Lilacs, magnificent old houses, and the Center of the Universe

I'm just back from a lilac-scented stroll down a quiet, wide, tree-lined boulevard of fabulous big, old houses, all in pristine condition. And where might this be? Downtown Billings, Montana, where tonight I am staying at the Dude Rancher Lodge. The Lodge, with it's knotty-pine-panelled rooms and carpeting custom-made to show local cattle brands, is on the national register of historic places, as are a few of the houses I passed. It's not fancy, and a bit worn, but clean and serviceable and just a couple of blocks from the center of downtown.

Downtown Billings seems alive and well, with restaurants, galleries, and at least one espresso place, unfortunately closed in the morning (Sunday.)

And I barely missed the annual tour of historic homes, which ended at 4pm today. Perhaps the lawns are not always that well manicured....

I was so tired at the end of yesterday I wondered whether I could possibly survive another 4 or 5 days of driving. But even though I drove further today, it seemed easier, and I once again started fantasizing about staying on the road for months on end, by car or by bike. I like stopping for coffee in mid-afternoon and using hotels.come or tripadvisor to reserve a place to stay an hour or two down the road and then letting Scout tell me how to get there. It's possible I could find a cheaper place by just waiting until I got there, but it would likely be someplace along the freeway on the outskirts of town, in walmartland. I much prefer to stay somewhere with more character.

An important fact I neglected to mention about Wallace, Idaho: It is the center of the universe.

 http://wallace-id.com/centeroftheuniverse.html

Since we know that Fremont, in Seattle, is the center of the KNOWN universe, what conclusions can we draw from this? That people in Wallace know more than people in Fremont? That the diameter of the universe is at least 400 miles larger than Fremont thinks it is?

While we're pondering that, here are a few pictures from yesterday:

Crossing the mighty Columbia

Wild horses above the columbia

Mailbox in Wallace. I've seen the airmail on top thing before, but note the email monitor in the middle.

a ponderable

The Cobblestone, in Wallace ID