big skyin' it

Last weekend, I headed up to Big Sky, Montana with a group of friends. We stayed in a cabin. We played games. We wandered the little resort town. We went ice skating. We sat in the hot tub. We headed up to Big Sky ski resort and skied/snowboarded. 

It. Was. Bliss.

I think this was the second year that this group has done the Big Sky/cabin thing, but it was my first trip up there, and it must be said: Montana is gorgeous country!

And? Getting the heck out of dodge was kind of exactly what I needed. (Being in a cabin in the mountains with friends is refreshing unto my soul in any season.)

Wandering around town with Michelle and Dain

Dain found this...trident (?)...of icicles and posed for a picture.
He mostly asked me to hurry; something about his hand being cold?

Dain's pancake. I think he said pancakes taste better if they're shaped like Mickey 

Keri and Michelle

Refueling (lunchtime!)

The Three Amigas: Gina, Keri, Michelle

Some of the lifts were very cold...

...but for the most part, it was an all-around gorgeous day...

...with a funny experience or two along the way.
(Yep. Mark ripped his bibs. May they rest in peace.)

This is one of the...ah..."funny" experiences I was talking about.
We went exploring and got caught in a bunch of cat tracks (back to back to back).
As it turns out, Michelle LOATHES cat tracks. Like, to the point of, "either laugh or cry."
She kinda did both at once. I did too, technically, but mine was more "laugh until you cry."
This is probably my favorite memory of the entire weekend:
Talking Michelle through the ridiculous cat tracks.

A little pick-me-up for Michelle.
PS frozen skittles are not a bad little sugar boost on the hill!

Up top (ish): me and Mark

Mark had the idea to go up as far as we could (without getting on the tram at the top:
none of us were too keen to experience black diamonds, thank you very much).

...and it ended up being a very good idea.
(A stunning picture of the lovely Keri)

And here we have Michelle.
She made a stupendous crash right as I hit the shutter.
Gosh, I love this girl. (She's actually pretty good, I was just in the right place at the right time!)

Cutest Keri...

The snowboarding happened on Saturday; we had a blast on the hill, then went back to the cabin for dinner, the hot tub, and some excellent conversation. Then we were up at dawn to drive home for churchy obligations Sunday morning...

On the drive home (taken from the back of Jason and Lisa's truck), I give you,
a gorgeous view of the Tetons...

I'll be darned if that wasn't one spectacular road trip with friends...