Make Time: Missoula Reunion Time

I had a good lunch in Bozeman and then drove up to the Montana State University (MSU) campus, which is just on the edge of town. The MSU mascot is the Bobcats, which happens to be the same high school mascot (including the same colors) for Aberdeen High School in southern Washington. Why do I care about this? Simple. My buddy Seth, who I’m staying with in Seattle, went to Aberdeen High School and he loves talking about the Bobcats. I figured it would be fun to get him a hat with the Bobcats name on the front. The MSU campus is nice and it was fun to walk around and be amongst college kids. Unfortunately after I got the hat and walked outside, it was pouring rain. I hung for a minute under a walkway with a kid and asked him if he thought this would pass. He said he’s from Alaska, so he had no clue. Of course. I run to the car, getting drenched on my way, and then decide it’s time to head out of town and up to Missoula.

As I’m pulling out of the campus parking lot in the pouring rain I get a call from a college friend named Maggie, who currently lives in Missoula with her husband and three kids. I had heard Maggie lived in Missoula so I gave her a call earlier in the day to see if I could come say hello while in town. It was great to hear from her, and she was happy that I’d be in town and invited me to come say hello. Nice! That worked out well. So I drive a few hours and when I got to Missoula I first checked out a local campground, which ended up being the most run-down and disgusting campground I’d ever seen. I scrapped that idea real quick, and decided to just head to Maggie’s place to say hello before she put her kids down for the night. I got there around 7:15pm and was greeted by the most adorable two little girls. Annie is three years old and Mazey (I think that’s how you spell it) is a little over 1 years old. Both incredibly adorable, polite, and smart. They greet me at the door with big hellos and then they introduce themselves by name and age. So cute. Maggie was a fantastic basketball player and she played all four years at Princeton. She’s always been an incredibly positive and fun person to be around, and I’m glad to be back in her presence. After a minute-or-so Maggie’s husband Bryce walks in holding their youngest child, Wyatt. This is the first time I’ve met Bryce, and I’m immediately at ease with how nice and easy-going he is with me. I later find out that Bryce has his PHD in Economics from Harvard – not too shabby. We have a great night of talking and sipping on whisky while watching the kids run around. Their home is beautiful, and I find out that they just moved in about five weeks ago. Wow! Huge changes. Previously they lived in Portland, Oregon for many years. Bryce is from southern Oregon so we talk at length about what and where I should visit when I go through there. It’s safe to say Bryce LOVES Oregon, so it means that much more that he decided to move to Missoula, where Maggie is originally from. It feels great being in such a loving home, and we have many laughs talking about Missoula, Oregon, Princeton, family, and travels. It gets pretty late and Maggie and Bryce offer to let me stay in their guestroom, which is incredibly kind of them, so I pass out feeling lucky and blessed.

I woke up and watched some cartoons with Annie and Mazey before hitting the road to Glacier National Park. This is definitely one of the big highlights of my road trip, and I’m incredibly excited to see the beauty of this national park. Apparently they have some of the best roads in the US, and the wildlife and glaciers are supposed to be unreal. Can’t wait!!