Montana Family Reunion
(not our real family) reunion
As if we haven't logged enough miles already this month…
Our friends had asked us a year ago if we had any interest in attending their family reunion in Montana this summer and we said yes… but I'm pretty sure when they brought it up again a few months ago they didn’t actually think we would show up. Let this be a lesson to all of you to be careful before you make an offer- we aren't really in the habit of saying no to anything (and the handful of family members we’d already met we absolutely adored)!!
With the reunion quickly approaching we got in a few more evenings of beach volleyball and then hit the road early morning bound for Montana. We crossed the border and headed east though central Washington. Stopped along the way another roadside install (this time to connect our propane tank to the cooktop and marine grill and make sure we could begin cooking full meals. Long overdo, but these projects continue proving difficult while living in the van and mostly boondocking.
It has been a while since we've made this drive and it brought back tons of memories of weekends spent backpacking, watching concerts in the gorge and rock climbing. We couldn't help but to stop at Frenchman’s Coulee just down from the gorge amphitheater to camp for the night. So many fun nights have been spent here with friends before and after rock climbing or concerts down the road.
We have always loved this place and we spent the last hour or so before sunset scrambling around in our flip flops cursing ourselves again for not having better gear but also not caring as we had a blast taking in the scenery and watching the climbers trying to get one last route in before dark.
Sadly, while our climbing shoes are in the van, our harnesses and rope are still sitting back in portland. That’s two trips in a row where we are seriously lacking in gear. We vowed to return to feathers and central washington soon (meaning anyone looking for a few days on the trail should let us know now so we can make plans!)…but regardless, next time we stop in portland EVERYTHING goes in the van!
We still had a long drive to MT, so we snapped a few more photos with sunrise and then hit the road. We rolled into the reunion after most of the family but then got to relax at the lodge for the next three days soaking up everyone as though it was family of our own. Games, epic meals and maybe just a few too many drinks each day and we left stuffed and cheeks hurting from the laughter.
So sweet of this entire family to act as though we belonged and had always been there. It’s not that we haven't crashed parties before…but these people tried so hard to make us feel like family that it barely felt like crashing at all.
We spent three days in montana playing games, getting to know the whole family and catching up each night back at the cabin with the immediate family. We also ate (and drank) a bit too much over the course of those days, but, when in montana...
