Montana gorgeousness!

Hello everyone!

I had a wonderful, long weekend in Montana. I flew to Spokane early Thursday morning and Elaine picked me up. It was so great to have a one hour flight as opposed to a six hour drive. Elaine had driven to Spokane the night before from Montana to visit with her good friend from college. The two of us found a local frisbee golf course and threw 7 or so holes before getting in the car for the 3 hour drive to her family's place in Montana. It's a beautiful drive through northern Idaho and then into Montana. We got there and immediately put on our swimsuits and got in the lake. Elaine and Gina's Uncle Stan & Aunt Barb and their 4 kids (Greg (who had already left by the time I arrived), Marc, Matt & Anna) live in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho but have a wonderful vacation home on Angel Island in Bull Lake. It was heavenly. We floated around in the water and then would lay in the sun until we were too hot and had to jump back in. We drank beers and read books and chatted and played with the kids and lounged in the hammock and napped in the sun and smiled.

Cocktail hour was at 5 and Stan would make rounds of margaritas or gin & tonics for everyone. We had a yummy dinners of steak burritos and chili and cheeseburgers. After dinner Gina would go out on the boat for some water skiing with Stan and Barb. They would also ski every morning after breakfast and I would ride along to take pictures. Stan and Barb are both really great water skiers so it was really fun to watch them. I didn't ski but Gina and I did go tubing one day and had a great time. Gina also tubed with Dave who was pretty good at wiping out. Gina and I both managed to hang on though it seemed inevitable that we were going to flip. So much fun!

In the evening Marc would start a fire in the fire pit and we would sit around the fire roasting marshmallows and talking. Dave would play his guitar sometimes and sing songs. The kids (and adults) would request their favorites and Dave would happily oblige. We would gaze up at the many many stars in the sky and watch all the satellites and shooting stars. It was so wonderful to keep track of what time it was by where the Milky Way was in the sky.

While we were there the youngest child, Anna, had her 5th birthday so we got to celebrate together with cake and presents for her. It was great fun and grandma's cake was so yummy!. We had tons of fun taking pictures of each other and playing in the water and giving piggy back rides and pulling her in the sled up and down the hill.

All in all there were 16 people and 2 dogs there. It really was glorious...floating in the lake and watching bald eagles land on the far shoreline. We saw a boat decked out in balloons and streamers carrying a bride still in her wedding dress. It was a weekend full of great food and drinks and sun and laughs. I felt so lucky to be there. It really was a wonderful vacation in a beautiful place!

We left on early Sunday morning after getting coffee and saying goodbye to everyone. It was Elaine, Dave, Gina and me with Daisy riding in the back of Elaine's Subaru and all our stuff up on top in a car carrier. We stopped for breakfast in Spokane and then plowed through only stopping for bathroom breaks and gas. It was so hot on the eastern side of the Cascades. It was a great relief to pull in 8 1/2 hours later to lovely Portland weather. We downloaded our pictures on to the computer and ate a yummy dinner of tuna steaks and Caesar salad. I feel so rejuvenated from my long weekend and happy happy happy!

Please let me know what you've been doing and how your weekend was. I hope you are doing well!

xoxo,
carolyn