Tom and Lori Visit Big Sky!

On Friday, July 25th, Tom and Lori flew into Bozeman from southern Cal. The weather wasn't a shock to their system as it was in the 80s and sunny. The environs though were a little bit different.

Since we had to wait for Laurie's flight to come in a few hours later I thought I'd show them around Main Street in Bozeman since there are lots of good shops and restaurants there. We decided to have lunch at our favorite wine bar/restaurant, Plonk. The food was very good and the wine from New Zealand slaked our thirst. Their visit to Montana was off to a great start I'd say.

The following day, Lori had big plans for her and Tom - a morning horseback ride followed by a raft trip down the Gallatin River. My knee was not up for the horseback ride so Laurie and I did not join them in the morning. But, it was Tom's first time on a horse (!!!) and he had some serious trepidation about this activity.

I drove them down to Canyon Adventures in the morning and took a couple photos as they mounted their assigned horses. Tom was given a big beauty named Angus and Lori rode Sahara.

Tom concentrates as he gets on a horse for the first time

On the first part of their ride they actually saw a lone wolf cross their trail at a distance!! And, despite the nervous start, I think Tom actually relaxed enough by the end to enjoy some of the ride.

A Hillside View of Lone Peak

After their ride, Laurie, Colin, Chelsea and I picked them up and we drove to Geyser Whitewater for an afternoon whitewater trip. Despite the stinky wetsuits and life preservers the ride was a blast! Tom and I volunteered to row at the front of the raft. Lori and Colin were behind Tom on the left side of the boat and Chelsea and Laurie were behind me on the right side. Our guide, Becky, was very good and guided us through the rapids with no problem. Tom and I got blasted by waves a couple times and it was quite, er, refreshing. The 50 degree water was quite the wake up call!!

Unfortunately we don't have any photos from that ride. The raft company took a few good ones of us but we did not order any that day.