Another thing on the bucket list for Mom and me was to get some exploring done in Butte.  It is only an hour drive from home and has a great deal of historical stuff down there (which my Mom especially loves).   I have a TON of photos so I will be breaking things up into numerous posts for this.   We headed down Saturday morning and had a 10:30 reservation for the underground tour at the World Museum of Mining.   It was a fabulous sunny morning and for the first time ever in 30 years of back and forth on that road we actually saw a large herd of elk in Elk Park!   Was a great sight to see but on the "other" side of the road so no photos of that - you'll just have to take our word for it.

My friend Robin ditched her hubby for the day and went along with us for this trip as well.   

First stop was the very well done Visitor Center right off I-90/I-15 on Montana Avenue.   We picked up a pile of literature not just for Butte but for other areas in MT as well.   You know, who can resist free reading material and maybe we'll find some more places to visit.  I also snagged a couple of maps to replace old ones I had.

Next stop was a visit to uptown and the Farmer's Market.  Not nearly the size and activity of Helena but still it was fun.   These two were playing and singing as we walked down the hill and I have to say, they were AWESOME!   All these are phone shots so you get what you get.

Someone has been doing some serious morel mushroom picking!

All the produce I saw looked absolutely marvelous.  Tis the season!  

Check out the cowboy boot bird houses (and there were some in ice skates and tea pots as well).

An artisan cheese maker was there which surprised me a bit.   We got some curds that were okay but I've had tastier "squeeky cheese" for less $$.    Wish I had brought more money though as some of his other cheese sounded delicious although having some bites to taste would have benefited him more I  think and the board had more options than he actually had there.   Still I might have to look them up.

The flowers for sale were gorgeous and cheap ($10 for huge baskets) and of course all of the annuals everywhere right now are starting to go on sale.    

I loved the flower pot hangers on the street posts in uptown.  A tribute to their mining history.

And loved this - just don't see these anymore.

Next up the first part of the World Mining Museum.   We were really glad we hadn't planned any other touring that day as we spent 4 hours there wandering around.   We agreed we need to go back to Butte now and see some of the other sights.