i can't believe that i am actually going to do this

Let me be blunt ...

I am going to take a trip to Montana ...

we'll be gone for two weeks.

I am going with Mama, Daddy and my three kids ...

and without Ronnie.

Oh, and another little tidbit of information ... we just finalized this decision today ... we leave Sunday!

YIKES!

Before you accuse me of having taken leave of my senses (which I have been accusing myself of all afternoon) or of being a bad wife, let me tell you that I didn't plan to go at first.  Actually, when Mama called me yesterday the invitation started out for my two oldest children.  You may think this strange, but I actually thought it would be nice for them to go and me stay at home with my little guy and do some organizing of bedrooms and major prep for school.  Then Daddy mentioned that maybe D and I would like to go too.  My first reaction was, no thank you.  I just wasn't (and still am not) completely sure that I want to be gone that long without Ronnie.  It was only after talking to Ronnie that I even considered going and then only because he basically told me that I should go.  He didn't say that the kids couldn't go without me, but for whatever reason, the just thinks that my going is the right thing to do.

I am not sure if it is because he thinks I need the time away from ordinary responsibilities, or because he thinks my parents really want me to go, or maybe some peace and quiet sounds good to him, too.

But, whatever his reasoning, I have agreed and we leave in less than two days.  I know that I will enjoy the time spent with my parents, especially since Mama should be feeling pretty good after her last chemo treatment and since when we get home they will have to change the type of chemo she is getting and who knows how the new one will make her feel.  We have learned to take advantage of the times when she feels good.  The other nice part is that I will be able to help with the driving.  The trip goes much faster when you have three drivers ... our goal will be to drive straight through from here to Anaconda, Montana, about a 48 hour drive.

Oddly, the kids aren't as excited as I thought they would be.  I think they are kind of like me.  A little nervous about leaving their Daddy for so long.  I think that they will be fine once we go, but I know that we will all miss him.

With all that said, let me introduce you to our destination.

Anaconda is, or rather was, a copper mining town.  The town was built around the smelter and the Anaconda Company was everything.  At least that is how I understand it.  The picture to the left is the smelter stack, surrounded by large piles of slag ... the junk left over after the mining process.  (Please forgive me ... I don't really know all the technical terms!)  The stack really isn't very pretty to look at, but they keep it around because it is a very real part of the history of the town.  My sister-in-law is from there and I am sure that she could do a much better job of sharing the history ... but for now I'll just tell you that if you happen to be interested, they have a really nice website you can visit by clicking here.

The town is really very nice.  It is small and you can walk to many places.  One of LB's first comments to the boys is that there is a Dairy Queen that you can just walk up to the window and order ... no dining room, just tables outside and they are only open in the summer!

You can take a short drive and visit Georgetown Lake, which is absolutely breathtaking.

I don't know what all we will be doing while we are there.  I do know that this is mainly a trip to relax ... so we won't have a whole lot of predetermined plans.  I would like to take the kids to the fish hatchery and to Lost Creek Falls.  I also know that I plan to do a small amount of school work while we are there.  I will probably take the big kids to the library and let them learn a little local history and we plan to map our trip and do some geography on the way.  My Daddy has a wealth of information about Montana and specifically the areas we will be visiting, so I am sure that will be a great history lesson for the kids ... and lets face it, history is more interesting told to you by your Papa than reading it in any dusty old book!

For now, I really need to go start packing and help LB solve the very real crisis of which of her dolls/stuffed animals will make the journey with us and which ones will have to stay behind with Daddy!

Since I don't have a laptop, my computer access will be non-existent once we leave.  I will have lots of blogging to catch up on when I return ... both reading y'all and posting our experiences.  Who knows, two weeks with no internet may be really good for me!

So, I suppose I will see you guys in a couple of weeks.

Unless I chicken out ...