Montana / Yellowstone Trip

Oh gosh you guys. WHAT A WEEK! We just got back from Montana, and I can’t wait to share all the details with you! If you’ve been around a minute, you might remember we took a 10-year-anniversary trip to Puerto Rico with my friend Carrie and her hubby, Tim (who HAPPENS to be my brother) who got married shortly after us. Nick and I just passed the 15-year milestone of marriage, and we decided to make it a tradition every 5 years to take a big anniversary trip! This time: MONTANA!

We flew from Minneapolis to Jackson Hole first, because we wanted to drive up through Yellowstone National Park before we got to our final destination at Seeley Lake. I’m sure Jackson Hole is amazing, but unfortunately our flight landed really late and it was dark. The first night, we stayed near Teton National park. The Teton Mountains are so vast and glorious.

Do you spy that moose in the lake? My first moose sighting of all time! She was having a little bath.

There are not many places in the US that Nick and I can explore together for the first time, but neither one of us had ever been to Yellowstone National Park, and it was such a dream! Obligatory sign photo:

We got to see lots of geysers, hot springs, and mud pots sizzling about.

I didn’t even know there was a “Grand Canyon” of Yellowstone, but it was BREATHTAKING and almost as vast as the Grand Canyon in Arizona! Look at that waterfall!

Those dots in the field are bison, and we were reeeeally wishing we had brought binoculars.

But then about a half hour later, during our drive, we passed by this guy! What a treat!

After passing through Yellowstone, we still had mannny hours of driving ahead, but the views were absolutely breathtaking! So it was ok!

Along the way, we stopped at this restaurant called Wise River Club in Wise River, Montana (which is the cutest town!). This place had some very quirky vibes, but it was the BEST FOOD we’ve ever had. Get the Reuben or French Dip sandwich if you stop by at some point! It was so good we didn’t even think to photograph our food. 😉

We continued on as the sun set over the mountains, as we still had a couple more hours to drive before we reached our destination.

We finally made it to our beautiful cabin at Double Arrow Lodge in Seeley Lake, Montana.

We stayed in the ‘Cougar’ cabin, which has 3 king size beds and 2 twin beds. We could have brought our kids! But I’m glad we didn’t. Haha!

The views from our cabin were so gorgeous, and the deer were so friendly.

We rented a ski boat and went out on Seeley Lake for an entire afternoon. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Sunny and 75!

We even got out to swim for a bit. The water was lovely.

When we travel, we try not to eat out for every single meal. It was so nice that our cabin had a full kitchen! There’s nothing wrong with frozen pizza and a beer, sitting around the fire in the cool evenings.

Renting a UTV and taking trails into the mountains isn’t something I knew I needed. But it was so incredibly fun! We rented two; one for each couple, and went for a 4 hour drive through mountain trails.

Feeling the wind in our face, and seeing wildlife was so surreal with all those mountains in the background! What is this life! We even hiked a bit and found a secluded lake!

Heading to the Missoula airport was so sad, because we would have loved to stay several more days! But alas, we needed to get home to our kiddos.

Can you believe Nick and I both packed all our belongings for 5 days in this carryon suitcase? We’re both light packers.

It was such a fun trip! Thanks for following along! Is Montana on your travel wish list? Or have you already been there? If so, tell me YOUR favorite things in the comments below!

~Bethany