Well our first trip as a family of 5 came a bit earlier than we expected. We didn’t have any travel plans in the works, but my step-grandpa passed away and so we made a trip back to Anaconda for the funeral. It was great to see some extended family we hadn’t seen in a while, but attending a funeral wearing masks and not giving hugs is a bit of a strange feeling. While funerals are never the best of scenarios my step-grandpa lived a long and wonderful life influencing many people along the way. I’m very glad my stepmom, brother and family were able to get some closure as many people who have lost loved ones during the covid pandemic have not had much opportunity for services with family and friends or any closure.

We decided to drive straight from home to Missoula. Due to covid and a newborn we had primarily been staying at home. We’ve had our groceries delivered since Ry was born and have only gone out to her doctor appointments as well as a few visits to my dad and stepmom’s house over the last few weeks. However, we still wanted to be very careful on our visit to minimize our risk and those around us. We left home about 8:30am and got to Missoula by 5:45pm (MST). The big girls did great in the car. Some coloring, some imaginary play together, naps and screen time. Ry slept for most of the trip and only cried for 5 minutes!! Major win! We had a pretty good system at rest stops. Jordan took each of the big girls to the bathroom (one at a time to minimize touching anything). The other one ran around or played simon says with me to get some wiggles out while I nursed the baby. Then Jordan changed Ry’s diaper while I used the restroom and back in the car we’d go. We packed all our food and snacks so stops were pretty quick as we’d eat on the go.

We were able to stay with our friends in Missoula. They moved from Seattle in January and we hadn’t seen them since February when we were in Hawaii together. It was AMAZING to be able to catch up and visit in person… especially since we’ve been pretty isolated since March and were really missing our friends!

I hadn’t spent much time in Missoula since I was a kid. Usually our recent trips to Montana involve driving through Missoula on our way to Bozeman. Due to covid we didn’t go into town, but Jordan was able to go on a couple mountain bike rides and we did a short hike one day. We also walked to the park and the girls rode their bikes along the trail next to Rattlesnake Creek. Not necessarily our typical vacation, but none the less was a great time considering the reason for our travels.