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Wyoming & Montana road trip: Bozeman (day 11)

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Our final Montana sunset

If you had told me on the first day of this trip that I would ever appreciate a night’s rest in a sleeping bag, I would have laughed. All that comes to mind of that first night is tossing & turning my aching body, wishing desperately for something more separating me from the rocky, cold ground beneath. But after 10 long days of hiking, I don’t think I woke up once last night. We slept in, & I awoke blissfully rested & cozy in my sleeping bag, appreciating its warmth & comfort from the cold, mountain air.

Today’s only task was to drive back to Bozeman. The adventure is drawing to a close. After 10 days of climbing mountains, walking main streets & gazing at incredible stars, it is time to return home.

On our way, we stopped by Starbucks, & we were greeted with a fun surprise – the first pumpkin spice latte of the season. Fall is on its way. It’s a time of change, of bittersweet endings & new beginnings. It’s fresh, exciting & something I am actually looking forward to returning home for. As beautiful as the West is, there is no better place to be for fall than the East Coast to see the leaves change. 

The drive flew by as we chatted & listened to music. Most of the shops were closed when we arrived in Bozeman, but the restaurants were just beginning to open for dinner. We chose to eat at Plonk, an eclectic restaurant with inventive cocktails & delicious food. I ordered the Indian Paintbrush, a cocktail made with citrus vodka, sour lemon-lime & fresh raspberry purée. Joseph ordered the Whistle Pig Old Fashioned, which was made with Whistle Pig Rye, Whistle Pig Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup, bitters, & a lemon & orange oil. To commemorate our anniversary a few days prior, we ordered the Ploughman’s Platter, a charcuterie board with an array of delicious meats & cheeses. For dinner, I ordered the Grilled Salmon, which was served overtop grilled broccolini & topped with salt roasted beets & tangy horseradish cream. Joseph ordered the g.f.b., a burger made with local beef & topped with smoked cheddar cheese, house-made dill pickles, local greens, fresh tomato, citrus aioli, & spicy chimichurri & served with fried tri-colored fingerling potatoes. 

Our stomachs were full, but we couldn’t resist one more taste of local Montana ice cream. We stopped by Sweet Peaks for a scoop each & relaxed as we licked our frozen treats. The sun was still up, but we were too tired to keep exploring. Instead, we drove to our Airbnb to get ready for our flight home the next day. I fell back onto our bed & immediately sunk into the soft mattress with a satisfied groan. 

“Oh, wow, you’re not going to believe this,” I said.

“Is it good?” Joseph asked. 

“Don’t come to bed until you’re done packing, because you’re not going to get up after you feel this,” I said. I had forgotten just how comfortable a mattress was. Despite being sad to leave this beautiful place, my excitement began to grow just to have the comforts of home once again: A bed, a hot shower, a temperature-controlled environment. 

The trip was amazing, & I am sure within a few days, I will be ready for our next adventure. But right now, I’m excited for the next chapter of our lives. I’m excited to be home, to see the people I love & to see what joys this next season will bring. And most of all, I am grateful that no matter where this life takes me, I always have my adventure buddy for life by my side. 

Life is meant to be experienced & savored no matter where it takes you. From summiting mountains to long days at the office, every day is a new adventure, & I will always be grateful that I am one of the lucky souls that gets to experience it. 

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Wyoming & Montana road trip: Grinnell Glacier (day 10)

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Me in front of Grinnell Glacier

There is a strange sort of time warp that happens when traveling. Every day is so long & exhausting, every moment filled with new experiences. And yet, before you know it, the final day has arrived, & you are wondering where the time has gone.

Today is our final day in Glacier National Park. Tomorrow, we will be headed to Bozeman, Montana to get ready for our flight home the following morning. As it is with all of our trips, I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by. And, as with any of other trip, we had the same hope for our final day of traveling – that this day, this hike, & this view, would be the best of all, the perfect finale for an epic adventure.

We woke up early to drive the three hours around Glacier National Park to Many Glacier. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside stand for some coffees & a very disappointing breakfast burrito. We arrived a little later than we would have hoped, & we both dressed a little too warm for the unexpectedly hot sun. It seemed we were off to a rocky start as we began our ascent up to Grinnell Glacier.

