Montana, NOT Big Cities and Malls but Beautiful Towns and Sky with Author, Constance Bretes

If you’re looking for big cities, lots of malls and large stores, Montana is NOT the state to go to. While you may find those in a few cities, Montana is made up of small sleepy towns, ghost towns, old mining towns, 85+ beautiful mountains and fresh air. This is why it’s called “Big Sky Country.”

Before we moved to Montana a few years ago, it was our vacation destination for ten years. Besides big wide open spaces, Montana has a wealth of history. My husband and I have three things we love to do. Visit old ghost towns, taking the back roads into the mountains, digging for sapphires or panning for gold.

Situated between Boulder and Basin Montana, Comet, Montana is one such ghost town, named after the Comet Mine, developed in 1883 and abandoned in 1941. The old building structures at the top of this mountain reverberates of life is the past. The drive up to Comet went alongside a fast flowing river. The old gold mine and river still sparkles with a hint that there is still gold to be found.

I live in Basin, Montana. The town has a school, post office, pizza place, and a restaurant/bar. Basin has a history steeped in mining gold. Established in the 1870s, at one time, they boast of a population of around 1500 people. The last census report for the town indicated there was now a population of 255. Basin has three closed mines, and an old rail tunnel. The rail tracks have long been removed, but you can still see the rail line and the No. 7 tunnel from interstate 15.

 If you don’t care for old mining and ghost towns, take a visit to Jefferson City, and visit the Tizer Botanic Gardens, opened May through September.

The gardens are a spectacular site with flowers blooming the whole season. Back when we were just visiting the state every summer, we went to Tizer Gardens and was walking along the path of the creek. I went to sit down on a little bench next to the river and my foot slipped on the rocks. I slid into the creek along with my husband, jumping in behind me to save me. When we got up in the creek, he gave me a push up the embankment, through the wood chips, and after I stood up, I had wood chips all over me from head to toe.

One of our favorite thigs to do is to take a leisure drive on the forest roads into the mountains and forests around us and one such drive led us into Elkhorn Mountains, and a little waterfall on Little Boulder Creek rarely seen by the public. The terrain is rough, and should be driven by either a four-wheel drive vehicle or an ATV.

One must never forget the Lewis and Clark Expeditions and take the Lewis and Clark Trail across Montana. There are hundreds of sites to visit, such as Gates of the Mountains, Pompeys Pilar, Yellowstone River and Missouri River and much much more. If you love mountains, Montana has the best, from Glacier Mountains, to the Rocky Mountains and the views are spectacular.

I love the state of Montana and almost all of my contemporary romances are set in the state from Jordan, to Colstrip, to Philipsburg. I have a new book out as of February 18, 2017, Blue As Sapphires. Inspiration for this book came from the old town of Philipsburg, Montana, Gem Mountains and Rock Creek River, located nearby.

Currently, I am working on several works in progress. Elkhorn In The Moonlight is based around the fictitious town of Mason. It includes a hike in the Elkhorn Mountains in the late Spring, and even a snow storm, which is not unheard of in Montana. Another story I’ve been working on is Rocky River Gold, a murder mystery in a small town in Montana.

In addition to my writing, I enjoy making jewelry, and basket weaving. Every month in my newsletter, I feature one to three authors and a giveaway of one of their books. I also feature something that I made, either a basket or jewelry, for one lucky winner. If you’d like to enter for a chance to win one of these, you can go to my website at http://www.constancebretes.com/news--things.html to enter the rafflecoptors, and while there, you can join my mailing list and each month receive my newsletters with lots of information of what is going on in my life as well as the giveaways.

Media Links:

Website: http://constancebretes.com

Blog: http://www.constancebretes.com/connies-blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Connie-Bretes-385409614906182/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConstanceBretes

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7737457.Constance_Bretes

Constance Bretes is an author of contemporary romance and suspense. 
After spending many years imagining stories, she began her writing about ten years ago at the encouragement of her husband. 
Her romance books are often set in different parts of the country, but her favorite site is Montana.
She’s married to her best friend and resides in Montana with him and a houseful of cats. 
When she’s not writing and researching for her next book, she can be found basket weaving, reading, or just plain spending time with her husband.

I am giving away one handmade necklace to one lucky person; I’ll draw from the comments. Be sure to enter a form of contact so I can find you for delivery.

(all info supplied by author)