Montana Memories...

210 S 8th St., Bridger Bowl, Irving School, The Co-Op, Dad's cooking, The Ridge, Northern Exposure, Chico Hot Springs, Boiling River, Silver Gate cabins, Yellowstone, Neff, Cold Smoke Scotch Ale, Canyon's burger Wednesday, the circuit, eucalyptus steam room, hoops, The M, movie nights, The Ski Chalet, REI meltdown, Powder Hound Ale, hot tubs, Stockyard breakfast, Sporcle, Boggle, To Kill A Mockingbird, Cactus Records, grilling bison, Lewis and Clark (aka Rob and Tom's) caverns, playoff football, smoothies, wool buffs, McKenzie Pizza, Ted's Montana Grill, date night, Nova, Wild Joe's coffee, weather.com, MSU, the celebrity game, Amazon, Montana Ale Works, Over the Tapas, La Parrilla.

Perfect Moments

Back home at Saddleback, there is a great picture in the lodge that speaks to perfect moments. I've thought of that quote often while we close the books on our first month in Montana. I don't believe there are perfect days but WOW there are definitely perfect moments. They come in a variety of flavors. It might be a quiet moment in the morning or silence under the stars with the boys. Perfection is definitely in the woods at Bridger Bowl after a foot of fresh powder and during dinner with Julie as we steal an hour for just us. Sometimes it hits when I'm alone thinking about actually pulling off a trip of a lifetime or slowing down the truck so a Big Horned Sheep can pass the road in front of us. Perfect moments can be overwhelming or calming depending on the intensity. I'm thankful to share these moments with my family and am definitely greedy for more. Life is Good and Bozeman, Montana is just awesome!

Jay

Rev' It Up in West Yellowstone

Three million people visit Yellowstone NP every year, but only 3% visit it in the winter. Not only were we lucky enough to be here in the winter, but we got to check it out on a 80 mile snowmobile tour. Our day started off sizing up for our snowmobile suits and helmets. After getting our sleds assigned to us, we hit the frozen tundra of West Yellowstone and drove by a coyote at the gate to the park. Another snowmobile crew behind us passed by and scared the coyote into the woods, bummer. After driving a few more miles in fresh powder, we stopped to check out a bald eagle perched in a tree over a rushing river. We flew by herds of bison and elk as we headed toward Old Faithful. We felt like we had the park to ourselves. We listened to a ranger talk for a few minutes about the science of the geyser, then suddenly everyone moved their eyes to the boiling over steam and waited....finally we saw some bubbles popping up. A huge spout of water and steam shot up 150-175 feet for 3 minutes!  After it settled down we started back to the sleds and drove to various boardwalks that contained bubbling mud pots, crystal clear thermal pools (over 200 degrees!) and other cool geysers. We took off after a half hour and visited a few winter waterfalls. We pulled over to get a better view and our guide Chris took us to a bridge to take a good look for a few minutes. He did an awesome job explaining all of the details of how the animals get through the harsh winter and why the stinky hot springs are so important to the life cycle of the park. Sometimes the bison get very close to the hot pools to warm up during  - 40 degree days.  We hopped back on the sleds and took off heading back to West Yellowstone, I was with Dad and Jack and Grant rode with mom. It was an awesome day and the first time I had ever been on a snow mobile.

Hank & Dad

Back To School Part II

Today we headed back to the Irving Elementary School and visited our kindergarten buddies, except this time they taught us about their state...Montana. They colored pictures of Montana facts that they thought would be interesting to us. They told us about the animals in Montana, things that they did in the winter, explained about the places they thought signified Montana, and the food that grow in the state. After each child came up and showed us their pictures, they gave us a gift that was actually quite delicious - Huckleberry Gummies. Of course, after the teacher gave us the treat each student asked if they could have one. And of course, when we were done handing them out we ended up with 2 each. It was then our turn to ask them questions which included things like what sports they play, what they do for fun, and what summer is like in Bozeman. After a couple kids told us what they did one boy politely and formally said, "I suggest that you check out the Animals in Montana." We all smiled because he was this little 2 foot tall child with a  delivery of a 50 year old man.  It was fun to listen to kids that age.  Another great day with the five year olds!
Grant

