Friends, family, and one really long day

I'm back in Missoula after an adventuresome weekend. JoAnn and I ended up carpooling to Spokane Friday because the 3 inches of snow and sheets of black ice on the roads spelled disaster our good ol' Jeep. That meant I'd have to rent a car one way to come back to Missoula but my life is worth it...I passed a car flipped over in the median on the interstate while driving 45mph trying not to slide all over with 40mph winds pushed the Jeep around like a kite. Not to mention I'd have a more comfortable ride both directions.

The trip to VA/PA was great. My dad picked me up at 7:45pm so I didn't get to spend much time with my folks as I got up at 6:45 Saturday to drive up to Pennsylvania. The purpose of the trip was to attend my college roommate Colleen's wedding!!! But fortunately my good friend and maid of honor from my wedding Amanda also lives in the area so I had breakfast with her (no pictures because we were too busy talking), drove over to Messiah to check out the campus,

grabbed Italian ice from my favorite off-campus eatery (so lucky for me...Saturday was the last day they were open for the season!), and headed to the wedding. Here are Colleen and Scott on their special day!

It was a lot of fun seeing people I hadn't seen since college and being back in that area at this time of year is very special because Justin and I got married in October in central PA. The changing colors of the trees and corn fields are something I miss dearly. And of course the beautiful sunsets!

I managed to also sneak in a visit with my grandma on the drive back to Virginia. She was gracious enough to let me drop in for an hour late in the evening. I love visiting her and her home...it was one of the only constants in my life growing up in a family that moved every few years. Fortunately she continues to thrive and even though she thinks she looks 150, I think she's still a beauty at 87!

I was chauffeured back to the airport by my dad early on Sunday for a very long day of flying. My flight from BWI to Salt Lake City was diverted to Chicago due to a fuel tank problem. Of course we had already passed Chicago when they announced this! After arriving, I was put on a flight to Reno which first landed in Boise and then continued to Spokane. That gave me a little time in the Reno airport to fix my car rental situation. Hertz said they didn't have my reservation and were going to charge me double what I had agreed to pay the night before so I contacted Kevin at the Hertz desk in Spokane and he took great care of me. He even got me a better price than I had originally found! Needless to say, after 5 take-offs and landings, I was eager to be on the ground although the 3 hour drive back to Missoula at 9pm through the mountains wasn't my favorite part. Fortunately no animals crossed my path and I kept a good pace. Yesterday was a fun day with Justin and the kids and for the moment, life is back to normal. Tomorrow is Parker's 1-year birthday and our 5-year wedding anniversary is this weekend but it's also the last weekend of archery hunting so it looks like we'll order out Chinese to celebrate. There's always something going on with us it seems :)