Day 7 – A Day with my Niece

On Top of Mt. Helena with my Niece

I wanted to dedicate a day with my one and only niece from my husband’s side, who I will call SB, short for Social Butterfly because she is definitely that, including one of the most well-rounded, smart, tall and beautiful 12 year olds I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She is such an amazing girl in more ways than I can explain. I gave her a list of options for things we could do with our day together such as a nice lunch, movie, shopping or hiking, and she chose hiking. So we grabbed the dogs, our backpack filled with water, sunscreen and snacks, had a pit stop at Great Harvest to grab a sandwich for lunch (their freshly baked bread is incredible), which was added to the backpack, and made our way to Mt. Helena for our hike. Yep, it’s my second trip up there this visit, but she had never hiked up that mountain. I know…..I was shocked when I heard that she hadn’t been up there, considering she’s lived in Helena her entire life, but sometimes you never stop to be a tourist in your own town. Once again, a beautiful hike and I think she enjoyed it immensely, especially eating our lunch at the top with that spectacular view. After our hike, she raved about this Frozen Yogurt place called Mo’ Berry, so that’s where we went next. She ordered the Green Tea Frozen Yogurt with no toppings, I had a bite and she was right. It was really good! Following that, we went on a little shopping spree to get her some new shoes at Famous Footwear. I don’t get to see her that much, so I wonderful thought a little Auntie Spoiling would do the trick to make up for our little time together. I was splendidly surprised with her shopping technique, which is exactly like mine……quick. She found the shoes she wanted within 5 minutes; we got some socks, and were out the door in no time. That’s my kind of shopping……I despise lingering. We then made our way home, so I could shower and make our grocery list because she wanted to help me make dinner that night. I suggested tacos, mostly because Montanans don’t get to eat good Tex-Mex, she agreed, so we went to the store, bought our ingredients, and made some delicious tacos with a side Charred Corn, Tomato and Black Bean Salad. Finally, SB made a wonderful dessert with some of my leftover strawberry frosting (from cupcakes that I made for the weekend in Seely), tortillas, chocolate pudding, and chocolate sauce. Sounds crazy, but they were really very good! The day was remarkable, and I was so glad to share it with SB.

Charred Corn Tomato Black Bean Salad

Tacos

SB's Dessert

Great Harvest

Rating: Yummm…..Impressive

Location: 1133 Helena Avenue, Helena, MT‎

Category: Bakery

Favorites: Dakota Bread, Sandwiches

Pricing: Inexpensive

Comments:

Great Harvest has some of the best baked bread I’ve ever tasted, and you have the ability to buy their flour in the store, along with a few other goodies. The employees are so incredibly nice, offering a free very large sample of your choosing, which ranges from different flavored breads of the day to cookies. I absolutely love their multigrain Dakota bread because it’s so hearty, nutty, and good for you, so I ordered that for my peanut butter honey sandwich. SB chose the Dakota bread as well, but with Turkey and Swiss. It ended up being the perfect meal to enjoy on top of Mt. Helena!