Big Sky Country - Part 1

*I don't even know where to begin with this post. We had such a great time and I took nearly 500 photos, I can hardly choose which to share. I've decided to go chronologically, in two parts. I hope I can do this trip justice :)

We arrived in Montana pretty late on Saturday night. Having never been there, it was almost eerie how pitch black it was while we were driving. We arrived at the Chico Hot Springs Resort around 11:30 at night. Without getting too into it, there were a couple of mishaps that happened immediately upon arrival. Nate, Lando and I ended up having to bunk up with my parents in their cabin, and I went to bed that first night not knowing if I was going to like this trip to Montana. Well... then I woke up... and looked outside and this is what I saw:

The view from our cabin was beautiful and immediately the night before was completely forgotten. Fortunately, my parents had opted for the cabin, because it fit us all easily and, besides, who wouldn't want to call this place home for a few nights?

Quickly we learned why Montana is lovingly named "Big Sky Country":


It was Sunday morning, the day of my cousin's wedding (the whole reason for the trip), so knowing we didn't have much time we went on a drive to get a good look around. We headed over to "Old Chico" a local ghost town. Really, it was WAY to beautiful out to give the place any kind of foreboding feel:

Obviously my dad wasn't too intimidated either :)

After the drive we all got prettied up and headed to the wedding. A nice family photo (oh yeah, I chopped my hair off):

My boys:

My cousin, Robert John, and my pops:

My cousin was wearing the biggest smile on his face all day. I could see he was beaming with love for his bride, Senele (who we absolutely LOVE). The scene for the wedding was beautiful and reminded me of Nate and I's- very intimate and personal. A little "You may kiss the bride":

See, he's still beaming, right?

A little stop back at the cabin before the reception turned into a mini photo shoot. My 'rents:

The reception was fun and the food was good. By the end of the night (after a very tiring night before) we were quite tuckered out. We needed our rest, too, because Monday we were headed to....

The goal for the first day was to hit "Old Faithful" with a couple of other stops along the way. My first impression of Yellowstone? It was HUGE. 3,468.4 square miles, to be exact. I felt like something so big could hardly be called a park, especially when compared to the neighborhood parks I grew up with. We saw some great things, but why tell you when I can just show you :)

Roosevelt Arch - the entrance to the park through the town of Gardiner:

Love the quote:


Mammoth Hot Springs:


Maybe I wasn't too up on my Yellowstone facts, but I had no idea that hot springs and geysers were such a big part of the park. They were everywhere. If I remember correctly, I believe there are over 10,000 in the park. The geothermal features didn't seem to bug the wildlife:


Lando waiting in suspense for Old Faithful to erupt:

Waiting... waiting... waiting...

There she blows!!!


We also stopped by Gibbon Falls. Another family photo! We must have doubled our amount of family pics on this trip:

Landon liked the waterfall (or just loves his daddy):
After a big day of sight-seeing, we headed out of the park. But not without seeing this Bull Elk with his "lady friends" (not pictured) posted up for all to see.


And then we ate:

No, that's not Nate eating the elk from the previous picture. But it is Nate eating a big ol' 24 oz Cowboy Cut at the Rib and Chop House. If you do make it to Montana, you have GOT to go. I had the best fillet of my life.... like, ever.... I'm drooling now.

This concludes Part 1 of our trip. Part 2 coming soon.