CoddyandLeanne

We awoke early once again but instead of looking forward to doing something active in the beautiful ranges around Bozeman, today we were to start our journey back to London. The last leg of our round the world tour. Sarah and Joe had another guest arrive in the middle of the night. Tim was relocating his family interstate and letting them fly ahead so he could relocate the car and dog. It was nice to finally meet the man responsible for Sarah and Joes Nepal trekking holiday video. Salt Lake city was a days drive away but the price of internal flights meant we had opted for the drive so we headed out to the airport to pick up our budget rent-a-dent. As Leanne waited in Sarah and Jos truck, Matt raced in to get the ... read more

To wake up in the middle of the wilderness by a lake with not a soul around is pretty surreal. We tucked into a hardie breakfast of cranberry and oats. Our morning bath can only be described as refreshing to the extreme as we jumped into the lake of snow melted water. Our plan was to hike out and head back to Bozeman today but none of us could leave the area without one last look around. So we packed up our campsite and hid our packs under a tree before heading further up the valley. It was hard to know when to stop and we probably walked a little further than intended but the lure of whats over the horizon was ever enticing. Its hard to believe that within a few months this place will ... read more

If we thought it was time for a lazy day we were happily mistaken. We got up a little late to find the usual ritual of Sarah and Joe sitting out in the back garden drinking iced coffee, reading the paper or doing university work. Joe had been keen to get us on another one of his favourite local loops, so suggested we load up the truck and head out on a ride through and around Bridger Bowl, the local ski field. Our night was also planned as Sarah and Joes good friends Mark and Amy were recently married and having their delayed reception to which we had somehow scooped an invite. We arrived at Bridger Bowl and unloaded the bikes for our grinding ride beneath the chair lifts up the ski field. Always strange to ... read more

Yellowstone National Park is not far from Bozeman. Just a short 2 hour drive and you are there but being school holidays and high season, the traffic can be bad so we set off at 8am. We decided to, instead of squashing everything into one day, we would camp overnight and were lucky to book the last campsite at our destination inside the park, Madison. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice drive down to the park at a leisurely pace. At the entrance Leanne donned her sunglasses and passed herself off as Sarah so we could use their annual park pass. We were in the park no longer than 15 mins before we met our first "animal jam". Sarah and Joe had warned us that the traffic queues caused by these can ... read more

The next 2 days we spent in Bozeman the town where you cant get bored. Leanne woke up with a plan to update her CV and maybe think about the prospect of having to work one of these days. But this didnt last long and before we knew it we were out running around Bozeman. Although we have been here a while we hadnt really explored the town. Bozeman has increased in size by 40% in the 7 years since Sarah and Joe moved here. It is interesting to see the old historical part of Bozeman with the lovely old houses and the new subdivisions including enormance mansions being built on the edge of town. Running through the University and around the roads we stummbled across Bozemans city trail network. These trails weave around houses and ... read more

With needing to be back by 8.30am to return the kayaks for the next rental booking, we were up bright and early and back along the slow bumpy dusty road. With kayaks safely unloaded we all felt we deserved a hot coffee and cooked breakfast. Just what we needed after a few super days of high activity. It was a long drive back to Bozeman so with that in mind we kept pushing on. Just like the drive up, it was beautiful and the best way to see Montana. There were a many small rivers and lakes on the drive but the biggest by far is Flathead Lake. Massive in size and by the look of some of the real estate with impressive houses and boat ramps, its beauty was not lost on many people. With ... read more