Montana Governor's Cup Half Marathon

Well, I did it. Again. This weekend I ran and completed my 2nd half marathon of the summer. I still can hardly believe that I can run a half marathon, let alone 2 of them.

This race was the Montana Governor’s Cup in Billings, Montana. The race started SW of town on the road to Molt, Montana. It was pretty chilly in the morning, which made things interesting. Shortly after the race started it became VERY foggy, which did not help my already cold legs. Eventually the fog lifted and the sun came out. The majority of the race ran either along busy streets or through neighborhoods and then it ended at the high school track. It was an exhausting race but I am so glad to have another half marathon under my belt.

After my race, Ross and I drove through Red Lodge, MT and over the Beartooth Mountains on our way back to Mammoth. The Beartooth Mountains were gorgeous, especially with all the aspens turning bright yellow.

BBQs and Google Sky Map

I had another great weekend full of BBQs and friends as fall has begun to descend on us. (Although you would never be able to tell from all the traffic we still have throughout both parks.)

Friday – As soon as 5pm rolled around I hit the road and zipped on down to Blackrock, pulling in just about 8pm. It was a chilly evening and Ross’s brother Warren had been cooking a pork roast in the crock pot all day. Ross and I got busy in the kitchen fixing up potatoes and corn to go along with the pork and we all set down to dinner. The pork was delicious and I loved being back “home” with my guys after a long, busy week at work. Later that evening we spent some time outside on the porch playing with Google Sky Maps on my phone. The app shows all the stars, constellations, planets and galaxies in the sky. Just point it to where you are looking and it will tell you what you are looking at. Definitely my favorite app. It was during this time that we noticed our friend Chris stumbling through the compound. In fact he was stuck up against some logs and couldn’t quite figure how to get around them. Well, Chris had had a few drinks and was trying to get home. He had lost his shoes and cell phone by the time we saw him. Ross ended up going and rescuing Chris and getting him to his cabin. (We saw Chris again on Sunday and he had found his cell phone, but still no clue where his shoes were. Lol.)

Saturday – Well, I was supposed to go into town this morning and run in a 5k race. When I woke up everything was covered in frost, it was 28 degrees and my shin splint was really hurting. Needless to say the couch, a cup of coffee and a relaxing morning with Ross were much more appealing to me. Eventually we, along with Warren, made our way into Jackson for some shopping and errands. It turned into a gorgeous, sunny day and we stopped several times to get pictures of us all and enjoy the sunshine. Later that afternoon I made a Peanut Butter Pie for a BBQ we were going to at our friends Larry and Judys. The pie turned out delicious; although it was too rich too eat more than a few bites at a time, at least for me. As evening rolled around we headed to Larry and Judy’s for the BBQ. The evening was spent playing horseshoes, chatting, eating, talking and enjoying the evening. Of course my phone and the Google Sky Map came out again. Did I mention how cool that app is?

Sunday – Sunday turned into another gorgeous day. Ross and I headed into the Tetons for a drive through the park and to visit the Moose Visitor Center, which was recently redone. After our Sunday drive we headed home to pick up Warren real quick and then headed to Moran for a town BBQ to benefit the fire department. The fire department puts on the annual BBQ with ribs, chicken, brownies, coleslaw and potato salad. It was all pretty good (at least I thought so) and the place was hopping. It was a fun afternoon chatting with friends, meeting new people and eating good food. After the BBQ we headed back home to relax a bit. Ross and I took a walk around the compound and down to the river, enjoying the warm sunshine. That evening we all headed out again for another BBQ at our friends Ken and Denise’s place with several other Forest Service people. It was a great evening meeting everyone. We had delicious tacos and just ate, drank and talked the night away. So much fun in fact that there was no way I could drive home that evening and ending up staying Sunday night at Blackrock as well.

It was once again another great weekend.

Labor Day Weekend

Are sunsets not just one the best joys on this Earth? I think I could sit and watch them for hours, luckily this weekend I was blessed with several gorgeous ones.

I had a very busy weekend, but enjoyed it all. The fun started on Thursday night when I went to Chico Hot Springs with my friend Delwyne. It was a perfect night and I loved soaking in the pool for awhile. Later that evening my cousin John met us there. John is doing his dental internship in MT this summer and it was great to spend a little time with him. Friday I had to work and John explored the park and fished some. When I got off work we met up again, went to dinner, baked brownies and chilled.

Saturday morning John and I said our good-byes and then I headed to Old Faithful where I had a date to meet Ross at noon on the Old Faithful Inn porch. As I drove into Old Faithful I noticed that Beehive indicator was going off. Beehive is one of my favorite geysers that I don't get to see that often. Ross and I sat for quite awhile waiting for Beehive to erupt, unfortunately it never erupted. (Apparently Beehive gave several false indicators that day.)After giving up on Beehive we went for lunch at the General Store grill and then headed out to the Fountain Lake Drive.

Great Fountain geyser was predicted to erupt that afternoon and we were determined to see it erupt. Great Fountain is a geyser that erupts about every 8-15 hours and I had only see it erupt once. We sat on the boardwalk and were not disappointed as the geyser erupted about 15 minutes after we got there! I was so excited, the eruption was fantastic!


After our afternoon Ross and I headed home to Blackrock. We rested for a little and then headed to Leek's Marina with Ross's brother Warren for pizza dinner. I love the pizza there but the views of Jackson Lake and the sunsets are even better.

Sunday Ross and I headed to Riverton for a little fun at the Wind River Indian Casino before running a few errands in town. I had a good time at the casino and even came out ahead, I went into the casino with $40 and left with $200! I had won a little bit more but we had fun playing on it for several hours. After the casino we ran errands, ate dinner and then headed back home. The sunset was again stunning and the stars were gorgeous when they came out later.

This week I was lucky and didn't have to be to work until noon on Monday so I was able to stay Sunday night at Blackrock as well. I enjoyed the extra time and am grateful I only have 3 days in between visits this week.