Two weekends ago now, I ventured back to my homeland of Montana for a family reunion and a general escape from the city. My time was jam-packed full of visiting, camping, playing cards, and above all, EATING. There was so much going on last week, that I decided to give you a day-by-day breakdown. Here it goes:
Friday, August 14 – Flew into Bozeman, Montana the same day as President Obama! I was a little afraid of flight delays, but didn’t have anything to worry about. I did see Air Force One when my dad and I drove to Big Timber for the family reunion. Got into the Big Timber fairgrounds to see all the family. There were approximately 98 people that showed up (!), and that isn’t even close to all of them. Pheww. It was really good to see my aunts and uncles (especially my Aunt Mickey from Denver who is an avid reader of the blog. Hi Mickey!).
Saturday, August 15 – Floated the Yellowstone River in the morning. The water was pretty cold, but we had a great time. The Crazy Mountains were a beautiful backdrop for the trip. Ate and played cards the rest of the evening.
Sunday, August 16 – After mass performed by one of my mom’s cousins, we cleaned up the fairgrounds and moved out. Spent the rest of the day doing what we do best, playing cards and eating!
Monday, August 17 – Hung out in the morning with my Aunt Norene and Grandma. Drove back to Manhattan in the afternoon and proceeded out to Townsend for my cousin Shawn’s 4-year-old’s birthday party. It was a nice coincidence that this side of my family was getting together while I was in town. Very nice to catch-up with everyone!
Tuesday, August 18 – My mom had the day off so we went to lunch with an old friend of mine, Kendra VanAbbema. We shared a local favorite, MacKenzie River Pizza, and chatted. Mom also took me out to her office at the landfill to meet her coworkers. In the afternoon, I had a phone interview with another company. The rest of the evening was spent visiting my friend Bria, playing cards with my parents, and relaxing.
Wednesday, August 19 – I picked up my childhood bf, Jayme, bright and early for a morning of rafting the Gallatin River! I have always wanted to try out the “Mad Mile” and this was finally my opportunity. After putting on our very sexy ‘splash suits,’ Jayme and I took off on the boat with our guide, who turned out to be a college friend of Jayme’s, and a family of four from Houston. The Mad Mile was a blast and I highly recommend it. Our boat only got stuck once, and I’m totally blaming that on the guide. J After the rafting trip, Jayme and I cleaned up at her house and took off for camping up the Gallatin Canyon. Jayme rented a forest service cabin, and along with her friend Mindy and Mindy’s friends Reegan and Andrew, we had a blast telling stories around the campfire, making s’mores, and enjoying the outdoors.
Thursday, August 20 – My dad left early this morning for his fishing trip in Alaska! I didn’t get to see him off today, but I look forward to the pictures. As for me, we woke up pleasantly at the cabin and made breakfast on the fire. Mindy and Reegan took off on their four-wheelers, while Jayme and I read books. However, things started going south as the weather warmed up and the multitude of beetles came out! Let me tell you, they were EVERYWHERE! Flying around, landing on your clothes, getting in the food, crawling on the ground. It was just disgusting. After lunch, we decided we couldn’t take much more of the bugs and made a plan to forego another night camping, and instead head out to Bozeman’s ‘Music on Main.’ Music on Main was tons of fun. It sort of felt like a high school reunion. I saw so many people. Seeing some of Renee’s friends at the bar did make me feel quite old, but I did enjoy meeting up with an old friend, Joel, and going dance at KO’s. I actually didn’t get home until 3am, and I haven’t done that in a long, long time.
Friday, August 21 – I needed to sleep in a bit this morning, due to the activities of Thursday night. However, when I recovered, I went out to lunch with Bria at MacKenzie River Pizza again… I just can’t get enough! My mom got off early from work and we ventured to Bozeman to catch the movie, The Time Traveller’s Wife. It was a pretty good show, personally I love Eric Bana. After debating whether or not to movie hop, haha, mom and I headed back to Manhattan to meet up with our neighbor, Lisa. About 9:30pm, mom and realized we had completely skipped dinner, and decided to get finger steaks from the Oasis, our small town’s famous steakhouse.
Saturday, August 22 – Mom and I went shopping in the morning on our way back to Big Timber to hang out with family. My cousin, Jeff, returned from Ghana where he is working for the next year, and everyone was eager to see him. We made ribs for dinner and played tons of cards, per our usual. Seeing a theme yet? Oddly enough, my Aunt Norene and I realized we were taking the same flight to Seattle (she continued on to Portland) and decided we would try to move our seats so we may sit together. However, when we went to check in, our seats were already directly next to each other! Small, small world.
Sunday, August 23 – After mass and a large breakfast, we got in a few more card games and headed back to Bozeman for the airport. My aunt and I caught an afternoon flight and I was back to Seattle in time to enjoy the Texas Chile Gus prepared for my arrival!
