Vacation in a Familiar Place...

Every summer my family and I go on vacation for around a week or two. We leave the town we are living in and become nomads of a unique kind. The car is packed to the roof with luggage, camping equipment, food, and maybe an instrument or two. We began our vacation this summer with the familiar location of the Butts/Anderson family cabin on Lake Sakakawea. At this place I am never disappointed with the entertainment and hospitality provided. Seeing members of the family there over the fourth of July weekend was so much fun I didn't want to leave when Monday came around. The two things that helped me get through the depressing fact that we had to leave included: that most everyone else was leaving, and we were heading back to my home town and birthplace, Whitefish, Montana!

This summer's visit to Whitefish was much more genuine and meaningful to me. The past few visits have been brief and we have barely stayed in Whitefish long enough to enjoy it's beauty. While planning vacation this year we had a few options. One was to go to the Black Hills in South Dakota after the Lake Sakakawea adventure. The other was to go to Whitefish and
stay for the remainder of our vacation time. The decision became very last minute but I'm exceptionally happy with what the outcome was. 

Once we got to Whitefish, we were able to climb Big Mountain, see Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, visit and stay with my grandparents, and catch up with friends. The segment of the trip I cherished most was catching up with my friends. Since the year I moved I had not had a chance to really catch up with them, and this provided the situations and environments needed to do so. I got to hang out with them nearly every day and had a lot of fun learning about what they enjoy doing now! Also, I became informed about what they plan to do in the future. 

When we were done in Whitefish I wished I could've stayed longer, but I was also excited for what was soon to happen. RYLA. (I will talk about RYLA in my next post)