On the Road

Last week, we traveled to Montana for the Erickson reunion. This event takes place every 4-5 years, so we love to plan for it and try to encourage many of our family members to attend, if possible. The last reunion, only Jim and our youngest son Jared were able to go; this year, Jim and I were accompanied by M and his family. Since we had to be at the airport quite early, we just took the little girls out of their beds and popped them into the car seats and headed down the road. (Wouldn't it be great if we could all travel in our PJ's?)

K is easily entertained by her DVD player...

E just likes to entertain us! Both girls are such good travelers, and of course, we get plenty of comments and questions from people regarding E's cute little glasses.

We never cease to marvel at the beauty of the landscape below us as we cross this great land of ours.

While the guys went to get the rental cars, we ladies had to look for things to do. While exploring the luggage area, we came across these statues. (The colors in this horse were created by thousands of beans!)

Next, we found this beautifully painted Mountain ram (little E called all the animals puppies ;-) And don't you just love all those brightly colored flags?

Eventually the guys came with the rental cars and we were once again on our way, this time going in two different directions. M&B headed west to stay with a cousin, and we stayed in town.

What a joy it was to stay with Matt and Kristin. We have known this young lady since she was just a little girl--attending school in France--and later in Africa. Such a blessing to see how God is using her and her family in the ministries He has given them. Thanks friends for a lovely time together and such delicious food!

On Thursday morning, we hit the road again...is there any wonder why they call this "Big Sky Country?!"
We could literally feel the tension leaving our bodies as we breathed the clean country air, and drank in the wide-open spaces, and enjoyed having the roadway basically to ourselves. Finally--so far away from the "concrete jungle"-- we felt like we were on vacation!

In Great Falls, we met a bunch of Jim's Sunwall cousins at a local restaurant. 

The time went by way too fast, but we were thankful that we got to spend at least a little bit of time together!

A few hours later, we arrived at Bean Lake...and we knew that we were close to our destination!

 We always marvel at the flat land that so suddenly changes to the mountains, and then suddenly, we arrive at the lovely setting where the camp is located.

The welcome sign at the entrance...

...and John and his wife Terri, who willingly host our large family reunion.