Short Trip to Montana

We've probably been to Montana more in the last three months than in the past 10 years!  There have been two funerals (very sad) and two wedding receptions (very happy).

This time we drove over for my cousin's wedding reception, near Great Falls.  We stopped about halfway, in Missoula, for lunch at Cafe Dolce.

Interesting ceiling.

Kylen got our glasses and water.  :)

I didn't order any tea, but I would be interested in trying some if we make it back there again.

Fresh OJ!  More pulpy than I like but otherwise very good.

I didn't care for my bolognese (little flavor, mostly noodle, served lukewarm), but I would totally order one of their sandwiches.  Greg's was excellent, especially the textures.  The bread was soft inside, crispy outside.  And I liked the salad - very fresh, and the dressing was good.

Yummy ice cream!

After that delightful and relaxing layover, it was back to the highway!

We could see the effects of fires the entire drive, a slight haze in the sky.  At one point, we could see active fires, and we passed a bunch of firefighters once.  Here's a spot where it was particularly bad.

What should have been three more hours of driving turned into five or six, because we missed a critical turn.  We arrived two hours late and missed major portions of the reception such as cutting the cake.  But I did get a picture of the bride and groom just before the sun went down!

What a fun guestbook: a scrapbook!

Our hotel in Great Falls was nice.  They had fake fish in the water dispenser!  Lol!

The next morning, we met family at a Starbuck's where the bride works.  She helped make our drinks.  :)

An aunt and cousin.

We all went to the groom's house to watch the video of their wedding, since we didn't make it to their ceremony several weeks earlier.

The groom's father.

Everyone ate at MacKenzie River Pizza.

We had such a great time, we were sad to leave!

Late Summer Outing

To celebrate Kylen's completion of hunter's ed, we treated him out to dinner at Clinkerdagger.  It was such a nice evening that afterwards, we took a leisurely walk beside the river.  :)

We could still see traces of a wedding below that had just ended.

 

This is Kylen's meal, which he LOVED.  I have mixed feelings about this place.  The food is good but not good enough to justify the prices.  The outside seating and views were a bonus, but we had to deal with bees (which - to their credit - they warned us about).  It wasn't horrible, but it was annoying. One of my biggest complaints is that the food was sloppily plated.  You don't see it on Kylen's plate below (I cleaned it up a bit with my photo editor), but my plate was excessively sloppy with smears of food everywhere.  I don't remember having this problem at any other restaurant, except maybe a place like Denny's.  It's inexcusable at a pricey establishment.  And our server was quite cool, almost to the point of rudeness.

Time for our walk!  This area is right next to the restaurant.

On to the falls!

Greg captured a couple of really nice shots of the dam!

July 2017

July was another busy month, between Greg and Kylen's play and various get-togethers.  We had my brother's family over, I went out to lunch with a friend, we met old college pals at a restaurant when one was in town:

It was time to change the theme for the decor in our living area and put away the word magnets on the fridge.  Some of my favorite words/phrases this time:

he he he
time to play ball with the dragon . . . fire is joy
the space battle is live
geeking out about digital galoshes
never grow up
i am dad . . . you are my family
man, the white cloud's so soft
will they pull off an empire from dark hard drive interface?
good woman . . . teach us of speed cooking . . . do not ask it of me
that's no moon
i love you . . . i know
i think that kid's the avatar
to err is computer
the server always downloads their horrible upgrade
you make me believe in love [One of Greg's contributions!  Awwwww!]
how could boy monkey write linear source code for his dream girl?
share a silly garden together
imagine red candy . . . so sinister
wifi would rule one day
sing techy treky live action bot performance
say, it's a pig play
easy friend, put this stun tube under a bed
behind every system, there are mountains of information
get smarter
program more video game content
virus or cold?
she was sad when hub wanted laptop [written by me, of course lol]

I posted about the 4th of July here.

We went to a graduation at a roller rink!

I posted about the play here.

I got such a kick out of these coconuts at the grocery store.  I probably could have done an entire photo shoot with them.  :)  Greg took a few pics for me with his phone.

I posted about my birthday here.

And that was July!