I finally got some pictures uploaded and have a little time to post about our trip! The wedding pictures aren't here yet though, so I'm anxious to get them. But, here are some photos anyway...
Mike and I had a WONDERFUL time in Montana. We arrived on Thursday, September 15th and spent days vacationing before our wedding on the 19th. Then we honeymooned.
We stayed in Kalispell, but spent a lot of our time and got married in Glacier National Park and the Flathead Lake area. First though, here is a picture of our wedding site:
And here is a picture of Mike and me after the wedding, signing the marriage certificate, so you can see what we looked like (while waiting for the wedding pictures). The preacher shot his with our camera and that's how I have it:
It is just gorgeous there. The lakes, streams and rivers are glacier fed, icy cold and crystal clear. Here is Mike and some of the gorgeous water:
The stones around the water are greens, pinks and cream colors like nothing I've seen anywhere. The waters of the lakes and streams were so blue it looked like water from the Caribbean.
My eyes were bugging out of my head the whole time I was there and I ended up taking over 500 pictures. Mike picked up five rather large rocks and we brought them home (in addition to a bunch of smaller ones we got at our wedding site). Here is the rock collector in action and some of the rocks he picked up from the wedding site:
We got married at 2:00 on Monday, the 19th, and the weather was just beautiful. It was a bit windy, but I like the wind. The sun was shining and there were a few clouds in the sky and the air was cool and crisp. The only thing that went wrong the whole day was that I realized I'd left my bouquet at the hotel room and it was too late to turn around and get it. So, I had poor Mike cut some cat tails, wheat and another "weed" from the side of the road as we headed to the park - and fashioned a new bouquet. It didn't match my dress and hair wreath like the first one I'd made (sigh...), but it was spontaneous and fun. I brought it home with me and it's in a vase now.
We met Jenny, the photographer, at Apgar Village - located on Lake McDonald shortly after entering the park, and she followed us to the site we'd picked out for the wedding. After we arrived and I was making my new bouquet, Lois, the preacher, arrived with a friend of hers. It was all very casual and open time-wise. Jenny wanted to take some posed pictures, so we did that and then Lois performed the ceremony, which was beautiful and personalized a lot for Mike and me. The waves were lapping the shore and the wind was rustling the leaves and autumn (my favorite season) was in the air.
Lapping waves:
It was as close to perfect as it could be. When Lois pronounced us married we both smiled a big smile and were so happy (well, we also did a little kiss and BIG hug). Jenny took more pictures afterwards and then she and Lois and Lois's friend were on their way.
Mike and I changed from our wedding garb into hiking clothes in our rented truck and went hiking for the rest of the afternoon. We walked the Trail of the Cedars and then went into the woods and hiked for a couple of miles to Avalanche Lake.
The woods were dark and ominous and made me think of Hansel and Gretel.
I expected to see an old witch's house around any corner. There was thick moss growing everywhere and old growth, including trees that had fallen down for years.
All very untouched and pristine - and primeval. I could see in my mind's eye a dinosaur coming over the ridge next to the huge rocks and dense trees. While it felt somewhat ominous, it was beautiful and the air smelled like cedar and we had a great hike.
When first entering the hiking trail there was the most beautiful waterfall dropping through rocks that had been worn down by water for years and years - with moss growing on them. It was one of the prettiest sites I've ever seen. I took lots of pictures, but feared there wasn't enough light. But there was!
We were warned about grizzly bears so Mike was carrying a large can of bear repellant (mace). He wanted to see a bear so badly, but I didn't want to stumble across one since a poor man had been mauled by a mother bear the week before on a very popular hiking site. So I whistled a lot.
After our hike to the lake and back, we headed out to dinner in Whitefish and back to our room for the evening. I surprised Mike with a new negligee that he liked very much.
Glamour shot of me:
Though this is more what I looked like on our trip:
And here are some of my favorite pictures of Mike:
The ol' ball and chain - lol!
We liked Montana a LOT. Kalispell, where we stayed, is located in a valley and surrounded by mountains. There is a small town area and lots of open space and ranches.
Since this is getting long, I'll wrap it up and add another post with more pictures of Montana.
