Road trippin' through Washington, Idaho and Montana...
This is Jon. While we usually head to Great Falls, Montana, to see Zach in March, this year we held off until last weekend since it was his graduation. Usually we have a short period of time to fit in an eight-hour drive, enjoy a day and drive back, but this time around we took an extra day, stopped at a few sights and it was more laid back.
An hour into the trip, all is well. My three girls are great road trippers. They enjoy the car, enjoy the sights and don't lose patience with each other. That's just good parenting.
Snake in the grass at a rest area in eastern Washington. Addy found it and Delaney wanted to hold it. I said no to that.
Stopping at Lookout Pass in Idaho. Long time ago a slide changed the landscape there. Really interesting to see, something we usually drive by at 70 mph.
50,000 Silver Dollar Casino. I remember coming here as a kid a long time ago and it looked the same with wall-to-wall silver dollars. There are more than 60,000 silver dollars now.
In the three previous years of going to Great Falls, we never took the time to go to the falls and instead centered our trip around Zach's track meet or hanging around the UGF campus. Not this year. The Great Falls dam and the falls themselves in this photo.
The Guddat Gang at Giant Springs State Park in Great Falls. The falls are about a mile behind us, but we're standing over the springs that naturally come to the surface and into the Missouri River to the left of the photo. Nature's amazing.
Me and B (with Addy running into the photo at the last second) in from of the springs.
If you go to the Missouri River and don't put your feet in the water, the terrorists win.
This was taken at the chapel which hosted baccalaureate the night before Zach's graduation. These guys were seriously passed out, drooling. I had to have my picture with them. Once they woke up, we chatted for a bit and they had just driven 24 straight hours from California to be with their brother who was graduating. Pretty cool actually, so I'm sure God's OK with a little shut eye even in a Catholic church. I was.
After baccalaureate. Proud family!
Very proud sister with the graduate! Zach graduated in elementary education with a reading endorsement and a 3.98 GPA, summa cum laude. That's how he rolls.
On the way home, we stopped in St. Regis, Montana, (among other stops) where they take their truck stops seriously. It's such an attraction that the state of Montana (which is sales tax free) actually taxes purchases here since it's dubbed a tourist attraction and it is. Huge shopping area (they even had a wall of Jimmy Jones photographs; Dad played football with Jimmy Jones at Marysville High), ice cream parlor, convenience store and an aquarium stocked with a bunch of different trout as you can see above.
Kind of random, but you drive by Missoula during the trip and I got to finally stop and see one of my favorite stadiums, Washington-Grizzly Stadium at the University of Montana. 25,000 screaming fans all on top of the field. CWU played here in 2008 which I missed, so this was my first trip to the hallowed grounds.
Me and Boogs checking things out. Adelyn was passed out in the car, enjoying the AC.
We celebrated Mother's Day with a looooooooong car ride home, but while we were in "The Zoo" (Missoula) we had lunch and sat along the Clark Fork River. Happy Mommy's Day! My girls forever...
An hour into the trip, all is well. My three girls are great road trippers. They enjoy the car, enjoy the sights and don't lose patience with each other. That's just good parenting.
Snake in the grass at a rest area in eastern Washington. Addy found it and Delaney wanted to hold it. I said no to that.
Stopping at Lookout Pass in Idaho. Long time ago a slide changed the landscape there. Really interesting to see, something we usually drive by at 70 mph.
50,000 Silver Dollar Casino. I remember coming here as a kid a long time ago and it looked the same with wall-to-wall silver dollars. There are more than 60,000 silver dollars now.
In the three previous years of going to Great Falls, we never took the time to go to the falls and instead centered our trip around Zach's track meet or hanging around the UGF campus. Not this year. The Great Falls dam and the falls themselves in this photo.
The Guddat Gang at Giant Springs State Park in Great Falls. The falls are about a mile behind us, but we're standing over the springs that naturally come to the surface and into the Missouri River to the left of the photo. Nature's amazing.
Me and B (with Addy running into the photo at the last second) in from of the springs.
If you go to the Missouri River and don't put your feet in the water, the terrorists win.
This was taken at the chapel which hosted baccalaureate the night before Zach's graduation. These guys were seriously passed out, drooling. I had to have my picture with them. Once they woke up, we chatted for a bit and they had just driven 24 straight hours from California to be with their brother who was graduating. Pretty cool actually, so I'm sure God's OK with a little shut eye even in a Catholic church. I was.
After baccalaureate. Proud family!
Very proud sister with the graduate! Zach graduated in elementary education with a reading endorsement and a 3.98 GPA, summa cum laude. That's how he rolls.
On the way home, we stopped in St. Regis, Montana, (among other stops) where they take their truck stops seriously. It's such an attraction that the state of Montana (which is sales tax free) actually taxes purchases here since it's dubbed a tourist attraction and it is. Huge shopping area (they even had a wall of Jimmy Jones photographs; Dad played football with Jimmy Jones at Marysville High), ice cream parlor, convenience store and an aquarium stocked with a bunch of different trout as you can see above.
Kind of random, but you drive by Missoula during the trip and I got to finally stop and see one of my favorite stadiums, Washington-Grizzly Stadium at the University of Montana. 25,000 screaming fans all on top of the field. CWU played here in 2008 which I missed, so this was my first trip to the hallowed grounds.
Me and Boogs checking things out. Adelyn was passed out in the car, enjoying the AC.
We celebrated Mother's Day with a looooooooong car ride home, but while we were in "The Zoo" (Missoula) we had lunch and sat along the Clark Fork River. Happy Mommy's Day! My girls forever...
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