Westward!

Since we last left off. . .

Josh and I have driven well over 2,000 miles the last 3 weeks in our little Previa- which is now equipped with a loft-style bed! Pretty fancy, I know. . . almost like having an RV.  So now we're in beautiful Washington state, staying just far enough north of Seattle to be surrounded by huge national and state parks, small farms and lots of lush greenery! It's so nice here this time of year, probably my favorite part of the country.
The journey out here from Wisconsin was long but exciting. Driving across Minnesota, South and North Dakota, Montana and Idaho the landscape changes drastically every couple hours. From dense green forests to wide open rolling hills to dry flatlands and then huge mountains show up in the distance. Since I've never really lived around mountains (unless you count Stone Mountain, GA. . . ) they still fascinate me. If you take a look at my flickr account you'll see there is a disproportionate number of mountain photos.

Livingston, MT

north of Missoula, MT

Every time I go to Montana I love it more and more. This time we got to spend nearly a week there (and we'll be back in August!). We went to Livingston (near Bozeman) for the first time and I just fell in love with this small Western town which has a thriving downtown thanks to the natural landscape that brings in a fair number of tourists this time of year. And then we had 3 days in Missoula which is fantastic! I had only been there once before, briefly, but now we had adequate time to explore. One afternoon I drove up to St. Ignatious about an hour north of Missoula and the landscape there just blew me away. My friend Piper grew up there, on a huge ranch surrounded by snow-capped mountains and vast green fields.
Here in Washington there are still snow-capped mountains surrounding us (in the distance), but it was about 90 degrees today. strange. When we first got in a few days ago, though, it was lovely and cool. We took our time driving through the Cascades which were spectacular!

not a fake backdrop....

Now it's time to get back to work- Josh has 6 shows in the Seattle area, one in Bellingham and one in Eugene, OR, and we'll also be going out in the city as much as possible, meeting musicians and playing open mics. Should be a busy month!

XO,
Jess