friday the 13th

(ticket stub from the game that hangs in our hall!)

thanks to our good friends laura and tim, the yankees and something bigger than us, five years ago today Dave and I met.  i can remember that weekend meeting Dave and thinking, I would never move to St. Louis.  Where is it?  Missouri, right?  

well heaps has changed, including my attitude towards St. Louis, maybe not Missouri but at least St. Louis.  it's been an amazing five years and although i myself can't believe it, i've really never been happier.  here's to five more and to loving Friday the 13th!

Montanas like it HOT, HOT, HOT

Some of you may have heard that there are a few fires out here... not sure if it's made national press yet. I think when you declare a state of emergency you usually make it to CNN fairly quickly.

Our plans were to head through Seeley Lake to Glacier and camp in Seeley last night. As we were driving up 90 towards Missoula there was a distinct haze that didn't feel like cloud cover or really anything we had experienced before. So once we started to see signs on road saying FIRE AHEAD we realized the haze was smoke.

A few years ago we may have continued driving but we checked the exact area we were headed to and it is the biggest fire in the West so we decided to stay in Missoula - never knew how much I loved the Holiday Inn until last night. This place is packed with smoke-jumpers from all over the US, people that have been evacuated from their homes, about 20 different dogs and us. So we've enjoyed the local fare at the IronHorse and tasted the local beer. And I have showered twice just to make up for lost time.

Today we are going to head up to Glacier and see about camping. The fires in Glacier are minimal and apparently fires in these parts are just part of the joys of summer. We're safe and happy - so parents no need to worry.

By the way here are some pics over the last couple days....