Overall, my trip back to Montana was a much needed break from job searching and Seattle’s fast pace. Now it’s back to the job hunt, and looking forward to Jayme’s visit to Seattle over Labor Day. Should be fun!! Below are several pictures, and if you follow this link, you can see them all: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083479&id=28201408&l=4c39ceee7d
Friday, August 14 – Flew into Bozeman, Montana the same day as President Obama! I was a little afraid of flight delays, but didn’t have anything to worry about. I did see Air Force One when my dad and I drove to Big Timber for the family reunion. Got into the Big Timber fairgrounds to see all the family. There were approximately 98 people that showed up (!), and that isn’t even close to all of them. Pheww. It was really good to see my aunts and uncles (especially my Aunt Mickey from Denver who is an avid reader of the blog. Hi Mickey!).
Saturday, August 15 – Floated the Yellowstone River in the morning. The water was pretty cold, but we had a great time. The Crazy Mountains were a beautiful backdrop for the trip. Ate and played cards the rest of the evening.
Sunday, August 16 – After mass performed by one of my mom’s cousins, we cleaned up the fairgrounds and moved out. Spent the rest of the day doing what we do best, playing cards and eating!
Monday, August 17 – Hung out in the morning with my Aunt Norene and Grandma. Drove back to Manhattan in the afternoon and proceeded out to Townsend for my cousin Shawn’s 4-year-old’s birthday party. It was a nice coincidence that this side of my family was getting together while I was in town. Very nice to catch-up with everyone!
Tuesday, August 18 – My mom had the day off so we went to lunch with an old friend of mine, Kendra VanAbbema. We shared a local favorite, MacKenzie River Pizza, and chatted. Mom also took me out to her office at the landfill to meet her coworkers. In the afternoon, I had a phone interview with another company. The rest of the evening was spent visiting my friend Bria, playing cards with my parents, and relaxing.
Wednesday, August 19 – I picked up my childhood bf, Jayme, bright and early for a morning of rafting the Gallatin River! I have always wanted to try out the “Mad Mile” and this was finally my opportunity. After putting on our very sexy ‘splash suits,’ Jayme and I took off on the boat with our guide, who turned out to be a college friend of Jayme’s, and a family of four from Houston. The Mad Mile was a blast and I highly recommend it. Our boat only got stuck once, and I’m totally blaming that on the guide. J After the rafting trip, Jayme and I cleaned up at her house and took off for camping up the Gallatin Canyon. Jayme rented a forest service cabin, and along with her friend Mindy and Mindy’s friends Reegan and Andrew, we had a blast telling stories around the campfire, making s’mores, and enjoying the outdoors.
Thursday, August 20 – My dad left early this morning for his fishing trip in Alaska! I didn’t get to see him off today, but I look forward to the pictures. As for me, we woke up pleasantly at the cabin and made breakfast on the fire. Mindy and Reegan took off on their four-wheelers, while Jayme and I read books. However, things started going south as the weather warmed up and the multitude of beetles came out! Let me tell you, they were EVERYWHERE! Flying around, landing on your clothes, getting in the food, crawling on the ground. It was just disgusting. After lunch, we decided we couldn’t take much more of the bugs and made a plan to forego another night camping, and instead head out to Bozeman’s ‘Music on Main.’ Music on Main was tons of fun. It sort of felt like a high school reunion. I saw so many people. Seeing some of Renee’s friends at the bar did make me feel quite old, but I did enjoy meeting up with an old friend, Joel, and going dance at KO’s. I actually didn’t get home until 3am, and I haven’t done that in a long, long time.
Friday, August 21 – I needed to sleep in a bit this morning, due to the activities of Thursday night. However, when I recovered, I went out to lunch with Bria at MacKenzie River Pizza again… I just can’t get enough! My mom got off early from work and we ventured to Bozeman to catch the movie, The Time Traveller’s Wife. It was a pretty good show, personally I love Eric Bana. After debating whether or not to movie hop, haha, mom and I headed back to Manhattan to meet up with our neighbor, Lisa. About 9:30pm, mom and realized we had completely skipped dinner, and decided to get finger steaks from the Oasis, our small town’s famous steakhouse.
Saturday, August 22 – Mom and I went shopping in the morning on our way back to Big Timber to hang out with family. My cousin, Jeff, returned from Ghana where he is working for the next year, and everyone was eager to see him. We made ribs for dinner and played tons of cards, per our usual. Seeing a theme yet? Oddly enough, my Aunt Norene and I realized we were taking the same flight to Seattle (she continued on to Portland) and decided we would try to move our seats so we may sit together. However, when we went to check in, our seats were already directly next to each other! Small, small world.
Sunday, August 23 – After mass and a large breakfast, we got in a few more card games and headed back to Bozeman for the airport. My aunt and I caught an afternoon flight and I was back to Seattle in time to enjoy the Texas Chile Gus prepared for my arrival!
Overall, my trip back to Montana was a much needed break from job searching and Seattle’s fast pace. Now it’s back to the job hunt, and looking forward to Jayme’s visit to Seattle over Labor Day. Should be fun!! Below are several pictures, and if you follow this link, you can see them all: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083479&id=28201408&l=4c39ceee7d