The Grinnell Glacier hike is strenuous, filled with multiple switchbacks as you work your way up the mountainside. As if that wasn’t enough to take your breath away, the views along the way up are marvelous. We found ourselves constantly stopping to look back at the dark green pine trees that surrounded vibrant blue water. I will never get over the views in Glacier – it is truly the most beautiful place I have ever been.

As we neared the top of the hike, the air grew colder. Despite having just hiked hours through hot sun in far too many layers, we found ourselves throwing our jackets back over our shoulders. As we rounded the final corner, we were hit by a harsh wind that threatened to blow us back down the way we had come. We stood at the top, teeth chattering & bodies shivering, gazing in wonder at the view before us. Dark rocks led the way to water so blue it looked like the sky. Floating soundlessly, barely causing a ripple, were large chunks of ice like miniature icebergs. High above, the white snow of Grinnell Glacier melted into a waterfall that cascaded down the gray rock to form the lake we now sat beside.

Joseph right after jumping into Grinnell Glacier Lake

It felt as if we had accidentally traversed into an arctic landscape. The light off the water & snow was blinding, & yet, I couldn’t help myself from continuing to gaze in wonder. I sat on the edge of the rock, my boots just out of reach of the frigid water lapping at the shore. Joseph, however, had something else in mind.

It was a baptism of sorts as he jumped into the freezing water. It’s been a long year of hard work, but coming home from this trip, he will be starting a new chapter of his life as a Clinical Mental Health Therapist, his dream job. I cannot even begin to express just how proud I am of his dedication & perseverance, & I am so excited to see what this next chapter of his life will hold.

Panting from the cold & shivering uncontrollably beside me, he pulled on his dry shirt & asked, “Are you going to jump in?”

“Absolutely not,” I said. As tempting as it was, I was perfectly content just soaking in the view in my blissfully warm hiking clothes. 

It was a race against the clock on our way back down the mountain. We were eager to get back to the other side of Glacier with still a little daylight left. Joseph & I were starving by the time we reached the bottom, but there was no time to stop for food. We ate a quick snack on the drive, & arrived at Lake McDonald just in time for a final Glacier sunset seated on rainbow colored rocks. 

It is hard to say goodbye to such a beautiful place. The mountains glowed orange, bathed in the light of the setting sun. We watched as the purple shadow slowly crept up the side of each mountain, submerging the Glacier landscape in darkness. As the tip of the final mountain slowly darkened, we bid farewell to this magnificent place. 

On our way back to our campsite, we stopped at Glacier Highland, a motel & restaurant just outside the park with homestyle comfort food. To start, we ordered the Hiking Poles, which were sticks made of pillowy pizza dough topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, an earthy pesto sauce, fresh garlic, & a drizzle with olive oil to finish & served with hot marinara sauce. After a long day of hiking, they were the perfect treat. For dinner, Joseph ordered the Huckleberry Hound, a burger served with the restaurant’s homemade barbecue sauce & topped with crispy bacon, sautéed onion, & gooey havarti cheese. I ordered The Ptarmigan, a Middle-Eastern style salad with farro, chopped cucumbers & chickpeas tossed with a lemon-dill dressing & sprinkled with feta cheese. Overly satisfied, we drove back to our campsite & crawled into our sleeping bag, eager for a long night’s rest.

Our final day in Glacier National Park did not disappoint. The day was long & tiring, but the views were so spectacular, I barely even recalled the difficulty of the hike or the long drive to get there & back. And as I began to think about the idea of returning home, I suppose that is a great way to think about approaching all of the days of our lives. They can be long & exhausting, filled with moments we would rather gloss over or forget entirely. Disappointing breakfast burritos can be the start to rather disappointing days if that’s all we remember. But there are other moments that seem too special to allow to be tarnished by the difficulties that brought us there. 

How much better would life be if, instead of trying to make ourselves forget the hard days, we embraced them as part of the hike up to the view we have been waiting for – the experience, the baptism & the start of a new chapter of our lives? It’s hard in the moment to recognize that, even though the trek is difficult, we are still headed to the top, getting closer & closer with every step. And as you skip down the mountain, there is no better feeling than realizing just how far you have come. 

Life in general is a bit of a time warp. The days are long & exhausting, but before you know it, time has flown by. So, before you get too much further in your adventure, take a moment to stop & appreciate the view. You only get it for so long, & that in & of itself makes it too precious to go another second without notice.

