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I've been wanting to take my family to Montana for a long time. John has never been!?!?!? Seeing Deb and Gray in November (and meeting their beautiful girls who are so close in age to Cal and Hazey) inspired me to pull the trigger and by tickets for a two week visit back in December. Over the course of the next six months, I tried to put together a fun trip for the me, John and the kids. Just thinking about the trip got me so excited! However, it did take some coordinating/planning. We decided to fly in and out of Salt Lake City (it was cheapest), rent a car, and do a loop around Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. We are so fortunate to have friends (and students) to visit along the way. Even so, I was still a little nervous about how it would all turn out.
First Stop: Jackson, WY
We had a hectic flight out to Salt Lake (three hour delay out of Burlington and a sprint to our gate at JFK), but we arrived and to our surprise, so did our luggage. We stayed the night at a cheap hotel and then got on our way to Jackson, WY the next morning. Town was busy and it was rainy, so we went straight up to Moose (a town at the southern end of Teton National Park). I've backcountry skied around there and was excited to show John and the kids Dornan's (a great resort/bar). We got some obscured, but clear views of the Grand Teton and it got me fired up to someday climb that with the family.
On our way to our hotel up at the Jackson Hole Ski Resort, we drove through Teton National Park and saw this beautiful owl. It wasn't cheap, but nothing is in this town and it was the only real hotel we had to stay in for our whole trip. It was fun to be right on the mountain. I got to go for a gorgeous run on the mountain with wildflowers everywhere-- indian paint brush, lupin, asters, arnaca, forget-me-nots, and even columbine. It made me so nostalgic for the west (even though it was cold and a bit rainy)
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| Hazen standing in front of the Jackson Hole Inn |
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| Fortunately, the pool was heated! It was cold! |
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| Hanging at the Snake River Brewery in Jackson |
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| Columbine |
We woke up all fired up to go out for our "free" breakfast and Hazey quickly made it clear that he was not well. Apparently, he had been guzzling the hot tub water the day before (and there was an odd sign that said, "Please do not swim in this hot tub if you've had diarrhea in the past two weeks"). In any case, he proceeded to barf (ughh!). John, had conveniently arranged to go for a mountain bike ride with two of his old students, so I was left with the barfer for a few hours.
Fortunately, he rebounded pretty quickly (he only barfed four times) and we were able to proceed to Bozeman.
2nd Stop- BOZEMAN, MT
The drive to Bozeman from Jackson was about five hours . We got rerouted because of a tractor trailer accident along the Gallatin River, but it was a beautiful drive, so it wasn't a big deal. Plus, the earth science geek in me was fascinated to drive by Earthquake Lake which was created by the Hebgen Lake earthquake in 1959 (a 7.5 magnitude).
I met Deb and Gray when I as in graduate school in Montana almost twenty years ago. They were college sweethearts. Deb was in my EVST program and Gray was working as a carpenter. They are both east coasters, but Deb's parents bought a ranch in White Sulfur Springs, MT right around the time we started graduate school. My entry to Montana was rather abrupt and they were a wonderful warm couple who helped make my landing smooth. We ended up living very near each other, getting dogs around the same time, watering each others gardens, and skiing and hiking together a bunch. Upon graduation, they moved to Bozeman and I ended up moving to Vermont. We did stay in touch, but hadn't seen each other in at least ten years. That said, they opened their home and hearts to us as if no time had elapsed. We were treated to an amazing four days in their beautiful home.
When Deb, Gray, Lucy and Rosie came to visit us last November, it was like no time had elapsed. Our kids got along great and their was an immediate mutual friendship with John.
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| Fast friends |
They have an amazing home in Kelly Canyon-- about 5 minutes outside of town on 40 acres. Gray is a builder and he built an incredible garage/in-law apartment and did a major renovation on the house that they bought years and years ago.
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| the view from their house |
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| The "littles" and the lupine |
We spent the first day exploring their property and taking visiting Fairy Lake
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| Hikers |
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| Looking for fish at Fairy Lake |
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| Fairy Lake |
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| Too cold to jump! |
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| All loaded up in the Suburban! |
After our adventure to Fairy Lake (and narrowly escaping a thunderstorm), we hit Bozeman's "Art Hop". Bozeman is a super fun/hip town and we got to catch up with a few of John's past Outing Club Students.
Deb is an amazing homesteaders! Ever since I met her, when she was 25 years old, she was canning and processing home grown food, cooking, and eating well. She's continued to do that and some. She has a beautiful garden with vegetables and fruit and chickens. All the food she prepares is amazing and fresh. She's an inspiration.
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| Friends! |
We spent Saturday at Chico Hot springs and playing along the Yellowstone River. Our old babysitter, Erin (who now occasionally babysit's Deb's kids) joined us with her boyfriend for the day and we all had so much fun!
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| the water is 95 degrees |
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| Playing Manatee with Thompson |
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| Lunch at Chico |
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| Lounging by the Yellowstone |
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| Cute Tubers |
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| Rope Tubing |
We even got to do a little hike with views of the Paradise Valley.
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| Loving the Paradise Valley! |
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| The Paradise Valley with Erin and Thompson |
On Sunday, the boys went for a mountain bike ride while Deb and I explored Bozeman with the kids. And it turns out, Deb is good friends with my old friend Sid Williamson who grew up sailing with me in CT and went to Middlebury with me. He's an ER doc and has two cute kids so we got to have dinner with them.
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| Deb and Gray's "hot tub"-- a new horse watering trough with hot water! |
Stop 3- Missoula, MT
I haven't been to Missoula in over 10 years. I loved the three years I spent there while I was in graduate school. It was an amazing place to be--- I moved to Missoula with so much of my life up in the air and I was immediately welcomed and enveloped with a sense of community. In 1997, my wonderful dad drove out with me and I really didn't have a plan. I was fresh off of a break up and I needed somewhere to go and something to do. I was hoping that I could take some classes towards a Master's in Environmental Studies (EVST), but I'd applied really late in the summer and no one could guarantee anything. Fortunately, everything worked out. I got into the EVST program within days of starting classes, made some of the best friends I have to this day, and got involved in some really cool activities.
My dear friend, Stephanie, stayed in touch over the years. She spent a year in the Connecticut River Valley, so we were able to reconnect years ago. She is now a doctor in Missoula, married to a cool ultra marathoner/lawyer, and has an absolutely adorable little son named Colt (he's 18 months old). The kids took to Colt like pigs to mud! Steph let us camp out in her basement and as soon as the kids heard Colt's little footsteps up stairs, they would ask if they could go play with him. We also got to get my favorite pizza at Bridge Street Pizza. So fun that some things never change!
While I went on a great mountain bike ride with my old friend, Dave Morris, John introduced himself to the University of Montana's Director of Outdoor Programs (who is a friend of Stephanie's) and got all sorts of jealous about their facilities. And we all got to go for a swim in the Rattlesnake River.
And my dear friends Kristie and Jon offered to have a barbecue with a bunch of old friends and their families. Turns out, Kristie was one of John's first Outing Club students at UVM when he first got his job! It was as if no time had passed and so fun to introduce all our kids!
Before hitting the road to Sun Valley, I had the kids walk around campus with me-- below they are in front of the building where I spent so much of my time while a student in the EVST program.
Being in Missoula certainly made me nostalgic, but it also made me so happy to be able to share this special place with my family. My years in Missoula were pivotal. I needed to live in the west and this was the perfect town for me. I loved it, but I always felt a little bit like an outsider-- like I'd never really be a Montanan. It's so cool to see so many friends that have made it work for them. I'm glad we still have friends to visit.... and who knows? Maybe Cal or Hazey will end up there some day!
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