A Weekend In Montana

Friday afternoon Jason and I flew up to Montana. His grandma had passed away and Jason was going to be gone for more than a week. He asked if I would like to at least come up for the weekend. Of course I did! I hurried up and put together a small scrapbook album for his mom so if she felt lonely in the days ahead, she could look at the family photos and know she's loved and appreciated.
Since meeting Jason, I have been to Montana 5 times in 3 years. I absolutely love it there. Being an Arizona native, I'm used to brown. So for me, being there is a feast for my eyes. Everything is different than I'm used to

This is a view from the airplane window. I love the snow on the mountain and the winding river down below.

Look at what is in the Missoula airport waiting to greet new arrivals. This bear is HUGE! (Don't worry...I'm not really scared!)

Jason was on the Plains high school football team, so I snapped this picture of the scoreboard.
I just can't imagine growing up in a town where the grass is green and the views of the mountains are regular features.

I was trying to get a shot of the football goal posts in the distance. I didn't notice at the time, but the local businesses seem to put up advertisements on the fence. Do all small town funeral homes advertise at schools?

Just beyond the grocery store is this little old jail. I love that it's still there. The sign says it was built in 1904. Jason tells me that the town would have a day when they'd lock people up and then they have to raise "bail" to get out. Then the money goes to benefit something (I wish I remember what).

Just up one of the hills is a new development for home sites. This is the view from one of them.

And this is just some of the forest just outside of the main part of town.

Something else that I think is wonderful is this natural mountain spring. You can just pull off the road and fill your bottles up for free. That water is really cold! I hope you notice the University of Montana logo on that bottle. Yeah, I'm such a tourist.

Something else that anybody from the greater Phoenix area would find amazing is that EVERY bridge you go over has WATER running under it. I'm not kidding you.

Easter Sunday, my last day, Jason drove me back to Missoula for my flight home. But first we visited the grounds of his Alma Mater. I know you probably can't tell, but there is an "M" at the top of that hill. (Jason tells me it's a hill, but anyone from my neck of the woods would know it's a mountain.) I thought it was cool that there is a trail that zig-zags it's way up that folks were hiking. If I lived near it, that's what I would do.

It's all about the GRIZ. These folks take their football seriously.

There are Griz claws everywhere. Trash cans included.

One more picture before we leave...

The time had come for me to board my plane and head for home. My boys were waiting for me and nail clients were on the schedule for Monday morning. My heart was breaking as I was leaving because we had just gotten the worst news. Jason's brother-in-law had passed away that night. I wanted more than anything to stay. I love this new family of mine and I hurt for their loss. May God bless and comfort them.