Road to Zen Summer 2007

As promised, our road trip to Montana is delivered! I began this trip with all of four hours sleep the morning after I shot the Breckenridge wedding! We made it to Bozeman in about 10 hours and had a great barbecue rib dinner. The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast at the Cateye Cafe before getting back on the road. Our only stop was at Clearwater Junction to savor an ice cream cone and photograph the giant cow. We headed north along the Swan Seeley Highway - driving along Seeley Lake, Salmon Lake and Swan Lake. We made it to Kalispell - our destination - in about five hours. If you would like to see a slideshow of our trip CLICK HERE: Road to Zen Summer 2007. All of our slideshows require flash player. Download a free version here: flash player.
The intention of this trip was not to have fun, believe it or not. We spent the week taking inventory, packing and cleaning Geri's father's house. He passed away in February and all four daughters and two brothers-in-law put in some long, hot days. In fact, there was at least one day of record-setting temperatures of 101 degrees. When you are that far north, the sun comes up about 5 a.m. and sets about 10 p.m.!
I managed to have some fun catching up with a photographer friend, Craig Moore. I actually met Craig the week before at the Breckenridge wedding. He was a guest and I was the hired photographer. We hooked up for lunch at Moose's Saloon. Craig invited me to join him for a sunset drive to Glacier National Park. He loves to do late-night, long-exposure pictures featuring star fields and trails. I hadn't done that in many years. Needless to say it was a late night or early morning. We saw lots of wildlife and thank goodness, no bears. A mountain lion crossed the road in front of us at 2 a.m. when we were driving down Going-to-the-Sun Road. We had a good time and made some cool images. Craig's website.
The next morning, which was the Fourth of July, we got up early (not my idea) to get some work done so we could attend the unveiling of the new War Memorial in downtown Kalispell, at the end of the parade. Jim, Geri's dad and a WWII veteran would have enjoyed being there with us. I was too tired to drive out to the lake to photograph the fireworks that night, but we were able to see and hear plenty from where we were staying!
Geri and I visited our good friends Howard and Mauriene for lunch and a quick visit to their art studio. The next day we had lunch with another couple, Chris and Cas, at their home near Big Fork. Chris is a landscape architect and I always enjoy photographing in and around their yard.
We headed for home on July 8 which was our 12th anniversary, stopping for the night at the Snow Lodge in Yellowstone National Park. We toasted our union with a bottle of wine, before taking a wonderful sunset stroll around the geyser basin. What an amazing place.
We were on the road at 6 a.m. the next day so we could see the sun rise over Yellowstone Lake and have early morning light while driving through Grand Teton National Park. Please take time to see the slideshow from the trip and if you are wondering about the little guy, he is our traveling gnome, Jerome. Oh, and I almost forgot to explain the pictures of Geri having her thumbnail punctured to release the blood under the nail after she slammed her thumb in a car door. Ouch! I told you it was supposed to be a fun trip.
Cheers, Kent