A Real Hot Mess: You Went Where On Vacation?

Remember in the last post how I mentioned that there weren't any grand plans or great adventures planned for the kids for the summer? Well I was accurate because I said kids because Grant and I took a little vacation of our own, wahoo!! Thanks to GG and Pap this is the second year that we have been able to run away for a week in order to get a recharge and this year it was to Montana. Yes, I said Montana. Never in a million years did I imagine going out to the Wild West for vacation, but WOW am I glad that we did. After you see all of the pictures that we took you will be looking up flights to go out there too.

I have to start by saying that I was a little nervous as we were arriving because this girl packed shorts and as we were flying in all we could see was snow on the mountains, thankfully my weather app was right on because it was in the 80s during the day and cooled off to the 60s at night.

Second nervous moment of the trip...directions. We flew into Bozeman and had a one hour drive along the Madison River to get to Ennis, MT. We were off to a great start until I realized that a majority of our path didn't have cell service. Thankfully the house was literally 4 turns from the airport though they were really long roads.

Ennis Lake

We spent the week at Rich's parents house, but we were missing one really important person, Leah. I really thought when my phone rang a few nights before our trip that she was calling to tell me what to pack or something about the trip not that she was headed into an emergency appendectomy. I wanted to cry for her and me because this was our annual trip together and we all missed her terribly. Good thing that Rich did keep his promise and was our entertainment for the week and I got to tell unedited Leah stories for our new friends Genny and Zane. Love you Leah!

Our view for the week was incredible and yes that is snow that you see.

Our nightly visitor.

After Rich and his family welcomed us with open arms and fed us a great steak dinner it was time to relax, put our feet up and enjoy the scenery. We couldn't stay up too late though because the next morning Grant and I were going whitewater rafting.
We left from Beartrap Canyon on the Madison River which ran to the Warm Springs Creek fishing access, which gave us ten miles of pristine Montana views. There were three main rapids one of which was called The Kitchen Sink and was a category 4. I was a little nervous when they made us get out of the raft and hike along the river to get a good view and to determine whether we wanted to do it or go around. Of course we did it and afterwards we wanted to do it again, but that wasn't possible and it was time for lunch along the river. The pictures are what we took on my phone and there was also a man in our raft that was taking pictures with a real camera, he was generous enough to send them to us after the trip. Oh and he didn't go through the biggest rapid with us so we got pictures of us going through which was great for us.

As I go through and tell you about our little day trips I have to say that the best part of the trip was when we would get home in the late afternoons. Each night we would take turns cooking and then spend the rest of the evening sitting on the deck taking in the views and listening to music we haven't thought about in the last decade.

Road to the cabin.

There it is, our peaceful place for the week unless Rich picked the music.

Every afternoon there was a windstorm and rain that would roll in and out within an hour.

The night sky and yes that is a real shooting star. Thanks for the picture Zane.

Next up...4th of July. Who would have thought that there would be a traffic jam in Ennis, MT? I am so glad that we didn't miss this sight to be seen because the best part of parade is debatable. I'm torn between my Smokey the Bear sighting, the hippies or all of the cowboys.

and these are the people of Ennis at least on 4th of July...

Nope, this princess on a horse with matching blue stripes was not in the parade.

I love cowboys, they make me smile.

This man sat next to us at lunch and was so happy.

Honorary members for the day.

Want to take a hike? We did, all the way to the Lewis and Clark Cavern which despite it's name was not actually discover by Lewis and Clark. I'll leave the history lesson out of this and move on to say that it was really hot on our hike to the entrance, but worth the amazing view. This wasn't the nicest cave that we have been in, but it was the largest. I wish that my photos had turned out clearer, but we weren't supposed to use the flash because of the bats. Those bats tried to get a little too friendly with us without the flash on so I don't really want to know what would have happened if we weren't following the advice given.

A little break on our way up.

Entrance to the cave.

You can't tell from the picture, but when you were there you could see the ruts that remain from the travelers along the Jefferson River. I can not imagine having all of my belongings in a wagon trekking through tough terrain and snow in search of food and a home. I'll be the first to admit that I like my modern day amenities especially when it comes to transportation.

Steps in the cave and all that I could think about were countertops.

We were bored with the guide so it was time to make our own fun.

This was the downhill hike back to the park entrance. You need to look really close to see where the two paths come together and that was the parking lot.

Have you ever seen something, been somewhere or just had an odd feeling as a whole? Well this is one of those places for me, Three Forks, MT. First we drive into the town on a Saturday afternoon and there was no one on the street and I mean literally no one. We get out of the car to see the Sacajawea Hotel, but first detoured to the bar downstairs. Oh wow, I usually like hole in the wall places, but this was just too much. The only other people there were in their PJs bellied up to the bar and there was this awful feeling that I needed to get out of there. After a few beers, appetizers and enough people watching I finally told everyone about my odd feeling and surprisingly everyone except Genny had the same premonition so to speak. We darted upstairs to check out the inside and then drove off as fast as we could.

Photo credit to Zane

On our way home there were these incredible bright yellow fields of canola, stunning in person.

A little evening shenanigans for your entertainment.

Not bad

Zane and his new toy, can't wait to see his pictures.

Ahhh Moose Drool!!

A blast from the past AND the Wild Wild West. There is a historical city called Virginia City that used to have 10,000 citizens and now has 200. In the 1800s this was a bustling city with gold and all, today it is a touristy area with throwback food and gifts. Though these buildings have been updated it was fun to walk around and pretend for a little while.