Missoula 2014

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Nanette Harter

We were looking forward to spending a week with Ari and Eric following the wedding. They moved to Missoula two years ago and this is the first time we were able to visit them there. They are living in a large three bedroom house with a huge basement and fenced yard in which they have planted an amazing vegetable garden. Lyra dog loves the house too. The neighborhood is perfect for walking Lyra on many greenbelt paths and she especially likes to chase the squirrels.

Missoula is a university town as well as gateway to outdoor adventures. It’s surrounded by mountains and rivers and the area is also noted for being one of the winter stops on the Lewis and Clark expedition. It’s a great base for exploring northeast Montana. We had a wonderful balance of just hanging out and fun adventures in the area.

Hanging out at home: Watching the World Cup, cooking and BBQing, baking (scones and naan), reading, plus the mundane like laundry, repacking the car, and dealing with the credit card company ($3800 in fraudulent charges in less than a month!!!).

Hanging out in town: Trivia Night at a local sports bar with some of Eric’s family and friends, shopping for camping and sports equipment, touring Eric’s University office + lab, visiting Ari’s hospital, eating at local ethnic places including Brazilian and Cajun and having a treat on puppy ice cream night (the local DQ offers a free cone for doggies one night a week).

Adventures near town: River floating and sunset walks. River floating is popular on the Clark Fork River outside and through town. For Ari’s birthday, we got her a double float raft. She and Eric can float side-by-side down the river in comfort, with a little built-in ice chest between them! We all went river floating two evenings during our stay (about one and half hours on the river each time.) One evening we went to the island dog park near the University and another evening we had a beautiful walk in the nearby hills at sunset.

Adventures out of town: Upcoming web posts on our trip to Holland Lake and our driving tour through the National Bison Range.

Photo Credit: Eric Schultz and Neil Rhoads

Glacier National Park 2014

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Nanette Harter

When they heard about our trip to Missoula, our friends Adele and Dennis invited us to stay a few nights with them in their beautiful home in Columbia Falls near Glacier National Park. While we were looking forward to spending more time with Ari and Eric, we also wanted to give them a little down time following the wedding. So it worked out wonderfully for us to have a mini vacation in the midst of our road trip.

We left Missoula late Sunday afternoon and stopped half way in our drive to stay with new friends we met at the wedding. Sunni and Merrill graciously welcomed us to their farm in Arlee where we camped in their huge back yard serenaded by the sound of a small waterfall nearby. We shared breakfast and a good visit the next morning. Plus we got a tour of Merrill’s custom woodwork and furniture workshop. He specializes in using old barn wood that has been aged with the influences of farm animals. Sunni took us by the beautiful and peaceful Garden of One Thousand Buddhas on our way back to the highway.

We drove up the west side of Flathead Lake and arrived in Kalispell Monday afternoon. Adele and Dennis met us and lead us to their forested property which backs up to Flathead National Forest. All kinds of wildlife wander near their house including bears. Neil set up his bedroom on the huge outside deck, where bears and skunks have been known to roam, and Adele was so nervous about him being attacked by a bear that she could hardly sleep all night. Neil did see a skunk one night but if a bear came by he didn’t see it.

The next day we set off to hike in Glacier National Park. Adele was expertly prepared including hiking poles and bear spray. We drove into the park through the west entrance and followed the southeastern shore of Lake McDonald for several miles. Here’s a live webcam view of current conditions. The lake was beautifully calm and mirror-like. Eventually, we drove up and over Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road which had only opened for the season five days earlier. We hiked up Sun Rift Gorge near the Baring Creek flowing high from snow melt. As we hiked the gorge, there were incredible views in all directions including back down over Saint Mary Lake. The towering peaks of the Rockies surrounding us were all snowcapped and we even hiked over a small patch of snow on the trail! On the return drive, we stopped at Logan’s Pass parking area to view a herd of Big Horn Sheep grazing on new grass being revealed by the melting snow. It was a full long day, too late to go out to dinner, so excellent chef Dennis had another wonderful meal prepared for us just as the previous night.

