We were super bummed to miss out on the Elwood's summer reunion trip to bike the Hiawatha Trail in Montana earlier this summer. And then Gregg's parents made a little trip up there to do the same (they had gotten excited when we were talking about our excitement for it). And to top it all off, Sam had made a goal this year to go on a 15 mile bike ride. Hiawatha is 15 miles! We just had to get up there! Luckily our schedule is pretty flexible, so we finally booked a couple hotel rooms before Labor Day weekend (kind of a tricky thing to do in those parts, apparently!) and made a quick trip to Montana/Idaho to ride our bikes on THE most beautiful rail trail . . . EVER!
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| Disc golf and park time in Blackfoot, ID on our journey up on Thursday (2 September) evening. |
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| Another park stop in Lima, MT. |
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| This was a super fun teeter totter. (I thought it was the first one ever, but I guess it was just their first awesome one ever. ;) |
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| Good clouds in Lima. |
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| We had started this one on libby on our Sunrise Campout trip, but then it was returned and the wait was long, so I got the "old fashioned" CD version from the library so we could finish it up. It was a fun story, filled with adventure and family and good old fashioned summer fun. (And an awful lot of fun similes ;) |
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| Friday morning (3 Sep) we drove from our stopping point in Deerfield, MT a few hours further to Lookout Pass, ID (it's just barely across the border, and the time zone!) to pick up our passes and rental lights to attach to our bikes. Then back down the road a few miles to the start of the trail. We were so excited as we approached the first tunnel! |
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| We made it through the mile-long tunnel! It was cold and wet and muddy and . . . awesome! |
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| We just kept ooohing and aaaahing about the views and the scenery. And we had the best weather: perfect blue sky, clear air, not too hot or cold! |
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| An attempt at a tunnel pic. |
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| Down yonder is one of the many trestles we'll get to cross! |
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| First trestle! |
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| Lunch break on some old railroad ties. |
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| I love the look of the tunnel entrances/exits. |
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| Looking down on this trestle gave me some serious vertigo vibes. |
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| The kids had no fear, but Gregg an I were more than happy to get away from those wire railings! Yikes! |
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| Way above those tall evergreen trees! |
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| We finished! I can't remember how long it took us because I was so confused by all the time changes my phone was giving me. But 15 miles in 3 or 4 hours, I think? |
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| On the shuttle back to the first tunnel, which we got to ride through again on the way back to the car. |
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| A few paintbrush still blooming! |
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| Sam was wiped out! (And notice his splattered pants and shoes - those tunnels were quite muddy!) |
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| Not asleep, but plenty pooped herself! |
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| Had to stop in St. Regis for a famous huckleberry shake and some tots for good measure (and to tide us over till pizza for dinner!). |
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| And the pool was open and empty at our hotel! Happy day! |
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| Bridge Pizza for dinner in Missoula - good stuff! |
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| And of course a fun playground to check out nearby. |
bonus video!
one more swim before we hit the road on Saturday morning.
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| Lots of driving = lots of audiobook time. This is actually the fourth in the series, and we haven’t read or listened to any of the others, but we still enjoyed the fun story of siblings trying to solve a mystery after their older siblings go away to school. |
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| Park stop in Pocatello on Saturday (5 September). |
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| We pulled into our driveway to see this fun heart attack surprise from Gma and Gpa Blanchard. That sure was a fun sight! |
Goal accomplished! A little later and a little shorter of a trip and a lot less extended family time than we were planning and hoping, but we did it and we loved it and we will definitely go back!
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