It might not seem so, but I didn't get nearly as many photos while on our trip as I would have liked. And one photo opportunity that we ALL missed was taking any shots of the family when everyone was all together (I think there ended up being 12 of us in all). Do any of you all have a similar story of getting a group together after many years and getting so caught up in the moment forgetting to document?

However, the next day I did manage to get one people shot

(From right to left: J making one of his "I'm on the wrong side of the camera" faces, J's brother Ned, Ned's girlfriend Addie, and Laura - J and Ned's awesomely sweet mom!)

And then back to shots around "town"...
On a visit to Missoula's carousel, which I'm told is made from all hand-carved and hand-painted wood for the horses. It's my understanding (though I could be wrong on this one) that they were each done by local artists.

So, can you see what I saw in this sign, which put a smile on my face and my camera to my eye?? (and I'll say it's pretty true, from our assessment)

The giant chess set on the patio of Bayern brewery - one of Ned's hobbies.

And back to the scenery shots:
First thing in the morning from the back door of the neighbors' garage apartment where J and I were staying

As the light begins to change...

Becoming a gorgeous day!

The still partially frozen Seeley Lake

And I'll end this post with the few shots I got of the herd of elk we saw on our way back to the homestead. Being the city girl that I am, I apparently scared them off before we got a good shot, but maybe I'll know for next time (and thankfully the only things with which we were shooting were cameras... if it had been hunting season the response to my scaring them off would have been VERY DIFFERENT, I am sure)!

Takin' a little time away. Y'all know how that goes!

J and I are spending the better part of the week outside Missoula, Montana visiting with his folks and other family.

We headed out of Portland Tuesday morning, amidst slightly grey skies and moderate temperatures. After several hours along the Columbia River Gorge and on through eastern Washington we hit the Idaho panhandle and crossed into Montana. The weather was on our side, let me tell you! Though the pass looked something like this:

we were driving with the windows open, short-sleeved shirts, and the on-board thermometer wavered between 61° and 75°! I think I even got some sun on my ankles while J was taking us through! Ah, sunshine!

Our first day was a mellow one, where the big activities were a long walk with the Swofford dogs, followed by a big family dinner (I think there were 13 or 14 of us in all). I took some photos on the walk (tried to use the Hassleblad but there's always so much time between uses it takes me too long to reacquaint myself, so I stuck with the little point-and-shoot digi).