Exploring Butte.
The day didn’t start well for Lynn — the toothache was getting worse. She was up at 06:45 and went for her morning walk at 08:30, but the pain pushed her to find a local dentist who could see her today instead of Monday. Thankfully, she found one in town with an opening.
We left at 10:30 for the 11:00 appointment. The verdict: an infected tooth. Old fillings had cracked, letting bacteria in. The dentist laid out two options: extraction, which could be done quickly without affecting our travel plans, or a root canal with a crown, which would take days or even weeks and delay the trip. With no decision made yet, Lynn left with antibiotics and plans to choose on Monday. Tooth #2 isn’t a major tooth, so losing it wouldn’t be catastrophic — just a gap. The dentist was straightforward and helpful, and we’ll return next week.
While waiting for the prescription, we stopped at the Butte Visitors Center, then explored Uptown Butte — part of one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the country thanks to its thousands of preserved historic buildings. We drove past old brick storefronts, the Copper King Mansion, and several mine headframes while waiting for the pharmacy to call. What should have taken an hour stretched into a five‑hour ordeal thanks to transmission errors at Walgreens.
With time to spare, we headed to Mountain View Cemetery, where Evel Knievel is buried — a must‑see for Kirk, the lifelong motorcycle fan. The grounds were surprisingly captivating, with a blend of very old and newer sections, and headstones all tilted back toward the mountain in a relaxed, reclining pose. Kind of eerie. We probably have way too many cemetery pictures but the old headstones were fascinating as well as some of the cylindrical and other odd shaped tombstones.
By 5:00 p.m., the meds were finally ready. We picked them up and then headed to Shawn O’Donnell’s Irish Pub in Uptown Butte for dinner. Kirk’s Guinness arrived with a copper mine headframe design in the foam (very cool and artsy), and the food was excellent: clam chowder, Shepherd’s Pie, beef stew, and a standout bread pudding that now tops our list.
A little after 6:00 p.m., we wandered through downtown and explored more of Butte. We found additional copper mine headframes and made a stop at the Granite Mountain Memorial, a quiet and powerful tribute to the 168 miners who died in the 1917 Granite Mountain–Speculator Mine disaster — the deadliest hard‑rock mining accident in U.S. history. The overlook faces the old headframe and the mining landscape, with panels that tell the story of the tragedy and honor the men who never made it out.
On our way back to the RV, we spotted a few deer and even tried to track down Evel Knievel’s childhood home — no luck there.
We rolled into the RV around 7:30 p.m., just as rain, thunder, and lightning swept in. The rest of the evening was spent reviewing photos, blogging, watching TV, and enjoying yet another beautiful sunset and rainbow.
A day of toothaches, delays, history, and unexpected beauty.
Weather – High 83*, Low 58*. Winds 2-9/14 mph. Rain = 70% (0.15″). No humidity.
Traffic – None.
Food – Shawn O’Donnell’s Irish Pub – Excellent.
Notable – New dentist. Uptown Butte. Copper mine head frames.