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Wyoming & Montana road trip: Highline Trail, Lake McDonald & stargazing (day 9)

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Lake McDonald at sunset

One year ago, I woke up just as early as I did today with one thing in mind – marrying you.

I went for a run around the time you were waking up & making coffee in your hotel room. We deal with our nerves in different ways. But we were both thinking of the same thing.

I pinned sunflowers in my hair & you pinned one to your jacket. We spent the day surrounded by the people we love, but pointedly avoided one another. Divided only by a flight of stairs in the same house, it was tempting to see you, to talk about the excitement with you. You are the person I want to spend all my most exciting moments with. 

It was a humid, August day, but I didn’t notice. I only know because guests told me afterwards. I stood before you in a white dress under an arbor adorned with sunflowers, & I promised myself to you. 

We ate lemon cake, which was a mistake. I originally wanted lemon, but you hate anything citrus & I love you, so we chose peanut butter chocolate. But cutting into that yellow cake made us both happy because I love lemon, & you love me. 

We danced the night away with our friends & family. The night flew by faster than expected. When everyone gathered outside for the final send off, we danced alone under the twinkly lights, serenaded by Louis Armstrong’s “La Vie En Rose.”

Joseph & me dancing our first dance on our wedding day

Today, we woke up early, & we still had the same thing in mind.

“Happy Anniversary,” I whispered. 

“I was supposed to say it first,” you complained. 

“Oh, sorry. Pretend I didn’t say it yet.” We looked up at the dark canvas of our tent, listening to the early morning sounds of the woods.

“Happy Anniversary,” you whispered, & I couldn’t help but smile.

“Happy Anniversary.” 

I got ready & you made coffee. We drove into Glacier National Park, parked at Logan Pass, & began our trek into the mountains on the Highline Trail. It began with a narrow, rocky path with a steep fall to our left. We chatted with the other hikers & gazed out at the breathtaking view below. Our feet carried us above fluffy, white clouds & a valley bathed in pink from the early morning sun. We wound up the sides of mountains & over peaks, stopping to look down at cool glaciers, blue lakes & miles of pine covered mountains dusted in snow. 

As the sun reached the center of the sky, we stopped to rest, & you pulled your phone from your pocket to read to me new vows you had written. I cannot believe how much our love has grown. I thought at the altar, I loved you as much as I possibly could. But today, I love you even more than I did yesterday, & I know tomorrow, it will be even more still. My heart only grows you, & that is one of the many reasons I know we were meant to be together. You help me to be, not only myself, but the person I have always wanted to be. 

Me hiking on the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park

After our hike, we visited St. Mary for coffee & dinner. We ordered a glass of wine & toasted our year married & hopefully many more to come. As the sun lowered in the sky, we drove across the park to Lake McDonald. We sat together on the pebbly beach, gazing out in wonder at the colorful landscape before us. The setting sun was disappearing from the painted sky behind tall purple mountains, reflected into the clear, blue water below that rippled above rainbow colored stones. 

When the sky grew too dark to see, we walked to get ice cream – huckleberry for me & chocolate for you. We sat on a park bench together, happily licking our frozen treats & shivering because it was far too cold for ice cream. 

When we finished, we washed our sticky fingers & then drove to a nearby ranger station to participate in the park’s astronomy program. Amateur astronomers set up sophisticated telescopes so we could look at the stars, but headlights from nearby made it difficult to see & some rather overzealous participants made it difficult to learn. So we laid on the pavement a little farther from the group & just gazed up at the night sky together. We shivered as the air grew colder, but neither one of us wanted to leave. The stars were too beautiful & the night was too perfect. You offered me your jacket, & even though I refused, you draped it around my shoulders because you love me. And I snuggled close to you with a smile because I had planned this night for you & your fascination with the stars, & I love you. 

One year ago, I didn’t know what the next twelve months would bring. I couldn’t have predicted what our happiest & saddest days would be. I didn’t know what mountains we would be climbing, both physically & metaphorically. I didn’t know when the promises we made to each other at the altar would be tested, & I certainly didn’t expect how much more that would grow our love for one another. 

But I did know our love was true, and that no matter what life brought us to, I knew we would make it through together. Sunflowers & lemon cake, mountains & glacier lakes, stars & sunrises, arguments & compromises – it’s been a year of adventures, & I wouldn’t want to traverse this life with anyone else.

