"TRAIL OF TEARS" A THROUGH C

our family "trail of tears" was terrific to tell you the truth (and for all that tempting alliteration, you. are. welcome!). we stayed in thompson falls, montana, glacier national park, bozeman, montana, yellowstone national park, grand teton national park, jackson hole wyoming, and mount rainier national park, along with a stop over in baker's city, oregon.

and behold! for your reading pleasure, our trip highlights from A to Z, beginning today with A, B and C.

A


A & W: lots of little towns seem to be holding on to their A & W restaurants. lucky us. a frosty mug really hits the spot on a road trip.


ADDISON: we celebrated our nephew and cousin's 14th birthday! and what did his great aunt's get him? the book everything men know about women...and it was blank. awesome.



ALPINE MEADOWS: glacier was so beautiful, as was rainier.


ANIMALS: no, i don't mean the boys. we saw so many amazing wild animals on this trip! mountain goats and a big horn sheep in glacier, elk, a grizzly and bison in yellowstone, moose and pronghorn antelope in teton, and of course lots of other little critters and birds and whatnot.


ANNE'S 85TH: we also celebrated my grandma's 85th anniversary. happy birthday, grandma!

B


BANDANAS: our family reunion was in bozeman, montana this year and i brought red bandanas for our family photo prop (it's a tradition! last time it was fake mustaches!). some of the varied looks sported by my family members? the boy scout, the bib, and the blindfold. this group of people is so awesome and totally hilarious.


BEAR: we saw a grizzly! i've always wanted to see one and we did in yellowstone. i could have watched her forage for bugs and whatnot along the river for hours.


BINGO BARN: at our reunion, we played bingo in my aunt and uncles new barn. yee haw!


BISON AND THEIR BABIES: ok, baby bison are cute. seriously. and kinda orange. big bison are, uh, not cute, but totally ginormous, amazing creatures. i was completely fascinated.


BUBBLING CRUDE: our name for the many mud pots, steam vents and geysers covering the yellowstone landscape. that place is like being on some other planet.

C


CAMDEN: we got to see our sweet nephew and cousin at the reunion. he's chunkier, and even cuter and sweeter than the last time we smooched his yummy little head. love that little serious face!


CAMPER TRAILING: hudson's term for our new tent trailer, the 'camper trailer,' morphed into our new word for camping (which, by the way, is awesome. bye bye tent! hello running water!).

COLTER BAY RV PARK: in teton, we actually stayed in an rv park. cool! we are total trailer folk now. it's official.

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE: passed that sucker more than once. momentous, ain't it?