Montana

The Children and I hit the road to drive to MT for a family reunion. My siblings and I have not all been together in 3 1/2 years. Of the eight siblings, only one brother and his family could not make it. Some may think I was crazy to go without Miracle Gro, buy I love going to MT and the chance to spend a week with my family gave me the courage I needed to go.

We have to drive through Yellowstone National Park to get to Cooke City, MT (where my grandparents have a cabin and there are cabins to rent).

I came a round a corner and almost hit a huge bison that was crossing the street. I little further down the way we saw this coyote traveling down the road.

In all the years I have been going through Yellowstone, I have never seen a bear. This was my year. This black bear was only a few yards from the road. This really made my day and the two day drive seem worth it. That may seem weird, but after 25 years of not seeing one, it was a big deal.

Look who fell off the bridge and into the freezing cold river. He didn't like that very much.

This is the old barn that has been converted into a meeting place for church, group dinners, playing games, etc... As a little girl I used to sleep in the loft.

At the end of the treasure hunt was a pinata. Here is Tiger Lily, about to take a turn.

The flowers playing on the swing set.

Another activity was having a little fun with a water balloon launcher and Uncle Ben.

Snap Dragon and I taking a crack at it.

This was Calle Lily's favorite activity. Surprisingly she only fell into this stream once.

Calle Lily and I after our ride on the four wheeler.

Snap Dragon in the snow on Lulu's Pass. There is an old mine up there and we took a picnic lunch and hiked up to the snow patches.

On the way home, we stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs and walked around. One of these days, we are going to go and explore Yellowstone, instead of just driving through it.

All in all, it was a great week. Everyone had fun and the cousins (all 22 of them) got along great. The only negative of the week was the mosquitos. All the rain up there has created a breeding ground and they were everywhere. Calle Lily got the worse of it on the last day we were there.

On the way home I had to stop in Coeur d'Alene, ID and look around. Northern Idaho is gorgeous. Another place I have added to my list for exploring. Between Spokane and Cooke City, my list grew quite a bit. ;)