Back from Vacation!

**Taceas** · 07-24-07, 10:40 PM

After a week long visit with Matthew's family in Montana, it's good to be home. The temps out that way were in the upper 90's to low 100's every day, which with no humidity isn't bad, but its still pretty danged hot. Instead of a sauna, it's a mondo hairdryer. At least my nose doesn't bleed every night here at home.

And the interesting thing, gas prices along the way were the cheapest here at home when we got back, usually the plains states are cheaper. Highest we paid was $3.10 in Iowa and the lowest was $3.08 in Wyoming, then we get back home and the truck stops off the interstate on our turn were $2.87 so that was nice to come back home to.

Maia, our dog, survived the trip well and she was super excited to go this time. Usually as we're packing up the car she's a shadow following us around knowing that we're going to be leaving, but this time she didn't really believe me when I said "hop in", she gave me that dumbfounded look like "REALLY?!!"

We dropped off the lost little black kitty off in Billings for Kitty/Nancy to raise up and enjoy, it was nice meeting her and her husband. It's like wow, people actually exist on the other side of the typing around here.

Please let me say this, kids are cute but totally exhausting and I'm glad I don't have any. 4 kiddos under the age of 7 are a tiring bunch, especially a 16 month old who thinks its his job to be outside every minute of the day and you have to keep retrieving him from the doorknobs, another month or so and he'll be able to open them.

Matthew's sister took the week off from her job and spent just about every waking moment with us, which is nice, but it didn't leave much time for Matthew and I to do things together that we usually do around Bozeman. And our anniversary? Forget it, we didn't get a moment away from anyone to do anything entertaining for that. So it's on a rain check till goodness knows when. Four years already, my how time flies.

But we did get to go to the Museum of the Rockies while there, every year they always have something new and this year they had King Tut! How cool is that! Last year they had reptiles of all sorts and this year Egyptian stuff for the other nerdy side of me, all in addition to the usual excellent dinosaur displays. If we ever move to Bozeman, I am working in that museum, I never want to leave.

One thing I know, our area needs a Costco. We have a Sam's Club in Evansville, but they never have things I like. The Costco in Bozeman is awesome. The day before we left we loaded up on fresh wild caught sockeye salmon, which is something I simply cannot find around here. All we do have is farm raised color added stuff I wouldn't feed my dog. So we had a cooler of salmon and flank steaks (another hard to find item) and other goodies to munch on the trip home.

We stayed in Sioux Falls, SD on the way back home, which is approximately 11 from Bozeman and 11 hrs from home. I'd made a reservation online at the Best Western there off of I-29 and we finally roll in at around 11pm to check in and I go in and she gives me the dumbest look when I said I had a reservation. They were fully booked and my reservation apparently made itself for August 21st, rather than July 21st. All of the other hotels on that part of town were booked solid as well.

So she called another hotel that the owner of the Best Western owns and found us a room there. They had one non-smoking room left, so she said we were on our way and gave us a map on how to get there. We pull up, not a single parking space to be had, lovely. So we go inside to check in and this place is ritzy compared to your average Best Western. Turns out they only had one room left, but it was smoking, not non-smoking and it was a suite. So since he was mistaken when he quoted us the room and price, he knocked the price down to the standard room price for a suite. If I could have taken that king bed home I would have, I've never slept on something so comfy. So we settle in with some dinner of whatever was in the vending machine and watch the Discovery channel about Queen Hatshepsut. If you're ever in Sioux Falls, SD, stay at the Club House, it's awesome!

Okay on to pictures, most of these are of the King Tut exhibit and other stuff at the museum, I never really got a chance to go out hiking and take pictures of other stuff while there this time.

Most of the pics I don't really remember what they are exactly, we were rushed for time to go through and take pics before the laser show in the Planetarium started up, so I ran around and took pics and skimmed most of the info plaques.

I also apologize if any of the pics are blurry, flash photography was prohibited because I guess gold disintegrates when flashed.

**Taceas** · 07-24-07, 10:45 PM

**Taceas** · 07-24-07, 10:46 PM

Matthew with T-rex skull:

Me with accurate lifesize bronze T-rex:

Joanna · 07-24-07, 10:46 PM

Welcome back! I am exhausted just reading your post! And I completely understand about a vacation not being a vacation with little ones around!

Despite the human animals it sounds like a great trip!

**Joni Garcia** · 07-25-07, 12:30 AM

It's great to have you back. It was fun reading about your vacation. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing your vacation pics with us.

susang · 07-25-07, 12:55 AM

Thanks for the vacation Misty, made me think of old times. My Dad used to live in Billings and my Aunt on my Mom's side. I miss all the fresh fish from that area nothing like it.

susan

galenwbritt · 07-25-07, 09:09 AM

Great story and some very nice pics to go along with it. Sounds like you had a great time away for a bit. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

BUT, the real question that needs answered is: "what showed up at your house while you were gone to live with you"? I think you are due for a pelican or an elk by now.

G

WhiteValleyHerp · 07-25-07, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by galenwbritt

BUT, the real question that needs answered is: "what showed up at your house while you were gone to live with you"? I think you are due for a pelican or an elk by now.

Too funny!!!

Welcome back, Misty...great photos of the Tut artifacts.

I'm at the age where, after a vacation like that, I'd need another vacation to recover.

Dale

**Taceas** · 07-26-07, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by Galen

BUT, the real question that needs answered is: "what showed up at your house while you were gone to live with you"? I think you are due for a pelican or an elk by now.

Blissfully nothing came to live with us while we were gone, everything we left was still here when we got back and nothing new aside from a box full of tomatoes to eat. Although I did buy a couple more tarantulas a day or two before I left, does that count?

Elk, who needs elk. They're bigger and eat more. The damned white tailed deer have had their babies and now the babies are following their mothers around and eating everything. They ate the leaves off of my violets, they ate the blackberry brambles and berries, they ate the flowers off my daylilies. Gonna be some very nice tasting deer this fall if they keep this crap up. We have a doe with triplets this year, her over-productive rear end needs to be taken out of the gene pool pronto!