Billings, MT (day 1)

Billings, MT

August 3: Post 3 - I arrived in Billings early enough to go to the City Hall (or what I thought was the City Hall) to get a zoning map. I found the building without any problems. It was actually the library, with a city office annex in the upper floors. I must have written down the address for the Planning Department, because it was in the annex, but they had to send me to the county courthouse to get a zoning map. This was right across from City Hall a few blocks down. The photo, as you can tell, is of City Hall, which I didn't have to go into at all. I didn't get a picture of the front of the courthouse (sorry), which is where the GIS department was that could print the map.

They were going to have to run one fresh, so instead of waiting I went out to find the Skypoint art installation (or whatever you call it) and got some pictures. It looks interesting, however, I gather people are rather confused as to it's point. It does come in handy at blocking out the sun at the intersection, but is difficult to see as a whole because there are buildings and trees and skyways obstructing the view. The picture I posted is probably the clearest one I got.

After finishing with Skypoint, I went to look for an Art Gallery that was listed nearby. I found it but, as expected, it was closed. It's on the list for tomorrow. Then I headed back to the GIS department. Although the printing was supposed to only take about 20 minutes, it was still going when I got there. I think I waited another 30 minutes or so, but it finally finished. Someone said they had just installed new software. From my experience with various Microsoft products, I understand.



Here's a slideshow of the photos from my first day in Billings, Montana.

Anyway, after that it was time to find my hotel and retire for the night.

TTFN

Addendum: OK, I forgot about this. Along with many other cities (Great Falls - Buffalo, LA - Angels), Billings (or maybe Montana) is doing a painted animal art project. Here is a horse. I didn't get a picture of the Bighorn Sheep off to the right. It's nice, but I'm starting to get sick of them.