Jeremy's first trip to Montana

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Our first trip together ended up being Jeremy's first trip to Montana. We both had 2 weeks of leave planned to go to our respective hometowns. Jeremy decided to cut his visit home by a week and fly to Montana to spend a week with me. I took him to see everything that trip....and I mean EVERYTHING! We started off in Butte so he could meet my mom and sisters. Then we took the scenic route up to Kalispell to meet my dad. We drove up to Georgetown Lake, then took the Skalkaho Pass road to come out around Hamilton, then backtracked to Hwy 93 to up through Polson and Flathead Lake to Kalispell. We spent a few days with my dad at which time we ventured into Glacier National Park and to the top of Going to the Sun Road. Even thought it was August, it was SO cold...and rainy! Plus, the forest fires were so bad that year, the smoke itself obstructed the view. There was a fire wreaking havoc in Glacier when we went and half of the park was closed. I caught a nasty cold and ear infection....and my poor car looked like it had never been cleaned. My dad took us to see the Elk farms, and we drove through the bear experience. Heading back to Butte, we took the back way down through the Swan....beautiful drive with lakes galore! Jeremy had never seen a real Ghost Town before so I had to take him up to Garnet. My step-dad and uncle have a cabin up there that was passed down from their parents. They actually grew up in this town and remember it full of people. After writing the obligatory entry in the Garnet family Journal (every time someone is up there, we write about our trip in a notebook for all to see and add too) we headed back to Butte. A trip to Montana is never complete without taking in the sights of Melrose, so that was our next stop. My aunt and uncle, Doug & Jacque, were still living there at the time, and we always stopped to visit them. I showed Jeremy around my old stomping ground. Took him up to the Charcoal Kilns and Vipond Park. We ended the night parked around a bonfire in Doug's front yard, drinking and telling lies (stories lol). It was a fabulous week! Jeremy made quite the impression on my family, as they did with him also.

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Photos

Georgetown Lake
From St. Timothy's Cathedral

Mission Mountains
you can really see how bad the smoke is in this picture. You can barely make out the mountains in the distance

Flathead Lake
This is one of the biggest lakes in Montana.

Lake McDonald in Glacier
The forest fire was raging just on the other side of the lake.

Where Salamander Glacier would be
It was very foggy and smokey going up through Glacier. You couldn't see hardly anything!

Elk in one of the farms
They look like statues, but they weren't! The bull has twine in his antlers. This was there rut time, so they get pretty stupid!

Grizzly bear at the Bear Experience
This was a drive through park. You had to stay in the car the whole time and keep your windows rolled up.

Comments

[amy]

yay! i'm so happy to finally see all your pics and hear the stories. i look forward to more:) Montana looks so beautiful, i HAVE to go someday!

[Kelly]

Montana
It sounds like Jeremy had a fun-filled tour of MT. He got to see so many areas that some people that have lived in MT their whole lives haven't even seen. That would be...I still haven't been up to Glacier. I love your pics. Riding thru the bear experience looks a little scary but I'm sure it was fun. I also like the pics of the elk. It's crazy to me that some people have never seen bear or elk in person, but I guess to each their own. Well, I'm glad you posted the blog and added the pics. Keep 'em coming!

[sherry kohnekamp]

Thank you Launie for sharing. Have you ever thought about writing a book like your Dad did? Take care, Love, Sherry

[Darlene Petersen]

Pics
The pictures are amazing, as usual! I have yet to visit Montana, but maybe someday! Miss you Launie! Darlene