Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest I feel most alive surrounded by trees and breathing in the fresh mountain air.
When I am not working you will most likely find me spending time outdoors, volunteering with my church and exploring this beautiful planet with my family.
This is my place to share my passion for life and to encourage you to take time to find the extraordinary in your life.
All tagged Montana
While in Whitefish I had the opportunity to spend some time with the owners of Sweet Peaks, Marissa and Sam. I met them at their Whitefish shop early one morning and were greeted by six smiling faces (five of which comprised their family and one employee). After spending just moments with them I was immediately impressed by their friendliness and teamwork. In my opinion you can tell a lot about a couple by how they interact with their children and Marissa and Sam seem to be equally adored by them. Aside from their great personalities and adorable family Marissa and Sam are serving up some killer ice cream; from salty caramel and chocolate love to strawberry sorbet and honey cinnamon their flavors are intense, but not overpowering and the creaminess of their ice cream is unparalleled. My morning spent with Marissa and Sam was a good reminder of the type of people I like my money to support and reinforced my belief in the importance of both eating and shopping locally.
I have always wanted to visit Glacier National Park in the Winter and a couple weeks ago we finally made it happen. One of my favorite things to do is hike the same trails over and over again, but during different seasons. I had heard the Going to the Sun road was closed during the Winter, but being able to walk along it instead of drive was a thrill. In general, the park was quiet, and beautiful, but it was also a good reminder how traveling during the off season will always have its benefits.
We just returned from spending a few relaxing days in Whitefish, Montana. During our time there we hiked in Glacier National park, cooked delicious meals together and enjoyed being outside as much as possible. However, a majority of our time was spent enjoying the comfort and beauty of a wonderful place called River Meadow Ranch. River Meadow Ranch is a gorgeous property boasting not one, but two spectacular rental homes. The first home is a five bedroom, three bath fully restored hand hewn log home and the second home (the one we stayed in) is a newly built five bedroom, four bath house located on seven acres and offering stunning mountain views.
Over the Fourth of July weekend we rented a three bedroom condo in Whitefish, MT with some friends. Although we had visited Whitefish a couple times in the past on our way to Glacier National Park, we had never spent any significant time there. We realized once we were there the four days we had planned to be there was not nearly enough time to enjoy all Whitefish, MT had to offer. During our time there we spent a morning hiking up Big Mountain, and then riding the gondola back down, another morning enjoying the alpine slides and chairlift, an afternoon swimming in Whitefish Lake, a couple dinners in downtown Whitefish and an afternoon at Stumptown Marketplace.
One of our favorite areas of Glacier National Park is Many Glacier. We love the steep craggy peaks, the beautiful hotel which resides on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake and the numerous hiking trails which abound in the area. Many Glacier is on the eastern side of Glacier National Park and since it is a little harder to get to, there are fewer crowds here than at Lake MacDonald.
The weather has cooled off this week and lately my thoughts have turned to inside our home. With only ten weeks left to go in this pregnancy, I am starting to go into nesting mode. As my belly continues to grow and my hiking pace slows down I am dreaming of taking a trip to Glacier National Park and Waterton Lake. For the time being, I will just have to savor photos from past trips and look forward to taking our littlest hiker there next year. You can enjoy photos galore from past trips here,here, here, here, here and here.
