visitors center,and gift shop..
On the day I visited, there was no one else in the building but me..and some closed circuit cameras...
..lot's of interesting stuff to see...
...if you're into those sorts of things.....
Yellowstone National Park is located close by...I forgot to mention that earlier....
..lot's of artwork...
more....
...displays....
...information....
far too many...
..myriad things to mention...
...were here on display...
..the outside of the Yellowstone Museum and Visiors Center...it had a basement as well...
My last shot outside the airport in Montana before departing for Denver..and then home to AZ...
I couldn't believe that First Interstate Bank still existed...when I first moved to AZ they were all over the place. Suddenly they were gone,replaced by Wells Fargo I believe...
...another shot of a First Interstate sign...
...a monitor inside the airport in Billings...
...the current conditions in Denver Colorado....my next destination...
...if there's ever "Severe Weather"in Billings...I know where the hell to go......
The airport in Denver, Colorado is one of the largest and most modernized in the United States..
..look at the damn monitors..and all of the flights arriving and departing..
people mover..
..a school for mining in Colorado....
...this airport...
...was incredibly huge..
...the roof outside the terminal...
...they had snow on the ground...
..some artwork/display over the people mover...
..another shot...
..map of the airport..
..a little closer...
Tornados in Denver? Apparently so...
..some historical plane on display...
My gate..
..boarding the flight home to Phoenix..
..looking out my window..
..almost time to take off...
I thought a lot about my wife and kids,and how much I missed them in the two days I was gone....
..above Phoenix...
I love the way it looks at night...
Getting closer...
..and lower..
Tempe Marketplace... In conclusion, my trip to Billings,Montana was exiting and informative. At the same time it also left me unfulfilled...and empty. Even now, over a year later I haven't stopped trying to strive for something better.That's why these experiences are called "life lessons". Sometimes risk and sacrifice are necessary to achieve them.The point is to never stop. Never.
