Well, this is a little frustrating! I had several paragraphs written and some how touched the wrong thing it all disappeared, never to be seen again.  At least not until I have finished composing it again and then I will remember how to retrieve it. Rats!
     As I am writing this morning I am sitting in the eating area of my brother-in-law's and sister-in-law's house, Dave and Cathy Paullin, in Sheridan , Wy. I am looking out at the beautiful green hills and mountains with the blue sky, gorgeous! I am listening to meadowlarks chirping and a male pheasant calling out to find a new mate for the season.
      Well, on to the events of previous couple of days.  Jimmy, Brittany, Taylor, and Colton left for Maui from the Williston, ND, airport about 4:30 ND time on Tuesday.  I drove Jimmy's big rig back to their house and went to bed.  I had high hopes of leaving Fairview by noon but, alas it was after 3 PM.  I arrived in Billings about 4 hrs later and happy to report with no further speeding tickets!  Thanks Jimmy for the radar detector!  Actually, I was a good girl and kept my cruise control at only 5 miles over speed limit.
       Wednesday morning I woke and drove to Cabela's at 9 AM so I could get my pressed penny to add to my collection. (See picture below)  I have decided to collect these on my travels since they are more space efficient then any other gedunk I could collect along the way.  From Cabela's, it was onto Costco and then to the Yellowstone Art Museum.  This is downtown Billings and houses some interesting works.  They did a great job of involving the school children in art and displayed many of their works in the children's section.  Also on display were a number of local and nationally known artists works.  I must say my favorite was a huge wall mural done in black and white (charcoal or pencil, I think) of elephants in different comical poses. Within the poses could be found all sorts of critters. Hard to describe but very interesting!
      Next stop of the day was the Yellowstone County Museum.  This was a cabin that had belonged to a rancher, I think, and eventually was located to present location on edge of the Billings airport property.  It is a beautiful location sitting on top of the rimrock and looking out over Billings.  The museum is not large but holds many indian artifacts and also tells the story of several cattlemen who settled the area and whose ancesters still run their ranches.  Included in the display is an old roundup/cook wagon used fron 1893 to 1946.  It certainly outlived anything that is made today!
       Prior to Billings existence was a small town next door called Coulson.  Coulson sat on bank of the Yellowstone River and was a rough town in need of a sheriff.  The famous mountainman, "Liver-eating" Johnson took the job and ended up burying many a man in "Boothill" cemetery.  The most famous person that can be found there is Muggins Taylor who was the scout that carried the word of Custer's last stand to the world.  Today Coulson Park, where the town once stood can be found on the banks of the Yellowstone River.
      Billings was named after Frederick H. Billings who was the president of Northern Pacific Railroad.  Billings was developed as the western railhead for the railroad.  Once Billings took off, Coulson disappeared rather quickly with people moving to Billings from Coulson.
      Well, until the next entry, so long for now.
       I have heard that some of you had tried to respond to blog without much success. You can either go to my email (jan.paullin@gmail.com) or my facebook page.

                           
                                       My pressed penny from Cabela's!

 
                                   Yellowstone Art Museum in downtown Billings.

                       Panaramic view of Billings from the rimrock where airport sits.

Yellowstone County Museum located at Billings Airport.