Montana: Life Lessons Learned on the Lake

My friend Danielle invited me to come and stay at her parents lake house in Montana - knowing about my goal to have a meaningful experience in all 50 States.

She and her family are amazing - so kind and welcoming! At the end of the trip her mom said, "I hope this was meaningful enough for you to count for your goal." Indeed it was!

One thing I enjoy about heading West is that you gain time, which of course = more adventures :) We spent our "found time" at a barbecue that's part of an annual golf tournament for her dad's company. Delicious burgers and potato salad were complimented by a gorgeous view.

Before I left I was in a meeting with my interns at work and we were doing some "would you rather" scenarios - one was "Would you rather have a beach vacation or a mountain vacation" after some lively conversation I told them I was cheating and doing both - going to a lake in the mountains. It really was a great combo - one I wouldn't mind repeating. This also got me thinking about the pros and cons of going to new places vs. going back to favorites - such a tough choice!!

Saturday morning we got up got incredible pastries from Ceres Bakery (sweet potato sticky buns that were divine and huckleberry bun that was somehow both flaky and soft...) and headed to Glacier National Park. SO AWESOME!!! I've hiked on part of a glacier now. And filled some of my need for nature - trees and lakes and waterfalls and streams and snow and wind blowing through our hair.

 

We drove up Going-to-the-Sun road and hiked as far as we could on Hidden Lake trail (bear danger closed the trail after about 1.5 miles). We also saw lots of mountain goats roaming the trails with us (one young boy exclaimed to his parents, "I've seen 9 mountain goats so far!")

We got homemade ice cream in homemade made waffle cones back in Kalispell with one of Danielle's friends who's getting ready to move back East to Virginia. In honor of Montana and at my colleague Jessica's recommendation ("you have to eat huckleberry everything while you're there!" she told me) I got huckleberry ice cream - a great choice.

Since we were in town, we decided to tour the Conrad mansion. Good choice. It was fun to learn more about the founding of Kalispell and to think about travel during years gone by - like when it took over 60 days to get from the Mississippi River to Montana. And the steamer trunks people used when traveling "because when it takes that long to get somewhere, you stayed for awhile when you arrived." And this was said in relation to President Theodore Roosevelt staying with the Conrad's in their mansion.

For dinner Danielle let me help her make coconut fried salmon. Fun. And tasty - especially when dipped in the grape jelly/horseradish/mustard sauce. Yum!

 We ended the night talking down by the lake watching the stars come out. I even saw a shooting star.

Danielle had extended family in town as well, and Sunday morning we all enjoyed a delicious breakfast of french toast made by her aunt Becky. Fun to be welcomed into a family with open arms and to get to know new friends. Some of us headed to Church and got to enjoy a welcome home talk from a missionary in their family ward. Then we had a big group dinner (19 people) and played games. Great relaxing evening.

Monday morning we headed out on the lake. One of the women I met at Church asked if I'd been out on the wave runners. When I told her no, she told me my Montana experience wasn't complete yet then. Let me tell you, she was right! I've never been on a wave runner before, so I was a little nervous, but it was great! I got brave and was able to go over 60mph zipping across the lake. We went around this island and on one side the water was choppy - Danielle said "it's like being on the open sea" and it really did remind me of when I had kayaked on the bay off Grape Island off the Boston coast. We went over and saw this replica of the Statue of Liberty :) and drove past these huge houses. Which led to a discussion about living life vs. amassing wealth in order to someday live life. I want to choose the former. 

Thanks for the impromptu and memorable weekend Montana!

New Mexico - Land of Enchantment

New Mexico certainly lived up to it's tag line in my experience. Full of surprises. So much beauty, so many discoveries!

Surprise #1: Southern New Mexico is home to an international space hall of fame/museum. It was fun and educational to wander around and read about the role of New Mexico in space exploration and the fascinating men and women who have contributed in this field. I particularly loved the pictures of earth from space - incredible!

Surprise #2: The number of check points we went through and the number of times our answer of "Yes" to the question "America citizens?" got us a nod to drive on.

Surprise #3: Miles and miles of beach like sand dunes in New Mexico? Yep! Gorgeous! So glad we went twice. Once for a twilight picnic on full moon night, ending with a concert from a group of men from the local army base. Again for a sand sledding and jumping adventure.

The desert is beautiful. Different than many other places in the world to be sure, but definitely beautiful. The adaptability and resilience of the plants and wildlife there is awe inspiring to me.

I also greatly enjoyed the wide open spaces and the slower pace of the Southwest. Driving for hours and mainly seeing nature was relaxing and rejuvenating to me.

One of the discoveries I made was the beauty of the Carlsbad Caverns. There is a huge bat colony that lives there, and they led to the exploration of the cave which ultimately became a national park. This significantly surpasses in size any cave I've been in to date. I couldn't stop staring at the diversity of formations in the cave. I took more pictures than I care to admit :)

I also was introduced to this amazing collection of petroglyphs - not ever sure how this was possible:

Of course, this trip would not have been complete without some traditional Mexican food. Napolita's had all the traditional fare, and I chose the gorditas, at Janae's recommendation. They were tasty.

I went to church with Janae, and everyone was so kind to me (and clearly enjoy having Janae around :) it was entertaining to hear people's thoughts and questions when they learned I live on Manhattan. And I particularly liked talking to one woman who herself lived in Manhattan a couple decades ago, and the Bishop and his counselor who have no interest in living in the city, but said they are happy to live through me...

Walking around historic old Mesilla was also a treat. I don't know the history/significance of blue doors on adobe houses, but I sure enjoyed them. Again, there were beautiful desert plants as well!

Then we had a delicious homemade cold soup and strawberry rhubarb cobbler - tasty and beautiful:

Monday morning was beautiful as well - we walked up "A" mountain and saw the observatory for New Mexico State University. Sunrise hikes are awesome!