We just came back from a week in Missoula, MT and it was a fabulous vacation. We met up with Mike and Scott from Topeka and the Tubervilles from Dallas. There were 6 adults (including Edda), 1 teen and 1 kiddo and 1 toddler. I picked Missoula out of thin air when a person I met at the yoga retreat I went to earlier in the year mentioned that her husband was from Missoula and it was a special place and it totally was. 10/10 recommend.
Mother nature also was very kind to us – traditionally there was no air conditioning in houses, but the past few years, it has gotten up into the mid-90s in August and there also has been smoke from wildfires, but we had neither and all of us from brutally hot summers got to enjoy cool mornings in the 50s climbing to the 70s-low 80s during the day and no humidity. Glorious!
Missoula is a college town, hip enough to have lots of great coffee shops and restaurants, but little enough that nothing feels crowded or rushed.
Let’s start off with the airport – newly renovated you can see the entire thing from the check-in gate. Hello bear!
We rented two houses, just down the street from each other, and they weren’t ready for a little while, so we went to a nearby playground and went on the very fast carousel.
We checked into the houses and then headed out to pizza with arcade games.
And then to ice cream at the place in town – Big Dipper. A place where a single scoop is actually two scoops.
Then next morning, Ning, Tristan and I went on a walk to find a beautifully tended neighborhood garden. We picked squash, kale and raspberries.
We went to the neighborhood splash pool which had a lazy river with floats, water slides and Edda enjoyed going around the lazy river a few times.
We had dinner twice at “home”. Jeremy cooked and we got dessert from a bakery including this very sweet sugar cookie made in the shape of montana with a heart for Missoula.
The next day, we went to a butterfly/inset museum and then to the county fair where I had my annual delicious corn dog.
These young ‘ens (Brian and Scott) rode all the rides.
And they got temporary tattoos – the three Moose-keteers!
We went down to the river during golden hour and had fun with local kids swimming and Tristan went skinny dipping.
We went “hiking” – really just walking about half a mile from the parking lot in gorgeous pine forests and over a bridge for this group photo.
Edda was a trooper – she was…mostly happy. But happiest at the water park and on this hike.
Wed afternoon – a subset of us went whitewater rafting. We were a little nervous about Noah maybe chickening out at the last minute, but he was brave and had a blast. We all had a blast – this was perhaps the highlight of the trip. We had a guide who took these photos and she was great. We tried rowing and all swam in the river at the end of the tour. Gorgeousness.
Last full day – it was rainy – we went to the library (newly renovated with amazing kid spaces) and bowling.
Arcade!
A quick stop at the bear at the University of Montana.
The last dinner together – while we were waiting for the delicious fried chicken, and we found this amazing vintage store with this perfect leather jacket for Scott – it was $500. A bit out of our budget, so you just get this photo.
And then we all lounged around on this crazy couch and then headed home! To DC, Dallas and Kansas City.
