I, too, live in northeastern Montana on the high plains, roughly 10 miles south of the Canadian border as the crow flies. HC Miniatures and I live less than 25 miles apart by road, just a short drive out here. We both enjoy LB enormously!
Most people NOT familiar with our state tend to think of it as mountainous everywhere. Not so. The topography is quite diverse.
We think of our area as "treeless mountains", and it is quite beautiful. The colors are amazing, and the golden clarity of the light is an artist's dream. (Truly hope no one discovers this fact and turns us into another artistic colony like what happened to Taos, NM).
One of the charming features is the LACK of dense population. It is a trade-off for the lack of convenience. The nearest grocery store is 30 miles to the east, and the two I frequent are 70 miles southwest of here. Too, the nearest Wal-Mart store is in another state, 160 miles from here, minimum.
There is a saying at the village 18 miles west of our place. "Opheim, Montana. It isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here". In fact, just two or three years ago, you could purchase teeshirts and sweatshirts there with that on them.
SuziB