Traveling to Washington state and a Dessert Social....

Last Wednesday evening we left on a trip out to Amy Ellen Bradrick and J.R.'s wedding in Washington state. We girls had never been west of Fargo North Dakota, so we were very much looking forward to seeing the Rocky Mountains!

We drove through most of ND in the dark, but as it got light we came up to the Badlands in the Thoedore Roosevelt National Forest...they were so beautiful!

When we got out of the van the scent of sagebrush filled the air.

Dad near the edge.

A semi transporting a wing for a wind turbine....it was really long!

Montana was one long state with lovely scenery.

Farm land.

Rocky ranch land.

We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce/visitor center in Billings. This was the only cowboy we saw on our entire trip! We drove up to the Rim Rock that surrounds the town and caught our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains in the distance:

The 'Crazy Mountains' .
This was the first mountain range we came to and they are some of my favorites.

I'm not sure of the names of these mountains.

Coming down Bozeman pass we saw this train track way up the side of the mountain!
The town of Bozeman is in a huge valley up in the mountains surrounded by more mountains. This town is higher in elevation at 4810 ft than the highest mountain in Vermont which is 4393 ft. An interesting bit of trivia!

Mining in Butte.

The closing of the day.
We spent Thursday night in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

~ Friday ~

At a rest stop in the eastern part of Washington state, which Dad said looked like a rolling grassy dessert.

Later in the morning we stopped at a scenic overlook in a very rocky area of the state along the Columbia River.

We didn't see any rattlesnakes, but we did see a few of these little lizards.

At the overlook. :)

Later on the terrain became very mountainous and rocky with lots of pine trees. I think I saw more pine trees on this trip than in the rest of my life put together!

Going down Snoqualmie Pass. This one was my favorite!

Some of the passes had a 6% grade and were quite curvy!

As we were driving around the city of Tacoma, during rush hour traffic, we saw this cute old car!

At 3:00 in the afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Aberdeen. It was a LONG trip but a very pretty one.

Dad in the hotel lobby.

Once we got the van unloaded we went for a walk. This is the view near the hotel which was on Gray's Harbor. There was also a train track that went right next to the hotel and wound through the town.

California poppies!

After supper we drove to the B&B in Montesano where the

Dessert Social and English Country Dance was held.

It was a lovely day, but got cold as the evening went on. (I am not used to wearing a sweater in July!)

Peter, one of Amy Ellen's brothers.

Emily Bradrick and Thomas.

Kristen Craig, one of Amy Ellen's sisters.

The Virginia Reel! This was the first time we had done English Country Dancing and it was so much fun! The neat thing about it is that it is an activity that almost all ages can do together!

Coming up next: pictures from our trip to the ocean and the wedding! :)
~Alyssa