Our family made a trip to beautiful Missoula, Montana to see my cousin Mike Sharp's wedding. This would be Reagan's first time traveling on an airplane. It was a 7 hour plane ride to Spokane, Washington, along with a very scenic 3 hour drive to Missoula on I-90. Our concern with Reagan was that she is very restless, and doesn't like to be held for a long period. Since she didn't have a seat of her own, she would have to be held or could only stand on the floor next to us, without much moving around. To our surprise, Reagan did very well! She slept for about half the flight, and enjoyed looking out the window and hanging out with Christian. Christian, of course, did very well, and did a great job entertaining Reagan. On the flight were quite a few triathletes, who were on their way to the Ford Ironman Triathlon in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 30 minutes away from Spokane. Christian and Reagan would sleep during most of the drive to Missoula. We met up with Uncle John, Aunt Claire Ann, Mike and his family, and their friends at the Mackenzie River Pizza Company in downtown Missoula. (Kim and her family couldn't make it, unfortunately. They just moved from San Antonio to Pittsburgh and were still settling in. :o<) We would then walk to the Carousel of Missoula for a ride on the carousel and let the kids play in the playground until dark.
We met up with Uncle John, Aunt Claire Ann, and their grandson (Mike's son) Lupine at the outdoor market the next morning. It's a crafts market and a farmer's market where locals sell their goods. There are lots of neat crafts and fresh produce from which to choose. Christian would get a new hand made necklace.
Later in the day, we made the drive to Arlee to attend Mike and Ashley's wedding. It was a very hot day. Arlee would reach 97 degrees, the second hottest spot in Montana. It was somewhat surreal, as off in the distance were snow-covered mountains. The wedding was held at the Heart View Center, a beautiful retreat in the middle of the Jocko Valley in Arlee. It was a beautiful ceremony, with Enya playing during the procession. The flower girls would lay petals on the ground, as Mike and his sons, all dressed in button-up shirts, slacks, and ties (can you believe it? :o>). Ashley would meet Mike in a beautiful white dress. It turned out to be a beautiful handfasting ceremony, where they put their hands together to form an infinity symbol while a cord was tied around their hands in a knot, a symbol of Mike and Ashley's commitment to each other. As a family, they then put their footprints on a buffalo skin Mike had tanned. Everybody was then invited to put their fingerprints on it. The reception afterward was wonderfully prepared, with plenty of delicious food and drinks.
There was also donkey-cart rides, a pool for the kids to swim, and a band from the University of Montana. It was truly a wonderful ceremony and reception. Many of the guests would camp out beneath the stars. We would head back to the hotel.
The next morning we would return to the Heart View Center for breakfast and take Christian and Reagan for a swim. There was plenty of pastries and quiche along with some strong coffee. Christian and Reagan both had a great time in the pool. It was Reagan's first time in a pool and I would take Christian for a swim in the deep end with him holding onto my shoulders. We would then travel north on US 93 and Montana 200 to the largest bison range in the world. Do the fact we were hungry, we took an abbreviated tour. We saw bison off in the distance, but all we really got were some nice views of snow-covered mountains in the distance. On the way back to US 93, I would head a little further north to St Ignatius, home of the St Ignatius Roman Cathoic Mission a mission founded by Jesuit priests in 1854. We would head back to Missoula for a delicious lunch at The Crackerbarrel.
Later in the day, we met up with Uncle John, Aunt Claire Ann, Mike and his family at a "sprayground" near their house. It was 20 degrees cooler than the day before, so it was a little chilly for Christian to play in the water, though he would be determined to try. We had left-overs from the day before. We would stay until 7 or so, when the excitement of everything over the previous couple days began to take it's toll on Mike and his family, especially Lupine, who had been an angel up to this point. We said our goodbyes since we were heading out early the next morning. It seemed like we did so much in the 2+ days we were there. It was great seeing everybody. The kids did very well on the trip. Both of them had a wonderful time!
The trip back was an interesting experience. There were lots of triathletes sporting their shirts for having completed a full Iron Man. I told Rhian that I'll be back in two years to compete. Our flight from Spokane had a stop in Salt Lake City. As we approached the airport, everything seemed normal. We couldn't have been no more than 5 feet off the ground when the plane accelerated and rose back to approximately 10,000 feet and heading away from the airport. It was scary because we were told nothing. Rhian suggested I look at the stewardesses, who were fastened in their seats and didn't seem to be concerned. People on the plane started engaging in nervous conversation, wondering what was going on. I even heard one lady behind us ask the person next to her "Are we being hijacked? I was concerned that we were either being hijacked, or that there was a failure with the landing gear, that the pilot tried to blow them down, and was now having to burn fuel. Finally, after 5 minutes (seemed like an eternity) the captain came on and told us that a plane was on the runway for take off and that he had to abort the landing. Needless to say, there was a lot of anxiety. Reagan would finally become herself on the flight to Atlanta. We were delayed an hour due to problems with the plane. Reagan had napped a lot on the drive to Spokane and would sleep a little on the flight to Salt Lake. She would be restless and her loud self on the plane. Poor thing would try to sleep and couldn't due to noise or light. To make things worse, beverage and snack service was delayed, and we wouldn't get ours until 23 minutes before we touched down on a 4 hour flight! We finally made it home tired and ragged a little after midnight, after 16 hours of traveling. Poor Rhian had to work the next morning. Next time, I think she'll take an extra day to recover.
Enjoy all the pictures!
to view pictures of Friday's trip to Missoula, dinner, and at the playground.
to view pictures of our Saturday trip to the Missoula markets.
to enjoy pictures of Mike and Ashley's Wedding Ceremony.
to view pictures of our Sunday in Montana
to view pictures of our trip back to Atlanta on Monday
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