Montana trip in pictures

The cabin, Ennis MT

Relaxing on the back porch.

My first drive around the lake we spot many many critters. Here, antelope graze.

The sisters take me shopping downtown Ennis and we stop for lunch (and huckleberry ice cream!!) at the Ennis Pharmacy.

Brad took us out for a float down the Madison - we saw 5 eagles that day! (3 bald, 2 golden). Here, Todd teaches Sawyer how to skip rocks.

Sawyer enjoys being on the boat, but he likes more 1) reeling in fish that his daddy caught 2) looking for rocks in shallow parts of the river and 3) rowing the boat and 4) fishing with his Spiderman fishing pole.

Brad instructs Todd where to cast - he knows enough to leave me to my own casting devices. :)

On our trip up to Glacier, we stop and see Sawyer's mom and boyfriend Michael in Missoula. They kindly offered us a free place to stay for the night - a luxury motor coach!

The next morning, Jill takes me horse back riding! She rode her own horse while I rode a (chubby) sweet older horse named Yuma.

View from atop of Yuma. It was a beautiful morning for a leisurely ride.

We stopped at a brewery for lunch in White Fish on our way up to Glacier from Missoula.

Our first looks at Glacier were a little rainy, but it soon cleared up to reveal amazing scenery.

At the peak of the "Going-to-the-Sun" road, we stopped and hiked The Hidden Lake Nature Trail. The views were nice, but the various critter sitings - a two-color version of the woodhcuck, marmots, picas and mountain goats - were even better.

Rock chuck - their version of a wood chuck.

So many really beautiful wild flowers in bloom.

Pink, purple, yellow and white flowers.

Snow and streams of run off dotted the Hidden Lake Nature Trail.

At the Red Rocks, Waterton National Park, Canada

Our adventurous hike through berry-filled bear country in Waterton took us to this serene lake. We got caught in a wicked storm on the way back!

Todd checking out some road side signs in Waterton.

Our last morning in Glacier we again rode the Many Glacier road - the colors that day were just astounding.

Having both come down with colds, we are extremely happy to make it back to Ennis. Here, a baby deer comes to visit us in the yard! We were wondering where her mother was and about an hour later she appeared - happy baby!

Once Roger has recovered from the flight out, we take the chance to get some family photos.

Hot tubbing with superhero action figures is one of Sawyer's favorite pass times at the cabin.

Todd and I go for an evening ride around Lake Ennis and witness a beautiful sunset from the day's smokey sky. Smoke from wildfires in Idaho kept me inside for a few days in Ennis.

On our last day, Todd and I take Sawyer to Virginia City. Here we are on the little train ride that goes back and forth between Virginia and Nevada Cities, two gold-mining frontier towns.