The Giant M

The giant M represents Montana State University. The white, 250 foot tall M was built by students in 1915 out of watershed rocks.  It sits at 5,800 feet on the mountain overlooking the city.   We drove past the M each time we went to ski and the hike looked fun, so we added it to our list of things to do while visiting Bozeman. To hike to the M we drove to the  trailhead, which starts at 4,800 feet.  It was much steeper than it looked, but we did the hike round trip in about an hour. In our quick stop at the top, the view of distant mountain range was great and I felt like I could see forever.  Although it wasn't the best day to hike, with crazy winds (gusts of 50 mph) and a bit of rain on the way down, I'm glad we did it!

-Jack

Bridger after 14" of POW!

Skiing in Montana was awesome, next stop Jackson Hole!

Hank

The Ridge

I would be remiss if I didn't dedicate a full blog entry to one of our favorite Bozeman pastimes...basketball at The Ridge. We joined The Ridge gym to answer any potential issues with poor weather, energy to burn, and the effects of the amazing Cold Smoke Ale that I (and my hips) have become addicted to.  Little did I know that while I attempted to run off my ale, a hard-core 2v2 hoops tourney was in full throttle. Jay/Hank v. Jack/Grant...day after day, night after night. It wasn't until last night that I began to understand the true nature of the boys constantly demanding to go The Ridge. As we headed into the gym, Jay announced  that we were only going to "shoot around" for 45 minutes. Grant looked at me with a wink and quietly said, "Ha. 45 minutes?  We'll be here as long as we continue to beat Dad."  After 45 minutes elapsed and a heightened curiosity took over, I decided to leave the treadmill and go watch the friendly family activity. I was greeted however, by sweet Hank, who was seriously annoyed with his father. I witnessed as he barked at Jay, "Are you kidding me?" after missing an easy lay-up. I watched as he busted it to try and close the 4 point deficit and beat his older brothers. And... I watched the clock for another 30 minutes.  I realized that what I thought had been four weeks of brothers playing basketball wasn't just shooting around - it was GAME ON. It was obsessive, it was rough, and it was crazy.  But as I settled into the spirit of it, I realized that it just added to our story at The Ridge. The story that we were the weird "home-schooled" family who ordered way too many smoothies, used way too many towels, and took way too many steam showers. We were always together...red-faced and sweaty...a pack of five.  Just how I like it!
-Julie

Hank's First Video!

Back To School

Yesterday we went to the Bozeman elementary school to talk to a class of kindergartners about Maine.  When we showed them pictures of seals, lobsters and Casco Bay on the Ipad we came to realize that only two out of the 20 kids have been to the ocean before. Hank, Grant and I all talked about different highlights of our home state.  When Hank told them that they were getting blueberry muffins at the end of the presentation, the kids eyes practically popped right off of their heads. It was cool to realize how diverse the class was, two of the boys were from local indian reservations and another was the son of an Egyptian professor at Montana State. After our presentation, we taught the kids how to do a word search about Maine that we made for them.  The kids really enjoyed us and want us to come back next week so they can show off the highlights of Montana. We have been promised a native american dance by one our new young friends!   Jack
                                                                                       

Big Sky Mountain

On Tuesday morning I went to Big Sky to see my friend Alejandro and his family (from Yarmouth). Their grandmother lives in Big Sky and they visit her every year.  On our drive, we saw big horn sheep licking the salt in the road.  There were a bunch of them.  They looked like huge sheep with big, curved horns.  I snowboarded all day with Jandro and his family.  The mountain was cold, but BIG.  The chair lifts got us to the top really fast and the runs were really long. It was great to see where he skis on his vacations.  After skiing we went back to his grandmother's house and took a hot tub - jumping in the snow first.  After a game of Monopoly, we had a great dinner of shrimp, chicken, steak and rice that Alejandro's dad cooked in a pan on the table right in front of us.  It was mine and Alejandro's first time using chop sticks.  We got to cheat by putting a rubber band at the end and a piece of paper in the middle.  It was a great dinner!  It was fun to stay overnight and see my friend.  Thanks, Alejandro!!

