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Amy & Joe’s Wedding in Montana

By BJ | July 13, 2007

Tracy: On June 22nd our friends Amy and Joe cast off on the biggest adventure of their lives, and we were priveleged to be able to celebrate with them. What better reason to flea Idaho State lines than to see our two new friends tie the knot. We had a standard BJ and Tracy crack of noon departure after having coffee and conversation with some friends. We hit the road with fury though, and started on with our 8 hour drive. I’ve never forgotten how gorgeous Idaho is, but if I had Highway 95 North would remind me.

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A cool coffe shop we stopped at in a random small town along the way.

It was great sharing the beauty with Spud(and Beej). There is a stretch that starts from Stites Id, and ends just before Lolo pass that is 75 miles of un-habited terrain. No power lines, houses, or cars. Just the river, trees and mountains. It’s breath-taking.

BJ: When we finally rolled into Missoula, we needed to get some grub before heading to Plains, which was still an hour away. We stumbled upon Taco del Sol, which turned out to be an awesome local food joint, with a friendly and funny staff, and good food at a great price. From there we finally rolled into Amy’s parents beautiful property around 10:30pm. Good thing the sun stays up late in these Northern parts.

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We had some time to kill before the wedding on Saturday, so we tool a trip to Flathead Lake. It was beautiful, with big peaks rising out of a blue, blue lake. This was my first trip to Montana and the scenery blew me away.

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Flathead Lake

The wedding ceremony was great, and took place in a beautiful meadow behind the house. Each set of parents (who were stilled married, how novel!) gave some advice to the new couple and then they were married! The party was super fun, with a great local bluegrass band rocking us into the wee hours.

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We did it!

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Congrats you guys!

Tracy: On our return voyage, we stopped in Hamilton Mt. I’ve never been to Hamilton before, but my friend John Lavey gave us both a reason to stop. I’ve known John since I was seventeen. He was the first person that I had ever taught climbing to. The YMCA 1997, after two-months John was out climbing me, and in six months he was teaching the class. We became roommates sometime after and in college he fed us all well, with Chili and misc. delicious treats. John’s a great dude, and if you happen to pass by Hamilton, you should knock down the doors of City Hall and say hello.

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John and Tracy in Blodgett Canyon.

BJ: John took us on a hike up Blodget Canyon (holy rock, Batman! And no one climbing? I think I have found the promised land!) It was nice to get some exercise in, I’ve been feeling lame with all my working and no playing during the week recently. It was nice to get out and reconnect with the natural world, feel the sun on my face and smell the fresh air.

After a quick beer at the brewery, we continued south back to Boise. We drove through Salmon (my dear lord, more rock than you can shake a stick at!) and then to Stanley, home of the Sawtooth Mountains. Stanley is beautiful, it sits in a large open plain below peaks that match the Tetons in terms of jagged splendor. After a quick bite we continued the drive home, stopping at some hot springs along the way. For those who have never been to a hot spring in Idaho, you are truly missing out. Unlike the over commercialized springs we are used to in Colorado, these are often hot, flowing creeks that cascade in pools. It’s truly awesome to sit beneath a stream of steaming hot water next to a river.

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Stanley and the Sawtooths.

It was a great trip, with a lot of driving, but I got to see a lot of Idaho in the big circle we made around the state. We’re off to the Sawtooths this weekend to meet up with Jim and Shannon, and hopefully do some climbing as my tweaked tendon is on the mend.

See you next week!

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Spud, is this where you came from?

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JC! Great to see you man, lets do some climbing in the fall!

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Back in Idaho!

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