Up early again. It's strange that the sunrise doesn't seem to match the sunset. It's light by 5:30 here. You would think the sun would rise later since it sets so much later, but that is obviously not the case. Oh well, we have to get going anyway. The GPS is saying its a 6 hour ride down to Big Sky and we still need to get the oil changed today. So we packed up the site and were out of the campgrounds by 8:30. Yes, it takes us 3 hours to get 7 people up, showered, fed and the campsite packed. And, I haven't had a coffee in 2 days....need coffee!!!
So we set off and it's nice that the ride down from Glacier is so different then the ride up to Glacier. We are now on the western side of the state and it is much greener and mountainous than the Eastern/Center regions. I like these views. I am definitely a mountain girl. The roads out are winding and the mountains feel like they are surrounding us on all sides. The other benefit of coming out of the mountains are the mountain streams and rivers that add to the overall picture. The funny part of the ride are the suicide gofers. As you travel down these mountain roads, averaging 75+ miles and hour, you have these gofers who like to play chicken with the cars. It's kind of like the squirrels back home, buy these guys are much faster. It was like playing dodge ball trying to avoid all these critters without endangering the passengers. The kids liked the game, but after a while I was getting sick of it because the more I had to watch for the critters the less I got to enjoy the scenery.
The other natural site the kids particularly enjoyed in Montana are the horses that appear to roam free. Sometimes, you come around a curve and there are horses right there along the side of the road or just up on the grass. They aren't in big groups like the cows, but they are often with at least one other horse. They are so graceful looking as they stand in the tall grass and graze. I wonder if they play the license plate game too?!?!
We drove up until about 1 pm and then stopped for lunch and an oil change in Helena. What a nice city. So different than the big cities in the east. It was like a flat, sprawling Framingham. It had every store you can imagine in all directions. But, it's so clean and not nearly as congested. Everyone is incredibly friendly and nice. We found a Jiffy Lube for a jiffy change. We arrived just after one of their machines malfunctioned and spewed transmission fluid all over the guys in the garage. Hmmm, I hope this isn't some foreshadowing. They still greeted us with a smile and took the car in right away. We went inside to wait and to the enjoyment of the kids there, on the floor, lays a Chocolate Lab with Yellow eyes named Buck. Buck adored the attention from the kids and happily laid there on the floor getting tummy rubs while we waited. Turns out his owner is the unfortunate guy getting the transmission fluid changed. So, Buck hung out with us and kept the kids busy while we waited. In no time the car had fresh oil, vacuumed carpets and clean windows. Well worth the $40!
We arrived in Big Sky (the town) by 5pm. We were trying to follow Beth's driving directions to find the house. The Resorts in this town are gorgeous! This is a ski resort town with lots of beautiful condominiums overlooking the mountains. As we continued up the big mountain side the resort housing got bigger and bigger. If felt like we were going on forever. So, when I questioned our direction following abilities I called Beth & Pat and they assured me that the Moonlight Basin resort is at the 'top' of the mountain. So, we kept going. We knew we arrived when we encountered the grand, stone masoned entry way. It was like entering a kingdom. Beth met us at the entry way so we could follow her up to the house. As we drove through the resort, the houses just kept getting bigger and bigger until we finally arrived at her sister's house...Oh my! This place is almost a palace! It is over 8000 square feet sitting right on the side of a mountain. During ski season you can ski right up to the back porch! This place is absolutely beautiful. I took pictures, but it will never give you the perspective that we have just sitting here. I am sitting at a dining table that seats 10 people. It has a lodge like decor, with timber framed beams. Cabinets in the kitchen are made from reclaimed wood.
I could go on describing this house for hours. It was
amazing and we can’t thank Beth and Pat enough for inviting us to join them.
It’s nice to have a comfy place to sleep and do laundry before our week in the
very rustic campsites of Yellowstone. The updates may come less frequently from
Yellowstone. Not sure how often we will find a place to connect. Don’t worry
though. I’ll do the updates in a Word doc and then upload them when I can ;-)
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