-Hank

POW POW POW!

Today we headed over to Bridger Bowl our ski mountain. The day before it snowed 9 inches and they didn't groom a thing. Although 9 inches doesn't sound like a lot you'll see in our video that it was perfect. The snow was super soft so it was easy to make nice turns while your skis were fully covered the entire time. The morning started out with gray sky and a cloud that was hovering about 1/2 way up the mountain that covered the top peak. Within 2-3 runs it totally cleared out with a perfect blue sky. With the weather settling in at 10 degrees we would go out take 2-5 runs and head in for a hot cocoa. Even though the snow was great, we are expecting an additional foot at the end of the week. Hope to continue the great skiing and blue skies!

Happy New Year! Grant

Really Big Sky!

After making pizza at home, we went back and forth on how to finish the evening. The Patriots had just dismantled the Broncos after 10 minutes of play and since we run a benevolent dictatorship, we put it to a vote: one vote for a movie, a couple votes for another episode of Northern Expsoure (we have been watching the first 2 seasons) or maybe a hot tub. We decided on the tub after we randomly started puttting our suits on. All the lights were off in the backyard and the stars looked as if you could reach out to grab one. The conversation began with a debate on who could find the coolest constellation and if we were looking at a satellite or a plane as we watched bright blinking lights in the sky. It turnded quiet (rare for this trip..) as we leaned back and just starred at the millions of stars....SILENCE. Jack broke the silence with the question of "how did we get here??" This simple question led to a lively debate between the three brothers. Points about how we were created and what were the first life forms blasted back and forth. Julie and I watched with a smile as the boys interrupted each other before each sentence was finished. Hank whispered to me as we walked in "that was the strangest conversation I've ever been part of." LOVE IT
Jay

Lewis & Clark State Park

Today our family went to the Lewis and Clark State Park to explore the
caverns. After a 45 minute drive we saw a sign that read "Caverns are
closed." "Look at the sign," my mom said. All of us took a deep sigh. "Are
we still going?" I asked. "We'll check it out," my dad answered. So,we
drove another 15 minutes and arrived at the State Park. We decided to check
out the park anyway, so started a hike up a trail. We thought we would head
to the mines instead, so hiked up and over the mountain until we came to a
tunnel - our destination.  My dad and I read a sign for mine and then
walked down a little path to the tunnel.  As we peeked inside we saw a
gate, the mine was LOCKED!!!!!! "Shoot," I said. We yelled out to everyone
and said "Guys, there's a fence." Jack & Grant responded, " NO WAY!"  At
this point we were an hour from our car.  As we started to hike back, we
got off trail, but we still knew the direction we had to go. So we hiked
through the brush, off trail, down to the bottom.  Jack, Grant, my dad and
I went one way to the bathroom as my mom went to get the car. As we got to
the bottom, we turned to see the trail sign that read "You Are Entering The
Home Of The Prairie Rattlesnakes" I asked my dad, "Did we just hike in
that?" "Yep," he said.  "Oh, wow," we all said.  Guess we should read up on
where we are hiking before we go next time.
-Hank

Breakfast in Bozeman!

When you walk into The Stockyard Cafe the sign reads: service, quality, speed...choose one! Unreal banana bread french toast and service with a frown...loved it!!
Jay

Our Three Sons.....

