Summer Sun and Fun!

Eek! I've been doing a horrible job of blogging this summer! So much has been going on! Summers in Montana are absolutely awesome! Why blog about something when you can go out and do it?

So, here's a recap most of my summer so far... in pictures!



Earlier in the summer I went hiking with my friends O and R on the Drinking Horse Mountain.

R, me, and O, hiking up the mountain. (Don't ask me why R is making such a weird face...)


View from the hike!

O and I on the Drinking Horse Trail

My neighbor took me to Lewis and Clarke Caverns. It was really cool! A lot of climbing and sliding, but the rock formations were really pretty and worth getting dirty.

And, when we went to Lewis and Clarke Caverns, we stopped at one of the best places for lunch: Wheat Montana! Yum!

One of the cool things about living up here is the beautiful rainbows! All through June, we had a lot of rain, which lead to a lot of rainbows, most of them double. Sooooo pretty!

Bozeman has this thing everything Thursday during the summer called Music on Main. They shut down part of main street and get a band to play. People can sit in some stands and listen to them play, or hang out in the rest of downtown playing games, drinking beer (like my friends J and S), and chatting. So fun! I've only been able to make it to a few this year, but I plan on attending more before the summer ends!

A and I walking towards Music on Main.

Another thing Montana knows how to do well are the rodeos. There are a million of them in the summer! The first one I went to was in this little town called Wilsall.

Beer, friends, and hot cowboys? You bet!
(notice how we're all bundled up? yeah, Montana doesn't warm up until July, and then likes to cool down at night...)

We had a lot of rain this year, which has lead to a lot of the rivers being fast and high, but we decided to try floating the Madison anyway over the Fourth of July weekend. Here we are prepping our tubes...

Luckily, this guy had this monster truck, so we were able to get all our tubes into one car.

The float was so much fun! Because the river was high, it went by fast, but for us, this time, it was a good thing. During the last stretch of the river, a huge raincloud came upon us. Fortunately, we were at the take out point, so as soon as we got those floats out of the water, it just started pouring! Here we are hanging out under my car while the worst was happening. The rain died down enough for us to pack everything up without getting too wet, before starting up again. By then we decided to go grab some food, so we didn't care!

The second rodeo I attended was the Livingston rodeo over the Fourth of July weekend. Livingston is a quaint small town, just over the pass from Bozeman. They were having this cute little street fair, so D, A, and I decided to stop for some shaved ice. Yum!

A and I at the rodeo.

J and D chilling in the stands.

Some of the fireworks we saw after the rodeo. Pretty!


For the fourth, I had to work in the morning, but then went over to my friend D's house for a BBQ and to play with a few fireworks. She was playing with the settings on her camera, and got this picture. How cool! We then drove closer to town and met up with some people and watched the big town firework show from their yard. It was so much fun!

As most people know, my birthday is during the summer. All I wanted to do this year was float the river, which is one turning out to be one of my favorite things to do. My friend D said she wanted to have a slumber party, so we decided to combine those two things for my birthday! Here we are, most in our PJ's, ready to party!

Haha, gotta love cupcakes!

After our lovely float trip (which I took pictures on a disposable, waterproof camera -yes, they still make those- but haven't gotten developed yet), we ended up at D's for another BBQ. So many people were there! This is D's dog, Morgan, who wanted to get in our picture, but ended up just smooshing O.

D's roommate has two rescue Greyhounds. They were so cute and lovey! Or maybe they just put up with us. Haha!




Every year, my parents drive to Montana all the way from Texas to fish in the many wonderful rivers we have up here.

Daddy with his nice rainbow trout.

Guide Peter holding Momma's fish while she snaps the picture.

Usually, my parents have a nice little road trip, stopping at new and fun places on the way north.

Momma and Daddy at Independence Rock (I think...).

This year, my sister somehow talked her way into the trip, which meant I could easily tag along! My sister drove up with the parentals, and I met all them for a few days in one of my favorite places ever: Jackson Hole, Wyoming!

Grand Tetons. I love these mountains!

We went hiking up to Inspiration Point, overlooking Jenny Lake. I used to do this trail when I was little and got to visit Jackson with my parents. Although I didn't remember a lot of stuff from those trips, it was fun reminiscing about the things I did remember. This boat ride and hike are one of them.

"be bear aware" - too bad we didn't see any...

Manda and I, with our usual faces, preparing to hike.

But we can take normal pictures too!

Momma and Daddy at the beginning of the trail.

Yeah, we had to climb straight up that to get to the point. It was not easy...

Momma and Daddy at Inspiration Point.

Manda and I on Inspiration Point.

We hiked back into Cascade Canyon, where there was a really pretty creek flowing.

When we weren't throwing snow balls at each other, we caught sight of this moose, just munching away.

It was such an awesome hike! The only thing that would have made this better is if the brother could have been here. (But don't feel too bad for him, he was off gallivanting across Europe instead...)

After the hike, we stopped and had lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge, the place where we used to stay when I was younger.

Alas, I had to hurry and go back to Bozeman, because I had to go back to work. But Momma, Daddy, and Manda stayed with me a few days and helped celebrate my birthday and also to check out some of the local trails. Manda and I even went to a bar, now one of my favorites, to get jalapeno mojitos and midnight manhattans. I was sad to see Manda leave at the end of the week, but the parentals stuck around for another week to fish. I'm so glad they all came up to visit me and see where I live.

Whew! What a busy summer I've been having! I'm so sad it's almost over! Soon, I'll be heading back down south to check in on a few of my friends I haven't seen in awhile. I can't wait.

Hope everyone else is having as much fun this summer as I have been!

-amyg