Since Chris and Debbie know the best routes back toward Cody, we asked them to suggest the best place to stop for the night as we left Kalispell, headed toward Wyoming.
I had suggested stopping at this cool Department of the Interior land right on the Yellowstone River in Emigrant, Montana. I didn’t realize it was a bit off our route, and there would not be any confirmation that a spot would be available – let alone three.
Parks have been overbooked all summer and we didn’t want to take that chance, so we jumped on Harvest Host and searched for a farm near Bozeman, Montana.
Bingo!!! Latitude 45 in Three Forks had accommodations for 3 rigs, and offered a home-cooked farm-to-table dinner experience. Sign us up! The bonus was the location which was near the Madison Buffalo Jump historic park and the Headwaters that Lewis & Clark discovered. It was the perfect stop for our Lewis & Clark Tour.
Latitude 45 is her private home and bed & breakfast property sitting on five acres. Very easy to find, and just off the highway a few miles.
Karen Rose has created an oasis on her property where she has the most green and manicured lawn in the west. A large sunflower garden welcomes you upon arrival, as well as her honor-system wagon of fresh baked cookies.
She has the most eclectic collection of fun antiques and bicycles, patio chairs placed throughout her property for guests to enjoy.
The garden shed should be in Better Homes and Gardens, and a small shed out back looks to be for storing landscape supplies, but it’s a vintage movie theatre with projector.
The dogs have huge pastures to run wild and free. It’s the most charming and artistic little setting I’ve ever seen. I kept finding more areas to sit down and sip a cold glass of chardonnay – and I did.
The historic Sacajawea Hotel was only ten miles away in the little town of Three Forks, as well as the Headwaters State Park. It was around 4pm, and still pretty hot outside, so we skipped the history portion of our day and headed straight for the bar underneath the famous hotel.
While the boys bellied up to the bar, us girls snuck upstairs to the more proper hotel bar and enjoyed a craft cocktail named a Lewis Cider - of course in honor of Lewis & Clark!
There is also a lovely bronze statue and monument of Sacajawea just across the street from the hotel – which is also one we added to the bucket list to stay overnight in the future.
We arrived back to Latitude 45 just in time for happy hour on the lawn. Karen and her friend Helen arranged for appetizers on our new covered patio at 6:45.
First of all, her patio…. OMG. More amazing eclectic vases, photos, even the Fisher Price red barn I played with as a child on display. Fun, plush chairs covered in sheep skins that just invited you to plop down and sip while appetizers were placed upon a fun table with mix-matched china that we all oooohhh and awwwwwed over.
Our first course of apps included a handmade burrata cheese, grape tomato, apricot pesto that you smoothed over fresh baguette bread or crackers and a charcueterie board of tempting meats and cheeses. Second course was a fresh from the garden green salad and the best homemade blue cheese dressing I’ve ever tasted. For dinner we gobbled up a lean pork roast cooked to perfection with fresh baby carrots and smashed potatoes. The grand finale was rhubarb cobbler, also picked from the grounds gardens. We stopped counting the bottles of wine we opened….. but we did share with Karen and Helen and shared many grand stories.
In the morning, and after two cups of coffee enjoyed sipping outside in the gardens, we made the quick drive to the historic Madison Buffalo Jump for a hike and to take in a little area history. It’s a great walking trail with lots of history about the native’s ritual to score buffalo for their survival.
The morning did bring bad news for Tom and Laura. They had experienced some engine issues and black smoke while traveling in Montana. Luckily, they found a service center willing to take them in for service in Billings, Montana which was only 2.5 hours away – so we lost our travel buddies for the Cody adventure. Tom reminded me that Lewis and Clark also had to part ways for days during their expedition in 1802, but we would hook back up in Sturgis to continue our summer tour!
By 11am it was time to check the cookie box out front, and pull out of Latitude 45 toward Cody, Wyoming.
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