montana

My cousin Brandon joined the Army National Guard of Missoula. On Monday, 9.20.10, they shipped him off to a fort in the south for some intensive training before a 10 month deployment to Iraq. We (Eric, Bitty, LindyJean, Nana, & I) headed to Montana to see him off and attend his armory BBQ.

Brandon has always been awkward and unsure of himself. That all seems to be gone. I think that the military is a good fit for him and he said he is considering making a career of it. I would be so proud! He's the only member of my generation of family that is serving our country. Quite honestly, he could have loafed around and done whatever - considering his privileged background - and instead he chose to be a part of something very sacred. Hats off to you dude!

We loaded up at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. It is a 5.5 hour drive and we thought it best to attempt it while the little people were sleeping. Due to the excitement over our "adventure to Montana," Bitty took her time in getting to sleep.

You would look like this too, if you were standing in front of the truffle case at Posh Chocolat, trying to select one of the many available delights!

We wandered about town on Friday. The running joke about Montana is, of course, "What time is it when the sheep are stuck in the fence... it's mountin' time." However, Missoula has an element of posh, fancy-pants-edness to it. You should have seen the clothing boutiques, furniture shops, and restaurants.

Cousin Brandon (hooaaahhhh) and Carolyn. We stayed at Caroline's house. She is a longtime friend of Eric's and she hosted all of us.

Here we are at the armory BBQ. They had expected about 400 folks and attendance was more like 700! Needless to say, it was a zoo and really hard to get any photos taken. Also, the weather was HIDEOUS and we HAD to be inside.

Bitty is trying to coax Carolyn's horse, Chelly, and Jack the Mule to come and see her.

Only in Montana... would the local dairy have a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) cow for advertising the beer that they also sell. :)

Where am I and what is going on?

Trying to get organized to take a photo...

As organized as we're gonna get!