This week we didn't drive by bison or track wolves, didn't even take more than 2 runs at Bridger Bowl. It was a week of settling in or more "storming in" as we attempt to teach the boys, set up my office and simply get groceries. We have three very different "students"  and creating a balancing act has kept us on our toes. Julie has been heroic taking the lead role teaching as I get to tip-toe down stairs early morning and fire up my computer. (Working remotely is much easier than teaching remotely!) We have a new found respect for our teaching crew back home! Our goal is to strike a blend of experiential learning and make sure that they get enough math reps to prep them for next year. It has been awesome to watch them work together and respond to us without too much push back...lots of laughs. We are heading to the Lewis & Clark caverns today for another adventure as we wait for a DUMPING of snow heading our way tomorrow! Go Pats!
Jay

Winter in Yellowstone

What a great overnight stay in Yellowstone!  We left early and stopped for a soak in the Chico Hot Springs which was a treat! The pool was huge, without many guests, and 98/104 degrees. It is one of three hot springs that have been "developed" in the area...still, no need for chemicals in the water.  After lunch we made our way to the North Entrance to the park (through Gardiner) and set off for a two hour drive through Lamar Valley toward Cooke City.  We were overwhelmed with wildlife, including a golden eagle, a beautiful grey wolf, and plenty of bison, elk, coyotes. The kids freaked when we had to stop the car so a herd of 2000 lb. bison could cross the road. The park is absolutely stunning right now with the snow covered mountains and beautiful sunlight...and the only traffic was Ken Burns and his entourage studying the wolf packs. We stayed at the rustic and cozy Silver Gate Cabins and had a blast snowshoeing and playing games in front of the fire.  Best of all, Doug (the owner) offered to take us out this morning to track the wolves.  He, along with several others from The Wolf Project, gave us a tutorial on the different packs in the park and their role within the pack/park.  We were able to look through their scopes and locate the wolves.  It was pretty exciting, although the wolf we saw was quite sleepy.  Apparently, (and according to the pictures we saw) the wolves had a huge kill the day before and were still pretty satisfied from that.  After our wolf expedition we headed back through the park and made our final stop at The Boiling River, which is the natural hot spring in the river at the north entrance.  We joined only two others who were soaking in the 108-140 degree spring adjoining the 34 degree river.  It was truly unbelievable.  The weather was 20 degrees and we hiked 1/2 mile along a trail to drop into the river.  There were a lot of signs that warned us about the naturally scalding temperatures, but one of the men that was soaking in the river happened to be a park guide and hooked us up with how to avoid those areas, as well as an amazing geology lesson...major bonus! The river is situated at the base of a mountain range, so the views were incredible. 
-Julie

Bridger Bowl vs. Moonlight Basin

Bridger Bowl and Moonlight Basin are similar mountains, but extremely diverse at the same time. They're similar because they are both white-capped mountains with PLENTY of snow and they both have chair lifts that rise above the ground at about 75ft.(without a bar to prevent you from falling off). Moonlight is the backside of Big Sky, which is a mountain owned by the same people who own Sugarloaf and Sunday River in Maine. Moonlight is facing north which means it obtains more snow compared to Big Sky which is weird because there 200ft. apart. Facing north also means its freezing! Bridger Bowl is a very green mountain that has a lot of trees beneath the chair lifts. There are no condos on the mountain, which make it feel even more remote. When I first got there, it didn't look that steep...then I got about half way up and it was steeper than anything I had ever seen. They are both great mountains for back country skiers and a sweet place to vacation.

-Jack

                                                                                                                                        

Back To School

Yesterday I had the pleasure of officially teaching my first course in American politics. I planned for hours on how I would attack my lecture on the difference between a primary election and a state caucus. My visual aids were set and all of my students had three ring binders and mechanical pencils... I began by asking a question to see how my class had been prepped for this topic. Before I finished the sentence my student to the right (Grant) asked if he could "go see the nurse?"  Ah...the beauty of teaching your own boys!!  After a few direct threats, we were off to a lively discussion. Hank summed up the entire hour by simply stating that our election system was "just like an epsiode of Survivor" and Jack was annoyed that you could actually win delegates without getting the most votes. Success!
Jay

Sunny Bozeman

Loving it here! I'm sure the weather is unusual, but it's working for us.  Went to the mountain for a few hours today...47 and sunny, but the snow was still decent.  It actually felt like good spring skiing at home. Bozeman is definitely one of the coolest towns, so much to see and do.  It is taking us a little time getting used to what we want to get out of our days...striking a balance between epic adventure and everyday life.  It's only been a couple of days so I'm sure we'll get into our groove soon.  In the meantime, we'll continue to look up at the clock and say the same thing everyone else is saying..."I can't believe it's already 10:00."
Julie

BURRRR!!!!!