We were able to all go out for breakfast the Wednesday morning in Kalispell as a goodbye to Adele and Dennis. As we started our drive south to Missoula, we drove on the east side of Flathead Lake for a different view. The road is closer to the lake and we had some great vistas. What a great time visiting with old and new friends and enjoying the beauty of Montana.

Photo Credit: Neil Rhoads
Photo Gallery Below
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Ari and Eric’s Wedding 2014

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Nanette Harter

Ariann and Eric Schultz

Ariann Miller-Rhoads married Eric Schultz on July 5, 2014, at Dunrovin Ranch, Lolo, Montana. Family and friends gathered in Missoula to celebrate their commitment to each other.

Ariann is currently working at Community Medical Center Hospital in Missoula as a Labor and Delivery nurse while Eric is doing research as a biochemistry post-doctorate at the University of Montana, Missoula. Lyra, their dog (and baby) of many years, stays at home, ever vigilant for couch squirrels.

The celebrations started Thursday night, July 3^rd, with a cocktail party at the home of Eric’s uncle and aunt, Mike and Pam. The gathering was the first time Neil and I had met Eric’s family and we really enjoyed getting to know them. Eric’s parents, Maggie and Alan, are from Bakersfield, California, and his extended family came in from California, Wisconsin (I do believe the Green Bay Packers were mentioned a few times), North Carolina, New York, and Arizona. Ari’s mom Jamie and step-dad Michael came in from Arroyo Grande, California, along with family and friends from California, Utah, Washington, Arizona, and us from Hawaii.

On Friday July 4, the festivities moved down to the horse ranch for the Independence Day picnic and fireworks and the Saturday wedding. Friday we played outdoor games, chowed down with a BBQ dinner, did the wedding rehearsal, and watched fireworks once it got dark after 10. There were some accommodations available at the ranch plus a tent camping area. Mailea and I slept in the studio that during the day served as the catering kitchen, the groomsmen dressing area, and the common shared bathroom. Neil would have stayed in the studio also but because of the linen laundry fragrance (again, sigh) Neil set up our tent and slept out near the pasture.

Saturday morning began with the decorating, food prep and reheating, and setting up for the reception. In the afternoon, the bride and bridesmaids disappeared to the upstairs suite to dress and after a few finishing touches on the decorations everyone else went to put on their finery.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and touching. There was so much joy and love shared. While the photos were being taken, I saw a line forming at one particular cooler. Why were Eric’s relatives standing in line over there?? Perhaps it had something to do with Green Bay Packers?? Turns out it held 4 kegs of Eric’s homemade brew specially made for the wedding reception: a double IPA, a saison, a peach cider, and a chocolate porter. Eric is a great brewer and they couldn’t wait to start sampling. I tried a little of each and, sorry Eric, I still don’t like the taste of beer but that one with a hint of chocolate was the tastiest to me. I’m glad you made the cider too 🙂 Dinner, wedding cake and dancing filled the evening of celebration. Did you know that Packers fans like beer?

Sunday morning, everyone pitched in to clean up and restore the ranch to a working horse ranch as we found it. The extended families and friends gathered for brunch in Missoula to say farewell and a final toast to the couple. In the afternoon, the living room at Ari and Eric’s home filled with family viewing the wedding photo slideshow and watching the gift opening. A full and fun filled celebratory weekend!

I must complement Ari and Eric (and “moms”) on the incredible organization and preparation. The whole weekend flowed perfectly. We were glad we could help with the wedding set up and later clean up and spend so much time with family and friends.

Photo gallery below:
Clicking on the first photo brings up a larger view with a description. Depending on your browser, you can use the arrow buttons or keys to move through the gallery photos. If you are receiving this in an email and don’t see a photo gallery below, please click into my webpage to view all the photos! Photo credits: Mailea Miller-Pierce and Neil Rhoads.

Nan Harter

Sharing my adventures with family and friends

Tag Archives: montana

Missoula 2014

Glacier National Park 2014

Ari and Eric’s Wedding 2014