Happy Lovers in Big Sky Country

   

Don't mind the jumbled mess of pictures shown above. I hope they brought you joy instead of uneasiness. I couldn't narrow it down to just a few select pictures, so I just chose them all. And, well, my organization skills have never been the best. So there you have it.

These pictures were taken on our honeymoon. Finally, I'm just getting around to blogging about our honeymoon.

Most newlyweds choose to honeymoon somewhere slightly tropical. Perhaps where a beach is within walking distance. But Brian and I are not most. We are a bit odd, I guess you could say. When choosing a destination to escape to, we thought, "What off-the-wall place could we go to for a honeymoon?" And our answer to that question was indeed: Montana. More specifically, we wanted to go to Glacier National Park.

It was fun in itself when we had people asking us where we were going on our honeymoon.

"We're going to Glacier National Park," I would tell them.

The timid people would say, "Oh. . .that's nice." Then they would smile warmly, though it was obvious they were very confused.

The brave at heart would reply asking, "Oh. . .where is that?"

"Half the park is in Montana. The other half is in Canada."

"Oh. . .that's different."

Yes, it was different. And we don't regret it at all.

After finishing my big relay race which started in Logan and ended in Jackson Hole (the race is called Epic, google it if you're interested), we stayed in Jackson for the night. Brian was an extremely good sport and put up with me being absolutely exhausted since I'd just spent the last 48 hours running a total of about 20 miles and sitting in a vehicle with 5 other sweaty women besides myself. So we slept. I slept very peacefully in our creaky bed (we stayed in kind of a dumpy place in Jackson Hole, but it was an adventure). The next morning, we began our journey to Kalispell, Montana. We took the long route through Grand Teton National Park as well as Yellowstone. I slept a good amount of the drive (still exhausted) but the time I spent awake was nice. I don't mind long drives. Especially when it's with Brian. We keep ourselves entertained. Usually with the help of Aerosmith.

We arrived later that night to Kalispell, the small town where our hotel was. Thanks to my delightful friend, Rachel, we stayed in a nice hotel for a good rate. She works for Hilton. . .and is basically awesome. Brian and I grew to adore Kalispell during the week we stayed there. It wasn't a very large town and they do not get tons of tourists. So most people just supposed we were locals. The people there were all so sweet and friendly. I fell in love with the artsy vibe of the town. Not to mention, it was full of quirky shops, antique stores, and local restaurants. One particular restaurant that we went back to a couple of times had the most amazing tacos. I would drive the whole 12 hours right now for a taco.

I also let some rocker chick cut my hair while in Kalispell. We noticed there was not only a chapel on every street (those cowboys are religious. They drink a lot of alcohol and go to a lot of church) but also a hair salon of some kind. So I decided to take my chances. After we ate breakfast at a cute cafe one morning (and I had the chocolatiest chocolate milk ever), I just walked into a salon and said I wanted  a trim. It turned out okay. But that rocker chick was pretty intimidating. Nice but intimidating. After I let a rocker snip away at my hair, Brian acted like a rocker when we made a stop in a guitar store. You should have seen him jamming with the store owner. Awesome.  

The time we spent within Glacier National Park was incredible. This world we live in is amazing. We went on a ride across a bit of road called "Going to the Sun Highway" which was phenomenal. Anyone with a fear of heights probably would have passed out. The extremely narrow road ran right along mountain sides and even had tunnels that went through the mountains. Everywhere you looked, you could see tall cliffs piercing down at you and blue dreamy sky. And on top of that view. . .there were waterfalls. Everywhere. Waterfall after waterfall just running down every bit of mountain. The snow was still melting off, which formed gushing waterfalls. Brian and I were seriously in awe.

We also went on some fun hikes and I searched far and wide for a bear. No luck. All I wanted was to see a bear in the wild. Someday I will. And hopefully when that day comes, the bear won't maul me to death. I just want to see it and say, "Hey Bear. I'm leaving now. Thanks for letting me see you in the wild."

Well, that is a quick summary of our honeymoon. I know you are all probably thinking, "That was not quick. That was long and wordy."

But the deal is, I'm a long-winded person. My apologies. I'm going to drive some nurse nuts at the nursing home one day.

Brian and I loved Montana. The beach is always nice. We would have loved that too. But seriously, mountains, cool weather, waterfalls, and the quiet of the country. . .you don't get much more romantic than that.