Snapshot of America: She Fell Down

Our time in Idaho was short. We didn't know northern Idaho had so much to offer! It's really beautiful and full of magnificent lakes. It is not potato country though. We were disappointed to discover this. A big thanks to Tim and Jill, Mindi's family, who took us in for a night, fed us a yummy meal, and convinced us we needed to make a return trip to Idaho.

Montana greeted us with this guy. We found him on a travel magazine at the rest area. We made it our Montana mission to find him.

As we drove through Montana, we kept seeing signs for huckleberry. Huckleberry everything. Whole stores devoted to huckleberry. Naturally we had to stop and check it out. We ended up with huckleberry ice cream and a huckleberry shake. Tasty berries!

Our first stop in Montana was Glacier National Park. I can not imagine this place in the winter. The snow was so deep. Because it was melting the waterfalls were magnificent and plentiful. We saw one glacier, Jackson Glacier. Having been to Alaska, we think of ourselves as glacial experts. I will tell you this, Glacier National Park was beautiful but if you want to see glaciers, trek to Alaska. We kayaked in Swiftcurrent Lake. The water was freezing!!! Good thing we didn't fall in! It's the clearest water, though. We have seen some of the cleanest lakes on this trip! We saw a coyote meandering down the road. We drove the scenic Going to the Sun Road.

These are the rocks along the lake shores. They are beautiful!

We drove through Montana. It's vast and remote. You definitely don't have to worry about pesky neighbors here. We always wonder where these people grocery shop. And I must give props to UPS. We have seen UPS trucks in some of the most remote parts of this country!

We ended the night just outside of Big Sky. Our camping neighbors just happened to be a bluegrass band. One pick in the banjo and we were all ears. Listening to bluegrass music by a campfire in Montana is a great way to end the night. We also learned, thanks to a major thunderstorm, that our tent doesn't leak. Good to know.

Mindi has wanted to ride a horse in Montana since we left. So we ended up at Jake's Horses in Big Sky. She says this, "I'm so excited to ride a horse in Montana! You know, I'm a little skittish around horses." We saddle up anyway, ready for a two hour ride through picture postcard scenery. We end up on horses that look identical. Beaver and Lilly. Looks is where the similarities end. Mindi gets a horse that happily trots along. He keeps up. He does what he should. Lilly has zero interest in what we are doing. She wants to eat. This isnt allowed and I try to get her to stop. She gives me a head shake and eats anyway. This causes us to fall farther and farther behind. (You can see from the pictures that I am not behind Mindi as I should be.) And a good kick (or ten) doesn't phase her. Nothing. I'm not too worried. I figure as long as I have them in my sight all is well. And all was well until it wasn't. Lilly fell down. True story. The horse fell to the ground. Seeing that I was on her back....you can imagine what happened. My 'fall off a horse that is falling' instincts kicked in. Mindi said I yelled 'she fell down.' She turned in time to see me crawling. I knew I needed to roll off and get out of the way! I didn't want her to step on me. We both popped right back up. Lane, our trusty cowboy guide, helped me back in the saddle. The only causulty was the dirt on my jeans. I'll let you know that the second half of the ride went just like the first. Lilly eating her way along while we fell farther and farther behind.