Yellowstone Park and Flathead Lake
/The timing of this roadtrip didn't seem like it would bump so closely into moving, initially, but we are thankful it did. For so many reasons. The main one being that we came back (mostly me, since Josh can leave anywhere without much heart hurt) ready to pack and move on. It will still be painful, for sure, but being away for two weeks helped me transition out of Minot mode. I am thankful for that.
We drove to Billings early on Tuesday the 1st, stayed the night at our Aunt Lorrie's house. We hadn't been there since Joel was 1, so it was really neat to spend the time with her. We left the next morning, stopped for coffee in Red Lodge, MT, a frequently visited town of my childhood, and then too the route to come down into the Northwest gate of Yellowstone. It took us over Beartooth pass, a more frequented place of my childhood. WOW the nostalgia as we pulled off at the scenic overlooks along the way. Between the scent of those delicious high altitude pines and the oh so familiar views and our pit stop at the "Top of the World Store" to get a few small treats for the boys, I felt like a kid again.
We camped with friends from Turkey at Henry's Lake, just inside the Idaho border. It's a campground designed for RV's, we're assuming, of folks that head into the park during the day. The lake was beautiful, but filled with leaches (learned that the hard way...) and there were no trees in the camp sights, so sticking around during the day wasn't ideal. We enjoyed the park, delicious camp stove dinners, s'mores, incredible sunsets and sunrises, guitar and worship songs around the campfire and the company of an old friend from Turkey and his beautiful newlywed bride.
We drove the quick hour to Ennis, MT on Friday morning to spend the rest of that day at Josh's grandma Storey's house. We hadn't been there since Elijah was one, so it was really neat to introduce all the boys to the house their Grandpa Storey grew up in and the incredibly beautiful surrounding area. It was a much needed afternoon of rest, refreshment and prep for the upcoming week at Flathead lake.
Saturday morning we packed back up and headed North to Missoula to pick up a wave runner and then trek the rest of the way to the lake. Though smokey, it was really fun to see the Mission Mountain range again. It's a nostalgic drive, and being that it had been 6 summer since we were last able to do this trip with the rest of the Storey family, we were very ready for this respite. And a beautiful respite it was. Cousins are old enough now to really enjoy each other and what a treat it was to see them interact with one another. Josh and I were able to get to know Brothers and Sisters better, as we've been so far separated for so long. The days were filled with wonderful company, time in the unusually glassy Flathead water that was not as icy as usual but not warm enough for swimmers itch. It honestly couldn't have been a more perfect week in the water! We got most of the kiddos up on the boogie board, several of them up on skis and I was able to drop a ski and get that pesky back foot in and stay upright for just a few triumphant moments while double skiing with Josh before taking a hard face plant into the water after traversing another boat's leftover wake ripples. Id' been trying all week, and succeeded three times toward the end after taking a few days off because I was so sore from falling time and time again that I could hardly walk. ha!
The time was sweet balm for our souls as we geared up for this move of which we are now in the throws. Time with our extended family was definitely the most precious part of the gift of that week.