Some Things (Should) Never Change

My youngest niece stayed w/ my parents all week. My dad took her fishing at the 'Blue Hole,' on the river that outlines part of our property. She caught her first fish on the same rock my siblings and I all caught our first fishes on too. 

Some things never change. And for good reason too.

Glacier

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

That quote has never let me down. Even if I'm not searching for anything, spending time in the wilderness always sends me home w/ a sense of calm & peace that can't be matched by many things. 

After a Friday night on the town with friends and a Saturday morning spent walking around the market, my roommate & I packed to pups into her little green truck & headed towards one of my favorite places in the world, Glacier National Park. The three hour drive is a beautiful one that follows the Mission Mountains north around Flathead Lake.

Upon arriving at the park we promptly bought a yearly pass & headed for some trails. Since we had the dogs in tow our options were limited in hikes, but we enjoyed the scenery none-the-less.

Fire Nature Trail

Trail of the Cedars

I am a firm believer that most of the fun to be had in GNP is on the east side of the divide. Debbie disagrees and jumped at the chance to make me play on the west side since the Going to the Sun Road is still partially closed for snow removal. We hung around the stunning Lake McDonald and camped in Apgar Campground for the night.

 It was quite cozy in the back of Deb's truck with both of us and our dogs. Not exactly camping or rouging it, but amazing anyways. Bosco LOVES camping because he's allowed to sleep on my legs. It's comfy for him and super warm for me.

I happened to post this picture on my facebook page & titled it 'Lucky Dog? Lucky Girl.' 

Thanks to the wonders of social media one of our friends happened to see the picture and knew exactly where we were. She & her fiance live in Bozeman but happened to camping just outside GNP. So we met up on Sunday morning after breakfast for a hike outside the park where we could all let our dogs run & play. 

When the time came, we said our goodbyes and headed home for Missoula. I look forward to more adventures not only in Glacier, but all over the area this hiking season.

"You never really leave a place you love....part of it you take with you, leaving a part of yourself behind."
So....Live well. - Laugh often. - Love much.----And get to Glacier as often as you can! - Unknown

Inside Me

Two weeks have come and gone since I broke my arm and today I went back to the orthopedic specialist to make sure everything was healing properly. The good news is that, after a new set of x-rays, there is no displacement of the bone. The tough news (for me to hear) was that I am only 2 weeks into this and although I am starting to heal and feel better, I need to continue to take it easy on my right arm. Only 4 more weeks... I can do this...

iPhone

Well after three weeks of not having a phone, I am back in the world of the electronically connected and living. In my quest for said new phone I also upgraded from my first generation droid to an iPhone. If you've been trying to get ahold of me in the past few weeks, try again. I swear I'll respond now.

Anonymous Love

This whole no arm, no phone thing is really cramping my style. I mean that both literally and figuratively since it's my right hand (dominant) that I no longer have the use of and am unable to even do simple tasks like tie my own shoes or sport a ponytail. Believe me when I say beauty is not in my daily regimen these days. I'm happy I've just figured out a way to get pants on.

One thing that is NOT cramping my style however is my new camera! I was completely surprised when a package containing a brand spanking new point and shoot arrived at my door last week. So surprised in fact that it took me a day or so to figure out who the generous anonymous love was coming from. Thanks again!!

Though I struggle only using my left hand to take pictures, here are the first of many to come this summer. Xoxo...

Tough Break

Last week, my phone decided it had had a pretty good life & quietly slipped into a coma, never to be woken again. I guess I didn't think living w/out a phone of any sort in this day and age was adventuresome enough. (Oh, if you've been trying to get ahold of me via phone/text, I'm not purposely ignoring you!)

So after a swim practice to work on my breathing I biked home to pick up Bosco & some friends along the way & we rode to the dog park, pups in tow.  After the pups had adequately worn themselves out we took off back down the trail towards home. After just passing the riverbowl my friends dog suddenly veered in front of my bike. I hit poor Pre square in the shoulders & went flying, landing flat on my right palm before crumpling to the ground. Fast forward a few hours to walk home & I'm sitting in the ER next to my roommate being told I cracked my radial head. Awesome.

It's taken me a significant amount of time to write this w/ only my left hand, but hopefully I'll of mastered many things by the end of my time in a sling. It's officially summer Mom, one of the Groff kids was in the ER.

Disclaimer: No dogs were hurt in the making of this blog post.

Conquering the World

Give me a man who appreciates a good beer & I will conquer the world.