Our family portrait

Montana Trip–Zion National Park

The Montana week was over far too quickly.  Instead of our standard road-trip, we decided to detour through Zion National Park this trip – something Aaron and I haven’t done since our FIRST drive to Phoenix in 2000.

Zion is essentially a 20-mile windy road through the red mountains.  There’s an exceptionally cool tunnel, creek-bottom, and hiking opportunities.  We’ve never spent enough time exploring the park and will definitely need to go back.  For this trip, we were happy parking the car and hiking a quick 1-mile trail to a scenic lookout point.

 

  

Montana Trip–Day in Red Lodge

We cruised over to Red Lodge for a quick over-nighter on July 5th.  I wish we could have stayed longer but it was a great visit.

While we were hoping to meet baby Clara, Brad and Charlotte had just left for a 3-week trip to Europe.  Our timing was horrible – we’ll just have to plan another ‘meet the baby’ trip!

Overall, Red Lodge was rainy and chilly, a welcome change for us and a great excuse to huddle inside.  We ordered pizza, played cards and dice, and dozed on the couch.  Elayna even passed out on Aaron’s lap – something she’s never done before!  The deer were touring the neighborhood and Elayna had a great time splashing in the rain puddles.  Very fun for all!

    

Montana Trip–4th of July

It has been years since we celebrated the 4th of July – and somehow nothing is more patriotic to me than watermelon on the front porch overlooking my parent’s ranch. 

We chased cows.  We barbequed.  We ate watermelon and chased kitties.  We lit sparklers and my mom sang the 4th of July song.  We planted a tree.  And we did all of it with a wealth of family and friends.

     

Montana Trip–floating the Missouri

Unlike past years, I’m not as enthusiastic about keeping the blog updated … sorry.

Also unlike past years, we weren’t able to spend a lot of time in Montana this summer.  Unlike last year with our 5-week stint, we were only able to get away for a week this year.  We spent the entire 4th of July week soaking up Montana hospitality.

After spending 2 days in the car, we were very happy to spend 2 days on the Missouri River.  On Sunday, we had a lovely family picnic with my Mom and her friend Tammy.  Elayna practiced her rock throwing, Aaron dozed in the shade, and we all relaxed on the water.  

On Monday, we escaped for a few hours with my brother Nathan to kayak the Missouri.  This was another first for Aaron and I and completely addictive.  We loved the inflatable kayaks (thanks again to Tammy!).  We loved the relaxed pace of the Missouri.  And we loved the beautiful sunshine and Montana afternoon.

  

All-in-all, a great start to the week!!