After a few months of separation due the Hubby's work, we are once again reunited and took the opportunity to high tail it out west for some fishing, hiking and together time.
Our first stop was supposed to be South Dakota but there was some ugliness and delays and horror that dare not speak it's name at the airport that pushed our trip back a day and required us to go directly to Montana. No problem - Montana is AWESOME and the views from our lodge we were staying at were an immediate balm to our frazzled travel nerves:
If anyone is looking for an amazing hotel in Bozeman, Montana we can whole heartedly recommend the Gallatin River Lodge. The hotel is just steps from the Gallatin River which was raging when we arrived:
There is a really pretty walk from the hotel to the river over pretty meadows and creeks:
(the Hubby by a little bridge)
The location is gorgeous, plus the chef at the hotel is amazing and we stuffed ourselves with delicious food every night. The hotel also arranged a great fly fishing trip for us on the Madison River. Our guide Tim was really patient with our basic fishing skills and even steered us toward some fish:
It was sometimes a little difficult to concentrate on fishing as the Madison River was beautiful and there was so much to see along the banks:
A real bald eagle!
Poor Tim had his work cut out for him keeping us focused on the fish.
Yeah, Tim was awesome.
Despite wanting to just laze around the lodge all day we did roust ourselves to take a day trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield for the 134th anniversary of the battle. It was an interesting and informative trip and even though the site was the location of a tragic battle it's a beautiful place.
It was a great road trip and the lodge packed us a yummy box lunch that we enjoyed at a picturesque spot on the way back.
While we loved the lodge and I was pretty much ready to live there permanently, we had plans to drive to Jackson, Wyoming so we headed off with a couple of pit stops at some cute towns along the way. First, some snaps of Bozeman before we headed out of town:
The helpful staff at the Lodge recommended a route to Jackson from Bozeman that followed the Madison River and went through the cute town of Ennis, Mt.
While we were in Ennis, MT we realized we were close to Virginia City, MT, the historic gold rush town, and decided to check that out as well:
We didn't just see cute towns on the way to Jackson, we also saw beautiful scenery. First in Beaverhead Deerlodge National Park:
and then along the Continental Divide:
Jackson itself was a fun town. We shopped and ate and enjoyed the sights:
The real beauty of Jackson however is just outside of town. Grand Teton National Park is gorgeous and inspiring:
A great trip! Just the reunion we needed and so wonderful to see another part of the country.