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Wyoming & Montana Road Trip: Flying to Bozeman (Day 1)

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The view from our flight to Dallas Love Field Airport

When people ask why Joseph & I decided to drop everything & fly out to Bozeman, MT for an 12-day road trip, there are many different responses I have used to explain. The first & most practical – we had flight credits that were going to expire this September, so we had to go somewhere. The most exciting – Joseph offically graduated from Messiah University as a Clinical Mental Health Therapist last week, & we wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate. One of my personal favorites – we are going to commemorate our one-year wedding anniversary. But the truth is, we just couldn’t resist – it had been too long since we had breathed in the fresh mountain air, & we simply couldn’t survive any longer without going out west.

It was an early start to our day of flying. My alarm went off at 1:30am, far earlier than I am accustomed to waking. I dragged myself out of bed, slipped on my running clothes, and went for a very humid jog in the early morning Maryland air. How was it already 75 degrees? The whole run, I kept thinking about how wonderful it would feel to run without humidity in a few days.

Joseph’s good friend, Matthew, picked us up to go to the airport. We drove through the empty streets to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Joseph & Matthew talking in the front seat, me relaxing in the back of the car. When we arrived, we grabbed our luggage, thanked Matthew for driving us, & officially began our adventure.

Our first challenge came from our luggage. When we were packing, we thought only about keeping our luggage under the weight requirement for Southwest to fly free. What we didn’t think about was how heavy 50 pounds actually is, especially when your bags don’t have wheels to roll them. Panting and sweating from the exertion, we trekked the 30 feet into the airport. Luckily, the bags were dropped off quickly, security went smoothly, & soon we were excitedly seated on our plane, waiting to take off into the sky.

During the first flight, we tried & failed to get some rest after what had already seemed like a long morning of traveling. We arrived at Dallas Love Field Airport bleary-eyed & hungry. We ordered some coffee from Starbucks & then went on the hunt for food, finally settling on sandwiches from Jason’s Deli. We then walked through the airport, trying to find something to occupy our time for the four-and-a-half hours we had to wait for our next flight.

The view from our flight to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport

Our second went by faster than the first. We talked with fellow passenger, Joe, who was traveling to Yellowstone National Park with his family. Joe is an accountant who homeschools his three children, & we enjoyed talking to him about he & his family balance homeschooling with their careers, travel & relationships outside the family.

When we arrived at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, it was clear from the moment we stepped off the plane that we were in Montana. The airport was full of rustic wood & tall windows that gave a beautiful view of the mountain range that surrounded us.

We picked up our rental vehicle & then drove to Chipotle for some much-needed sustenance. On our way out of Bozeman, we stopped by a Safeway to buy champagne to celebrate. We also picked up our Montana Starbucks mug.

On all of our travels, Joseph & I have a list of things we must accomplish in order to earn our souvenir, a Been There Series Starbucks mug. We must walk a main street, hike in a national park, visit a tourist attraction, & eat or drink something local. Normally, we wait until we have completed all of these tasks before picking up our mug, but there has been such a shortage of Starbucks mugs lately that we wanted to make sure to snag our souvenir the moment we saw it, trusting my thoughtfully planned itinerary that we would still check off all that we had to do before the trip was over.

Our final destination for the day was our Airbnb in Driggs, ID, which is only a short distance from the Wyoming state line. On this trip, we will start at the Grand Teton National Park, & then work our way north, hiking in Yellowstone National Park & finishing in Glacier National Park. It’s going to be full of hiking, but today, we were just happy to drink in the sights of Big Sky Country on our drive. The setting sun cast a warm glow on the tall mountains covered in dark green pine & fir trees. We wound up the sides of mountains & drove past fields of cattle & horses. All the while, we listened to music & made silly jokes to keep ourselves awake. By now, we had been awake nearly 24 hours after only three hours of sleep, & the exhaustion was kicking in.

For our Airbnb, we chose a quaint, German-style inn. Our host, Nancy, greeted us at the door & showed us our room. With thick quilts & old paintings & photos of the surrounding areas, the Airbnb has a homey feel, much like visiting grandmother’s house. Joseph poured two glasses of champagne in the disposable water cups at the sink, & we toasted the beginning of our latest adventure & the many, many reasons we have to celebrate this month.

I don’t know yet what this adventure will bring, but after a year since being out west, getting married to the love of my life, & road tripping across the country, I am as grateful & excited as always to be traveling with Joseph by my side.

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