I left my heart in Montana.

IMG_5846 IMG_5944 IMG_5939“Curiosity endows the people who have it with a generosity in argument and a serenity in their own mode of life which springs from their cheerful willingness to let life take the form it will.” – Alistair Cooke

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IMG_5942_Snapseed IMG_5943“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” – Reinhold Niebuhr

IMG_5970 IMG_5971 IMG_5977“Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity”. – Joseph Addison

IMG_5973 IMG_5974 IMG_5975 IMG_5976“Journey with me to a true commitment to our environment. Journey with me to the serenity of leaving to our children a planet in equilibrium”. – Paul Tsongas

IMG_5979 “A life-long blessing for children is to fill them with warm memories of times together. Happy memories become treasures in the heart to pull out on the tough days of adulthood”. – Charlotte Davis Kasl

I will dearly miss this special time together as a family, creating memories that will last a lifetime…

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But as any traveler knows, all good trips must come to an end.

This post was inspired by Ailsa of “Where’s My Backpack”, travel challenge: Pale. To see more entries, click here.

39 comments

    1. You’re welcome! Where are you from?

      This was my second time in Montana (first was when I was 7 and only remember a little bit). I loved it. So incredibly beautiful and so undeveloped and pristine. I want to go back again! 🙂

  1. I love your previous post “A Spectrum of Color”—–almost an assault on the senses (I mean that in a good way!) that your eyes almost have trouble understanding. I like this post, too, but it is like the quieter sister, the one that doesn’t get as much press but nevertheless is somehow the favorite child. I love Montana, too. Thanks for your consistenly lovely work. You’ve inspired me to drag out some old photos (not great ones, believe me) of my earlier travels that have long been neglected. Cheers!

    1. Thanks so much for the wonderful comment and I’m so glad that you enjoy my posts! Yes that is true that the pale of Montana is like a quieter sister. I like that! 🙂 Where do you live?

      1. South Central Texas, near San Antonio. It’s called the Texas Hill Country……harsh and beautiful at the same time. I always enjoy your photos, very inspiring to me, I am just starting out in photography. Thank you!

      2. Oh cool! I bet it is beautiful where you live. I have family near Bryan Texas and my grandparents used to live in Harlingen (they passed away) so I used to spend time there in my youth. I’m glad you like my photos! 🙂 I never really tried to take good pictures until I started blogging two years ago. I wish I’d paid more attention as I have so many trips I went on but so few good pics! 🙂

  2. Very painting like pictures! Looks a bit cold and depressing though. But maybe that’s because I don’t like cold weather…

    1. Thanks! These pictures were taken the last day as weather was coming in. If you check out my earlier posts on Montana, you will see brilliant sunshine against perhaps the bluest sky I’d ever seen. It is really really beautiful! 🙂 It also wasn’t cold…..a bit too warm for skiing! 🙂

      1. I’ve never gone skiing, but it looks like a great place to do so! I’m a little bit jealous of you, you always seem to travel so much!
        Where will you be going next?

      2. Glad you enjoyed! Some of these travels have been done over time. It all depends. I do feel blessed I get to travel so much but it has been a personal choice and I’m lucky to have a supportive family! 🙂

  3. WE both are attentive to skyscapes. Each of your images has a unique feeling that forces me to ponder. How fortunate that you were able to see these vistas. They’re all really engaging.

    1. Thanks so much! I shot most of these through the moving car window with my iPhone! 🙂 I can only imagine how much better the photos would have been if we had the time to stop and I had my good camera. It is that beautiful there! 🙂

  4. Rugged and beautiful! I haven’t yet made it there. The last five images–flat grasslands/fields against blue, snow-veined mountains–made my heart ache. That’s the view that feels most at home to me.

    1. Where are you from originally? Somewhere with Mountains? Montana is exceptionally beautiful. So beautiful that I crave to go back and would love to someday in the summer.

    1. That is true! On the bright side, it just so happens I have another trip in nine days. This was planned a year ago, way before Montana. My mom, sister and I are heading to Paris and Provence, two places I lived in way back in 1993 and 1994. I’ve been back several times since then but usually only for a few days. I can hardly wait to go absolutely crazy with my camera!!!!

      1. Can’t wait to hear all about it. We are heading back to Paris later this spring. I’m pretty excited myself.

      2. Oh Jo! 🙂 I’m going on a special trip with my mom and sister this Wednesday. My dad is coming to babysit the kids with my husband. I am very much looking forward to it!

  5. Reblogged this on allynature's Blog and commented:
    The beauty in these photo’s touched my heart in such a great way that I became ecstatic at the greatness of God all over again.. It reminds me of the first book in the Bible.. Genesis.. How God just spoke and began to create the earth. What a powerful God to share and gift us such a beauty, and named it earth just so we could live, move, eat and breath here. We walk amongst the miraculous things of God daily and we fail to appreciate how blessed we are with simple things.

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