A Long & Winding Road

Last weekend I went up to Montana for my high school reunion. The drive there was about as memorable as the reunion itself. Missoula sits in a valley and isn't that easy to get to no matter what time of the year. In the winter you have to go around the mountains and it takes 9 hours. In the summer you go over the mountains, but it's constant climbing and winding for 7.5 hours. Usually I drive with Ben and Becky so I don't pay much attention. But this time I drove all by myself. Between the constant weaving (at one point I got myself a little car sick, didn't even know that was possible), the steep drop offs into the river far below making me feel like I was about to fall in at any moment, the deer jumping in front of my car, and the rain I was a wreck when I pulled into town. I have also concluded that getting up at 5:45 to go to school for 5 hours and then work before hitting THAT road is less than ideal. Knowing the road a little better made the drive back a lot more enjoyable. If you can actually look around it is one of the most beautiful drives anyone can take. On a side note everyone in Idaho has always wondered how I could drive by Stanley and not marvel over the mountains. Now I am not at all down playing the beauty of those mountains because they are indeed breathtaking, but hello I grew up in Western Montana, there's mountains everywhere. I forget how amazing they are and what a small little valley Missoula really is. A lot greener than the sage brush of the foothills in Boise.