The Big Sky State

Just 5 days ago, I set my eyes on Montana for the first time in my life. After flying all day from Virginia, I was pretty tired and confused because, somehow, it was only 4:20 PM! I had made plans to meet my boss, Paul, by the 'big bronze grizzly bear' near baggage claim in the Bozeman airport. Needless to say, I was excited to see this statue and to meet my new boss. My plane got a in a few minutes early, so I had just enough time to realize that one of my bags was missing. I finally met up with Paul and headed out to see my new temporary home.

Paul and I drove through the town and he showed me a few 'hot spots' that he and his family as well as past interns enjoyed visiting. We ended up at local pizza joint called Colombo's where we ate dinner with his wife, Erica and daughter, Ashley. This family made me feel so at ease and before we had finished our first slice of pizza, we were laughing at our favorite moments of 'The Office'. Shortly before dinner was over, Erica invited me to go on a hike with her the next morning. Seeing as I had nothing else to do and that I am always up for an outdoor adventure, I immediately agreed.

Erica picked me up at about 8:00 AM on Saturday morning to go on our hike. We met up with Rachael, an intern from 2 years ago who decided to move to Bozeman after she graduated from college in Michigan. I had such a wonderful morning with Rachael and Erica. After our 7 mile hike by the Madison river, we ate the lunches that Erica had packed us and then headed back home. I spent the rest of the day forcing myself to stay awake so that I could get onto a somewhat normal sleep schedule.

The next morning (Sunday), I met my co-intern, Tara, over breakfast with Paul and her. When she first saw me, she gave me a big hug and said "oh what the heck, we're going to be friends". It was at that point that I knew it was all going to be okay. After eating a delicious breakfast with Paul, we walked around a bit downtown and then decided to go on another hike! This time, we hiked up to "the big M". It was a pretty steep hike that was rough on this low altitude gal, but we made it to the top and it was all worth it!

During my first 2 days in Montana, I realized why all of the license plates said The Big Sky State. Even though there are HUGE mountains all around, the sky is so massive here! There was beautiful weather for my first weekend--I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the area.