After a great day skiing at Bridger Bowl, we came home to have dinner. When we were done eating, we got ready to go in the hot tub. Since our hot tub is outside, my dad told me "I know it's cold, but try to bring the least you can because your bathing suit, everything else goes in the snow." After hearing that I was probably going to just wear my bathing suit out. When my dad took of the cover he jumped in, then Jack ran outside in the snow with just a bathing suit and hopped in. I was behind him wearing the same thing and so was Grant. About a minute passed and my mom joined everyone. Right when we got in our hot tub our feet started to get really hot, Jack said the best thing to do is keep them in. So, I did that and the hotness kind of went away. My dad told us a quick story about a time when he was with his friends and they were in a hot tub and decided to jump in a snow bank and then got back in the hot tub. After hearing that story, Grant got out of the hot tub and ran over in the snow, and laid on his stomach and through his face in the snow, when he got up there was snow all over his stomach and face. He ran back over to the hot tub, got in and splashed hot water in his face. We all laughed a bunch. I asked G "How cold did that feel?" He answered, "I actually didn't feel so much, the bad part is getting back in the hot tub." I was going to go after Jack and do what ever he did. He started up the ladder but then came down and decided to stay in. I climbed up the ladder, ran over in the snow and laid down on my stomach then I turned over on my back. I was about to throw my face into the snow but it was just to cold!! There was no time to look at my stomach or back I just had to get back in the hot tub. I sprinted back to the tub and hopped in. Grant asked "How did it feel?" "Great" I answered. We all laid in the hot tub for maybe 30 more minutes then we started back to the house. We each got a chocolate bar, brushed our teeth and jumped in bed. HANK

Welcome To The Zou!

Our first college campus stop was Vanderbilt. We stopped at Vandy while we were staying in Tennessee for Christmas. We got our own personal tour from our cousin, Brian, who is a pitcher on the Vanderbilt baseball team. Brian showed us the football stadium, which is in a complex that is next to the baseball field and basketball stadium. He then brought us on to the baseball field, which was amazing.  He gave us a look at the pitching lab that he works out in...very cool!  That night we went to a Vanderbilt basketball game and got to see the arena and sat in the student section. Vandy seems to have a great athletic program.  Our next college stop was on our way out to Montana. After driving for 7 hours, we decided to stop at a  hotel in Columbia, where the University of Missouri is. We stayed at a Hampton Inn on campus, it was a real college town. The campus was one big square and the town was built within it.  It had lots of great shops and restaurants. The next morning we stopped at a souvenir shop and went to check out the Mizzou football stadium "Welcome To The Zou".  University of Missouri is a "Tier 1" law program...and Ian Kinsler went to school there!
-Grant

Homerun!

Bozeman is awesome! Our house is fabulous.  It is on a tree-lined street, in a quaint neighborhood, a block off of Main St.  Main St. runs about 1 1/2 miles long, lined with bars, restaurants and stores. We couldn't have picked a better spot for our first month.  As I write, a guy just rode by our picture window on his mountain bike with two sets of skis strapped to his back...wish I could've acted quickly enough to snap a picture.  Plan on heading to Bridger Bowl today to take a few runs. Although the weather in town is supposed to be 50 and sunny today, the mountain got snow last night (reported from our optimistic, in-house meteorologist, who can sometimes have his own snow-fall interpretation:).
Julie

Trailers for sale or rent...

Just stopped for our final Starbucks (who should've sponsored our trip) and have 2 more hours before we land in Bozeman. It has been amazing travel. We have driven through 14 states - varying in weather from 45 mph winds and blizzard conditions, to bright sun and perfect skies. The views right now are stunning. Lots of laughter, great music, To Kill a Mockingbird on CD and very interesting smells have filled the car. Even the food has been great thanks to the Yelp App. The boys have been amazing and spirits are high. I'm feeling very blessed and incredibly present as I begin the New Year.
Julie