weekend in montana

over the weekend, kendrick and I ventured out to the beautiful state of montana, along with his aunt jen and cousins shelby and kelsey. shelby and kelsey are both from montana, so we had their home to stay at, completely free. Isn't that the best? the ride up was a blast, as we made a necessary stop at the sweet tooth fairy to stock up on cake bites and a variety of cupcakes... which is pretty much required for any respectable road trip.

we arrived in montana around midnight, and it was as cold as ever! there was snow everywhere. we were all tired and cold, so quickly brought everything into the house, and then turned in for a full nights sleep.

waking up to a world completely blanketed in snow is one of the best feelings ever, it just makes everything so whimsical and beautiful. we were greeted the next morning by kendrick's aunt and cousins in the kitchen eating cereal, so we helped ourselves to some as well.

there was basically only one thing on the agenda that day- snowmobiling. the next hour was spent getting everything ready, which included gathering gear that fit each person and picking up the snowmobiles. kendrick's relatives actually own the snowmobiling rental shop, so everything was completely free (no complaints here!) around eleven o'clock we were finally ready to go! this was my very first snowmobiling experience, so I definitely wasn't ready to go all by myself. luckily, kendrick was completely fine with having a second rider, so I hopped on the back of his.

the first half of the ride was so much fun! my favorite part was when there were no bumps ahead, just smooth snow that allowed us to go as fast as we wanted (which is really, really fast when you have kendrick as your driver). but with each and every bump, my back and neck started hurting more and more (and those darn bumps definitely didn't help with not having the urge to pee...) one of our first stops on the snowmobiles was this huge and open range that had steep hills on one side, so we had fun driving ridiculously fast up and down the hills, not having to worry about hitting any bumps or trees. I felt safe enough at this point, so took over driving for a bit- it was the most exhilarating feelings! I could definitely do that again.

afterwards, we hopped back on the snowmobiles and continued up to two top mountain (which would apparently deliver an incredible view of montana). and they weren't messing around- it was stunning up there! being so high up made it undeniably windy and frigid, but there was nothing that could take from that view. we all snapped a few pictures, and took a small rest from driving, but were on our way back down the mountain within fifteen minutes minutes.

our next stop was lunch! there was this darling little diner called meadow creek lodge, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and was meant exclusively for snowmobile drivers (as the only way to get to it was on a snowmobile). we parked our snowmobiles out front with all the others, stripped off some of our gear, and headed inside. the place was completely packed inside! luckily, there was an open table, which we quickly snatched up. the restaurant was owned and ran by a family (who were all a bit older), and this sign on the counter made me laugh (see below). so, clearly we all took it their way, which meant a burger and fries for everyone!

lunch was delicious and filling, and after a quick stop at an incredibly scenic river, we were all ready to get back home! the ride back was long and pretty painful and terrifying for me (it got extremely bumpy, which made it hard to hang on at some points!) but we were all back at the young's beautiful and comfortable home within forty five minutes. I was so tired and worn out, and wanted nothing more than to lay down and relax. but, we all showered and got ready, and then headed out to the junior high to support kendrick's cousin in his basketball game.

the next morning I woke up more sore than I have ever felt in my life. my back felt like it had about sixteen knots, all tied together forming one large knot- and don't even get me started on how bad my arms ached (all from hanging onto kendrick for dear life). the rest of the crew decided they wanted another day of snowmobiling, but I decided it was best to stay home. I spent the morning and afternoon laying around and watching mindless TV, somewhat regretting my decision to stay home (which my body would then quickly remind me that it was indeed the right decision).

everyone came home around three o'clock, and I was anxious to hear about their trip and to be around people! kendrick showered and got cleaned up, and then we headed out to explore the cute little town of west yellowstone. We went through some of the cutest shops, and stopped at a bookstore that had a small cafe' in back, where we treated ourselves to some Italian sodas. the rest of the night was spent with the family, eating pizza and chatting. (oh, and of course kendrick and I hit up the hot tub- my aching body was forever grateful).

during this trip, I learned two things:

next time, drive my own snowmobile.

and... where have gas station scratch cards been all my life? utah, get on that!

(I made $32, kachiiing.)