Our Family Vacation 2014: Day One and Day Two
Sorry its taken me so long to post, I have had to do soooooooooooo much catch up this past week. Apparently four people being out of town for four days equals a week's worth of extra work. I had to do several loads of laundry, catch up on missed work, make sure the kids are bathed and brushed consistently (we aren't so strict on hygiene while we camp, gross I know but we are outdoorsy people), subbed for several people at work and Benton is here with us too. I am also preparing for next week's Cheer and Dance Camp, Alan's last week of preschool camp, Theatre Camp and getting ready for school to start! Insert stressed scream HERE! Our trip was well worth it though!
Day one was actually quite short for us, we didn't start traveling until after eight o'clock at night. I had to teach my Tumble 2 class before we could leave, then we had to pack the car/load the kids in the car and get gas. By the time we left Billings, it was dark outside! However, we still made good time.
We stopped once in Columbus, that's when we first noticed the car's problem. Lon's Caddy had started acting funky while we went over the hills, so we wanted to check everything. Then we drove the rest of the way to Bozeman. It was a long, crazy night drive. We passed by some deer, I was so afraid that they would run across the road but thankfully we kept an eye on them and they didn't. We passed through so many darn construction detours that we lost count! It was crazy! Well as they say in Montana, you have two seasons here: winter and construction season. There's a lot of truth to that lol!
By the time we made it to Bozeman, it was almost one in the morning. We got a hotel room at the local Holiday Inn, the kiddos' first ever night in a hotel room! We sacked out almost right away, but both Alan and Anna woke us up with the sun lol. They were so excited to be in a hotel room! Anna ran all over the room and Alan loved the flat screen tv they had. He thought it was the coolest. :P Silly guy!
We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. I had an omelet, the kids both had pancakes and fruit and Lon got the classic biscuits and gravy. It was all so yummy! The perfect thing to fuel us for our long day of driving! :) We headed for Missoula, where we would hopefully meet up with my sisters and mother. We left very early, surprisingly early considering the checkout time for the room was noon. And we were making great time. Until we hit the mountains right before Butte that I-90 cut right through…
As we were driving up and down, up and down, the car started acting funky again. Just as Butte came into view, the Check Engine light clicked on. So we pulled into the nearest gas station, checked the oil and fueled up, stopping to ask the clerk where the nearest lube station was. He directed us to the Walmart in town, just a ways down the street. We then preceded to wait the next FOUR hours until our engine was "checked" and we even had the person in front of us in the line leave halfway through our wait because she had waited for sooooooo long too! C'mon Butte!
We entertained the children by walking them through the toy aisles maybe a billion times and we ended up buying them Lunchables to eat while we waited too. Finally, around 5 in the afternoon, we headed for Missoula. I was ready to get out of Butte lol, I had had enough of them! :P We made it to Missoula in a decent amount of time but it had taken so long at Butte, my sisters and mother had already left for Polson. So we took a short break and then it was back on the road again!
Just out of Polson, we stopped at a rest area with a gorgeous view! We let Alan and Anna run around all over the park area, took some tourist photos lol, and even did some cardio and stretches! It was so nice out there, not too hot and just amazing! I could seriously live there, that view! Here are the photos we took:
We finally made it to Polson, met up with my sister and followed her around the simply stunning Flathead Lake and to our campsite. It was a long, twisty drive but the majority of it wrapped around the lake and the Mission Mountain. So pretty! When we made it to camp, we ate dinner real quick and set up camp so we could put Alan and Anna down to bed. It was such a long day for them, they were beyond beat. Not to mention that I had some girl partying to do with my sister and her ladies at camp! :P You heard me! We are so redneck we had my sister's Bachelorette Party at camp lol! Because we are cool like that!
And that ends our Day Two. We drove so much we thought that we were completely lost a few times, set up camp, and celebrated Natalie's last night of being single. Yay! Tune in tomorrow for Day Three: Natalie and Jake's Wedding! Be prepared for a photo dump!
Day One: Driving from Billings to Bozeman
Day one was actually quite short for us, we didn't start traveling until after eight o'clock at night. I had to teach my Tumble 2 class before we could leave, then we had to pack the car/load the kids in the car and get gas. By the time we left Billings, it was dark outside! However, we still made good time.
We stopped once in Columbus, that's when we first noticed the car's problem. Lon's Caddy had started acting funky while we went over the hills, so we wanted to check everything. Then we drove the rest of the way to Bozeman. It was a long, crazy night drive. We passed by some deer, I was so afraid that they would run across the road but thankfully we kept an eye on them and they didn't. We passed through so many darn construction detours that we lost count! It was crazy! Well as they say in Montana, you have two seasons here: winter and construction season. There's a lot of truth to that lol!
By the time we made it to Bozeman, it was almost one in the morning. We got a hotel room at the local Holiday Inn, the kiddos' first ever night in a hotel room! We sacked out almost right away, but both Alan and Anna woke us up with the sun lol. They were so excited to be in a hotel room! Anna ran all over the room and Alan loved the flat screen tv they had. He thought it was the coolest. :P Silly guy!
Day Two: Driving from Bozeman to Flathead Lake
We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. I had an omelet, the kids both had pancakes and fruit and Lon got the classic biscuits and gravy. It was all so yummy! The perfect thing to fuel us for our long day of driving! :) We headed for Missoula, where we would hopefully meet up with my sisters and mother. We left very early, surprisingly early considering the checkout time for the room was noon. And we were making great time. Until we hit the mountains right before Butte that I-90 cut right through…
As we were driving up and down, up and down, the car started acting funky again. Just as Butte came into view, the Check Engine light clicked on. So we pulled into the nearest gas station, checked the oil and fueled up, stopping to ask the clerk where the nearest lube station was. He directed us to the Walmart in town, just a ways down the street. We then preceded to wait the next FOUR hours until our engine was "checked" and we even had the person in front of us in the line leave halfway through our wait because she had waited for sooooooo long too! C'mon Butte!
We entertained the children by walking them through the toy aisles maybe a billion times and we ended up buying them Lunchables to eat while we waited too. Finally, around 5 in the afternoon, we headed for Missoula. I was ready to get out of Butte lol, I had had enough of them! :P We made it to Missoula in a decent amount of time but it had taken so long at Butte, my sisters and mother had already left for Polson. So we took a short break and then it was back on the road again!
Just out of Polson, we stopped at a rest area with a gorgeous view! We let Alan and Anna run around all over the park area, took some tourist photos lol, and even did some cardio and stretches! It was so nice out there, not too hot and just amazing! I could seriously live there, that view! Here are the photos we took:
We finally made it to Polson, met up with my sister and followed her around the simply stunning Flathead Lake and to our campsite. It was a long, twisty drive but the majority of it wrapped around the lake and the Mission Mountain. So pretty! When we made it to camp, we ate dinner real quick and set up camp so we could put Alan and Anna down to bed. It was such a long day for them, they were beyond beat. Not to mention that I had some girl partying to do with my sister and her ladies at camp! :P You heard me! We are so redneck we had my sister's Bachelorette Party at camp lol! Because we are cool like that!
And that ends our Day Two. We drove so much we thought that we were completely lost a few times, set up camp, and celebrated Natalie's last night of being single. Yay! Tune in tomorrow for Day Three: Natalie and Jake's Wedding! Be prepared for a photo dump!
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