Well, we made it home, safe and sound. We had a great trip down to Montana! We did lots of driving, sightseeing, swimming, shopping and eating. It was all good!
We left early Friday morning, and it was a beautiful day for driving! Thankfully, just before I fell asleep Thursday night, I remembered that we needed our passports. Wouldn't that have stunk....all the way to the border only to be turned away because I had forgotten them?! Here's our first view of the Rocky Mountains....always a welcome sight, and so incredible to behold!
South of Calgary, there was no snow (yippee!!) and it was warm and spring like! Here's some more of the landscape....so beautiful!
One of our favorite buttes just outside of Great Falls
Halfway to Montana, Art realized that he had "forgotten" all of his shirts which were hanging up directly above the suitcase. Coincidence? I'm still not sure.... So after we arrived in Great Falls, we checked into our hotel and did a little bit of shopping. Saturday we spent the days exploring Great Falls some more, which included....shopping. My man needed some clothes! Each night, after our adventures, we spent a few hours at the hotel pool, which the Girls loved. It's been fun to see their progress in the swimming department. They are are (finally) loving it!
Sunday, we decided to take a drive to Helena, the state capital. We've never been, and it was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive through a minor little mountain pass.
We made a few stops along the way, with a few little hikes to see some more of the scenery. There were people fishing in this river you see below us. In the middle of February. Crazy!
Helena was a lovely city, and we drove around the old part of town, drooling over their big, old, beautiful houses. As luck would have it, one of the homes we drove by was for sale, and they were having a tag sale. "Stop the van!!" I yelled.....and we got to take a look through this old home. Pretty amazing details and woodwork throughout. The asking price is only $599,000. Any takers?
The built ins were amazing - this was in the dining room.
I just love all of the details...the door handles, woodwork....Art and I were dreaming of all we could do with this home in a year...
I think I could live here....if it was moved from town to the middle of nowhere, that is!
This was one of our Girls favorite parts of the day..."looking at all the old mansions". Truth be told, it was one of my favorite parts of the day too. This, and Costco. Can I just say....Costco in the US is
a. mazing. Amazing!
I love the porch on this place...it looked to be stained cedar. I could eat my breakfast out there!
On Moday, we thought we'd take another drive in the opposite direction, towards White Sulphur Springs. Again, we've never been there. The day started out spectacular. We saw loads and loads of deer....probably close to 100!
We knew that we were going to drive through the Lewis & Clarke National Forest, but what we didn't realize was that it was such a climb in altitude through the forest...over the Little Belt Mountains. So, over the hills and through the woods we went...
With pretty crazy winter driving conditions....oops! So much for a relaxing drive. Thankfully, these conditions lasted for only about 1/2 hr., but man, was there ever a ton of snow! Lots of snowmobile tracks, and not much traffic. We arrived in White Sulphur Springs, and realized that it was President's Day, so not much was open. Only the gas station, in fact. Art felt that it was his duty to introduce our girls to ding dongs. They were quite thankful for the introduction....!
On the way home, we enjoyed the scenery, and met a really nice Montana State Trooper. He was so friendly that he pulled us over and chatted with us for probably close to 15 minutes.... thankfully, he only gave Art a warning, and after some more visiting, we were on our way. Really, he was one of the nicest law enforcement officers we've had the pleasure of dealing with!
Tuesday morning found us back on the road, this time, heading home. It was such a great time to get away, and enjoy some family time.
We asked the Girls what their favorite part of this trip was. Their answer? "The drives!"
It's funny to me that they loved it that much....sitting for hours on end in the van. I suppose, though, that it's all they know. Since our extended families live in BC, we've always taken road trips, and I think it's finally started to pay off!
Now, the next question is, "When are we going again?!"
2 comments:
I'd say next trip to nana & grandpa's!
Or maybe Fairmont? :-)
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