Montana!

A few weeks ago the Dower fam (or most of us...we were missing a few key components) trekked up to Red Lodge, Montana for a short escape from the heat and some down time. Montana is BEAUTIFUL and I definitely wish we could have stayed longer than five days. Unfortunately, Bets and Rob both had to work so we were down a few. We've already started planning our getaway for next summer (Michigan, here we come!) and next time everyone will be there! I'm already excited!

Anyways, back to Montana. We got to stay in the most amazing house loaned to us by some great family friends, and even made it up to Yellowstone for the day! Even though it was kind of a haul to get up there, it was definitely one of my favorite days. Here is a little peek into our vacay!

In true Dower fashion we left at 11 pm and drove through the night. And by "drove through the night" I mean  my parents traded off driving while we all slept in the back. And when we were awake...we watched Modern Family while my parents took turns driving. We have really awesome parents.

After 16 hours in the car we were so excited when we finally made it to the mountains...and this was our incredible view...




 We played lots of cards and went down to the cute Main Street a few times. Ted won a lot. He is like a gin rummy wizard.

 

My mom loves handle-less mugs...they had this great pottery shop with TONS of "hug mugs"...my mom was in heaven!


All the "kids" who made the trip! This river was just down the mountain from the house and you could here it rushing all the time. I loved sitting on the porch and just listening to the water!



My precious parents.


Joe Henry really loves wild animals.

I LOVED the old fashioned candy store. We filled up a bag with tons of taffy, from cake batter to bacon and eggs flavor. So fun!
 



Hanging out on the cute Main Street.

They're so funny.
 



 Tedder striking a pose while Joe and I were up on the mountain taking some of his senior pictures (still to come!).
 

On our way to Yellowstone we stopped at a scenic overlook and fed the chipmunks! So fun...and kind of creepy. They would just walk up to you and steady themselves with their little paws on your hand while they ate the sunflower seeds.
 



My brothers jumped the fence and went on an "adventure hike"...I'm sure my mother will have a heart palpitations when she sees these pictures. Which is why I didn't show them to her...until now...when they are safely back home in flat Kansas. :)

 I love my baby brothers. :)

But we REALLY missed our sister.











These bison would NOT move...but that was ok with us! We loved watching them out the window and took about 100 pictures. :) Joe Henry was cracking us up because the day before he had ordered a buffalo burger at lunch and if one got really close to the car he would roll down the window and yell "I ate your brother...HE WAS DELICIOUS!" He's so funny.

 

We got to Old Faithful RIGHT as she was exploding....so we caught the tail end of it all then explored for a while until we could watch it from start to finish.

At the Old Faithful Inn. My mom stayed here on a family vacation years ago and my aunt super glued her foot to the wall and had to rip off the wall paper to get her foot off. Seems very typical of the Mauck side...always keeping things exciting. :)

After picking up some ice cream we went and grabbed front row seats for the next "show." I chose an orange push-pop for my treat...I loved these when I was a kid!





My "Hi" text message to Rob from Old Faithful!
 On our way back we stopped at Yellowstone Lake. There are so many things to see in the Yellowstone, I called Robby that day and said I definitely want to take a family vacation to the park someday. I loved it!

 I love my dad. :)

At the Continental Divide...it was Joe's idea to lean with the divide. :)

Like father, like son.
 

Everyone was trying to skip rocks and after not having a lot of luck, Joe decided to just try and toss the biggest rock possible in to the lake. Ted thought that looked fun. Here are my macho, super strong, silly brothers.



Hanging out on the porch one morning...ignore the fact that I just woke up, and definitely look like it.
 

 I left my camera out there and later found some extra pictures on it. Like this one. :)

On our last night in town we went down to this great local bar (The Snag Bar) and watched the opening ceremonies. I don't know if it was the tiny bar, all the locals in it, the opening ceremonies, the local beers, or what...but we had A BLAST! Definitely one of my favorite nights. :)



 We left the next day and must have seen at least at least 5 rainbows on the way home. We even saw a triple rainbow (unfortunately after my camera had already died). Like I said, when I was out there I took some of Joe's senior pictures, but I didn't say that his sweet girlfriend also let me practice my photo skills by taking some pictures of her! I'll share those and a few I took of them together in the next couple days! Also, I'm thinking up changing up my blog design a little. Just going for something more clean and streamlined. Don't be surprised if things seem different or out of order over the next couple days. Until then....