Western Swing

​We’ve been traveling – I mean cutting up the road through Montana to Washington state and soaking up the big wide open spaces.  In ten days we have traveled 1,300 miles and seen more craggy mountains and lush valleys than I thought possible.
 
Here are a few of the views that were so beautiful we had to stop for a picture .

Flattop Mountain in the south-eastern section of Glacier National Park.

We enjoyed this view for two days in Ennis, Montana.

Somewhere in southwest Montana.

From the hip city of Bozeman, where we met up with family members Margo and John, to the wilds of Glacier National Park, the West has captured our imaginations.
 
No overnight backpacking trips since Yellowstone, but we did manage to hike this narrow path at Glacier’s Logan Pass.

The views from the trail were worth the effort.

Looking west from Logan Pass.

I did manage to squeeze in a visit to a Mining Ghost Town to try to find out what my great uncle John Hickey's life was like out here when he migrated from Maine in 1867.  Check back for more about my discoveries in Granite, Montana.

A Joy of Traveling - Meeting Old Friends

From Montana, we drove to a remote spot in Central Washington near the Canadian border to look up a friend I had not seen in 35 years.  Hanna was my roommate at NYU  and we had exchanged holiday cards for years.  She and her husband, David, homesteaded on the edge of a national forest, raised two children and built an incredible home.   

Their garden produce is in good hands when Hanna is cooking and David is an amazing carpenter who built their house, sauna, root cellar and many decorative fences, posts and rails throughout their property.  It was wonderful to be welcomed by Hanna and David and reconnect after so many years! ​​

Reluctantly, we continued our Western Swing, heading to Seattle the next day.