Day 14 Rest Day in Billings, Montana

Happy Independence Day everyone: Patty and I are with the Big Riders in Billings. Sorry for no posts for the past week but we have had little to no Internet connection. Patty will update the blog when she gets back home to Puyallup in a few days. She has one more day with us and then she is flying home. It's 8pm and time for bed. No fireworks for us tonight. Pictures posted on Face Book and will be posted here in a few days.



Hi, this is Patty and it's the 12th of July. The Big Riders are in Pierre today. I am spending some time getting caught up on the daily posts that we missed.
Independence day at Billings was spent, washing clothes, washing bikes, getting coffee/tea at City Brew, and picking up my rental car.


Chuck reading about Andy and Izzy at City Brew

Chuck and I had a picnic lunch at the tree shaded area near the "Bell" by the Rim Rock Dorms. We ate lunch there two years ago. We talked and talked and talked that day. It was kind of romantic to be at the same place that we fell in love two years to the day later.


Chuck under the Bell

We did some errands in the car and of course stopped at Starbucks so Chuck could get a Quad shot Americano. We also drove by the metroplex building, that was hit by a tornado on June 21.


Metropex post tornado


Here is report of the storm from USA Today: BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A tornado touched down in Billings, Mont., tearing off much of the roof of a mostly empty 10,000 seat arena and caused other damage to the building Sunday evening, authorities said.Trees and telephone poles on the outside of the arena were snapped. Big pieces of metal could be seen hanging from power lines, and tangles of insulation and metal debris were strewn for hundreds of yards in the surrounding area. The tornado struck in an industrial part of the city's downtown at about 5 p.m. as a big storm system with golf ball-sized hail passed through the area, Trooper Toman Baukema of the Montana Highway Patrol said. Trees and telephone poles on the outside of the arena were snapped. Big pieces of metal could be seen hanging from power lines, and tangles of insulation and metal debris were strewn for hundreds of yards in the surrounding area. There were several employees inside the arena when the twister struck, but there were no reports of injuries, Baukema said.
Surrounding buildings at the MetraPark expo center, which includes a horse race track and several pavilions, appeared to have suffered little damage. The arena is the multi-facility event center's main venue and often hosts rodeos, monster truck shows, concerts and high school graduations

Dinner that night was at a Mexican restaurant with Chad, Toby, Jeremy, Susan, and Janet. We had fried ice cream for dessert. Everyone agreed it wasn't as good as Chi Chi's. But alas Chi Chi's is closed.