Montana

We're back from beautiful Montana. It was everything I thought it would be. Big sky country indeed. Beautiful meadows filled with lush grass and pretty wild flowers, green hills rolling up to snowy mountain peaks, tumbling streams and sparkling rivers meandering through big broad valleys. Not only was it scenic, it was interesting too. It's mining and logging past has littered the state with ghost towns and rickety trestles.

We logged around 1700 miles over the week and needless to say the inside of our car is littered with puffs and crackers while an entomologist would be proud of our front grill. Oh yes, wonderful bugs were hatching in Montana much to the delight of the trout and fly fishing enthusiasts. Besides squashed bugs and stale crackers, we brought home a fully fledged toddler. While in Montana Lilli switched from mostly crawling to mainly walking, sprouted 3 molars and began to feed herself with a spoon and fork. She slept little and ate even less over the week due to the constant entertainment provided by her many cousins. We discovered that when pushed to exhaustion she will sleep in a car seat, a backpack or a tent. The three of us even managed a few short hikes and avoided being mauled by grizzlies. No, we didn't even see one. Our only wildlife sighting was graceful white-tailed deer flickering through a stand of aspen. And birds. Every day at the cabin in Lolo I was enchanted by the bird song all around.

Since our trip was so successful we're now planning future hikes, road trips and vacations and I already have a long list of places to visit. In fact we hope to try a short hike at the pass this weekend.