ashville, north carolina

bob had a river morphology course at the grove park inn.  it was a wonderful place for us to stay with secret passageways behind the fireplace and even a resident ghost called the pink lady.  we searched for her every night.

the kids would plan their route through the grounds from our hotel window... waterfalls, secret passageways and dead ends.

biltmore mansion was great for a rainy day.

yes, there are mountains in north carolina.

we left north carolina and cruised for the coast.  we made it to litchfield beach, south carolina by sunset.

7 states in 2 weeks

we had a great adventure travelling from montana to nashville, tennesse to see the new and improved fidler family! 

 dottie aka mamie, jammin out at the playground.

brink with hawsen holding on tight.

beautiful dottie with her adoring fans.

relaxing with the girls.

tea parties were a favorite activity...

did i mention there were a few tea parties....

yeah, tea parties were jo's favorite activity.

bob, dottie, hawsen, sally and brink.

culley couldn't get enough of bob.

logan gave culley a tackle hug good-bye!

she loved it.....

so jo did too.

we finished up our roadtrip in sunny florida

the entire hamilton/cuffe family!  together for the 1st time ever!

ft desoto park, florida

 the kid table was very impressive.  very neat and wonderful manners.  lily even cleared everyone plates when they were finished.... without having to be asked!!

my sweet kayli girl. everytime i told her i loved her, she said  "i love uncle bob, sigh..."  he is her new favorite.  good thing we come as a team.

 
johanna, kayli and i at C.E.C.

 alex and carmen's backyard was as far as we needed to go for lots of cousin fun. 

 jo and luke running through a virtual race course.

 yeah, mom and dad were in heaven having all their grandkids together.

 fort desoto park, this is dave and luke.

 jo, auntie julie and the twins.

 the construction projects were fast and exciting with this work crew.   they get their great work ethic naturally..... they did not stop ALL DAY!

go hamiltons!  (and a cuffe kid)

gigi and pop are here

when  the grandparents are here, the mommies must play!  

my favorite adventure gal pal joined me for a bluebird powder day of epic proportions at therriault pass.  best skiing i've had all year and only a few short miles from home.

 that's glen lake in the distance...

 it was pretty deep for max! 
he loved it and is turning out to be a pretty good ski buddy.

thank you gigi and pop for entertaining 3 kiddos!  so two mommies could play!
(walking over the viaduct in  whitefish.
big mountain in the distance. going to the winter carnival parade!)
bob is in north carolina for the week and mom and i had the plan for her to  come out and play with us. 
but at baggage claim at kalispell, dad sneaks up behind me and starts talking right beside me, over my shoulder!  after i picked my jaw up off the floor, i immediately started weeping!  what a great surprise.  i love my da-dee!

we three kids pulled off a surprise like that in 84 once, now its their turn to travel light and be spontaneous. 
they deserve it.

 view of where we skiied, from my kitchen window.  
therriault pass... named for the therriault brothers, antoine, charles, and michel.   natives of new brunswick, canada, they arrived in the tobacco valley in the late 1880's.   they established homesteads, sawmills, and other enteprises.

excerpt from  the book,  "The Story of the Tobacco Plains" :

"at the election dance in november,  1900,  the night before antoine died,  mrs. cuffe (BOB'S  GREAT GRANDMOTHER) danced while he held her baby boy for her;  and she was among those who were thoroughly astonished the next day to hear of antoine's sudden death, some say from septic sore throat, others say from lye taken as medicine.   Joe Lee had made a coffin of pine, covered with black crepe from leaonard's store.    to get the body to kalispell for burial, charlie young took it in a rowboat down the kootenai river to jennings, montana."

Johanna's mountain

Johanna said she wanted to climb a mountain, so mom and dad were only too happy to oblige, we had a great break in the weather, and a great day. thought we would share our montana mountains with you!

i don't know where she got that pose...like mother, like daughter.

 lake koocanusa into canada, right above bob's sunglasses is the border.

downhill is always faster when you can sled down!

Helena, Montana

we were lucky enough to be hosted by uncle mike, our house representative, in helena, our state's capital.  bob gave a testimonial before a sub-committee about future fisheries funding.  he did a great job! 

we were lucky enough to be introduced before the entire house of representatives by uncle mike.  they gave us a standing ovation!  (a tradition to welcome family members)  logan made an impression by sticking his fingers in his ears as everyone was clapping. 

 we spent most of the day touring the capital and watching the proceedings and talking to folks. 
it was a truly fascinating experience.  i will never take for granted the commitment that it takes to make our government work.  impressive people.

 will finish the captions when the kids go to sleep!!!

uncle mike is on the left, too far away to see well.  no flash pictures allowed in the capital building.

Montana Historical Meuseum, VERY kid friendly!  right across the street from the capital.

Johanna in a blackfoot tipi, she wants one at camp cuffe now.

growling like a grizzly!!!

Can't go to Helena without visiting the merry go round.

it's a true montana merry go round... grizzlies....

and wolves, and river otters....

and mountain goats!

these are two very cool, road trip lovin' kids!