Montana
A Trip To The Past
Mom brought up a handful of photos over Thanksgiving because I referenced the shot we took when at Disneyland last week, and she said she had a shot of me pulling the sword from the stone back in 1986 too. That one is here, along with a handful of other shots ranging from 1986-1993ish. It’s funny that it’s been almost 20 years with some of these, but good to have a copy of them digitally now, eh?
Check out the patches on Luke’s jeans. Nice work Mom!
Great Gramma Cross, Gramma Millie, Luke and Andy in a sweet patterned frame.
Gabbert Family circa 1958ish?
1992 Helena America All-Stars. I think this is the year we took 2nd at State maybe?
Me and Laura-Jean ready ourselves to brave Kindergarten!
Oh Lord, check out that hair I had! I’ll certainly be teased about this by my kids – feel free to take a jab or 2 yourself about them. (Andy and Ike 1992.)
Yea, our faces are really red there, eh? Scanner took a bad shot of it.
San Diego Zoo 1986
Universal studios 1986
Teacups 1986 a la 2010 with my girls.
Universal Studios again 1986
Pull the sword out in 1986 (How about a shot in 1999, or how about 2010?
Fishing with Luke, 1983. Not sure where this was taken, nor who’s dog that was cause Mom didn’t know, but…
A Lovely Shot of My Ladies @ the Cabin, Montana 2009
A cute shot of my ladies in the creek…
…as well as Brick, the Wild Circus Dog of the West. 
Railroad Track Bridge Near Three Forks, MT – Nov. 2009
We parked HERE and I walked about 50 yards down to that bridge you see there and now see here. I remember there were some dudes fishing on the other side of the river when I pulled up in the Suburban; they probably don’t see a lot of people stopping around to take photos, and it almost looked like I was taking the photos of them. They left about 2 minutes after I started; peculiar, no? 
Another Shot Along The Way To Bend, OR – 2009
Found another few I’d like to toss in this mix. It’s funny how many photos you find after a while that you realize do have some merit, just not at the first glance maybe because you’ve got a handful on the subject you already liked; case in point…
Fields of Gold – Bozeman, MT 2009
I think this was probably right around HERE. Again I had the kids in the car and maybe even Heather’s mom was in there. I remember it was pretty windy out so the clouds were moving pretty quickly and that usually makes for some decent shots of the clouds. I took a 180 degree shot of this with my wide angle lens, but those never stitch well together from what I’ve seen. This one stuck out in particular as my best one of the batch. 
Barn Near Jens, MT – 2009
I could search along the I90 route for hours trying to find this, but I swear it is right outside of Jens, MT somewhere. We drive by it every trip to Montana and I never actually get any photos of it, but always say that I should stop. So I did this time, right on the freeway and pulled off to the side or the road. There wasn’t a lot of traffic and I remember I just pulled behind the guard rail. The car was at a pretty steep angle too; Lilla didn’t like not being able to tag along. This shot has been my background on my work machine for about 3 months, I like it.
The Old Creek – Near Elliston, Montana 2009
I’m always intrigued by a colorless photo. It was getting dark, but snapped up a little extra light to get this one. This is on the other side of the first branch of the creek about HERE. I remember at one time there used to be a lot of frogs in here that we’d catch, but that was back in the 80s. All those frogs must have grown up and taken jobs in the city though, because I didn’t see any more there…
Our Cabin on The Little Blackfoot Near Elliston, MT – 2009
We’ve had THIS cabin for my entire life but I haven’t been to in much since moving to Seattle, maybe 2 or 3 times in the past 10 years at best. We seem to be gaining land as the creek has eaten into the opposite shore over that time. It’s amazing how fast it can change the contour of the land in that short amount of time. We played a lot of lawn darts, shot a lot of target practice with a laundry list of guns, road a million miles on snowmobiles, hiked, caught loads of fish and buried a few animals (Toby is buried HERE, and FatCat is HERE).
It’s funny to think back to what we did before this technology age; there was always “something” to do there. We were always excited to get to go to the cabin for the weekend…
I’ve always been a fan of the “Aged” look of a photo, and the memories here certainly take me back – I couldn’t decide on what I liked more so I whipped up one with a bit more time to it. They both make me miss Montana a little bit…
A Shot of My Oldest Bean – Happy 5th Lilla!
I’ve tried getting this shot with all my kids so far, but this one sticks out the best – It’s Lilla, just minutes after birth; mohawk, sass, and all! She’s not got the mohawk anymore, but she certainly has the sass! Happy birthday Lilla!
Driving back from Montana in 2005
Again, just had the new camera in 2005 and on the drive back home had an ominous cloud cover that really made for some dramatic lighting. This is the latest one I’ve printed out and framed up at my house – looks pretty good.
Friday Noon Lights
Snapped this one in Missoula, MT right on the other side of the river from Missoula Hellgate. We stop at this Taco John’s as it’s the last one before you leave Montana and it’s one of my favorite taco locales. I remember it being a staple back in Helena on Taco Tuesdays where you’d get 2 for $0.99!
It was December right after Lilla was born and we had the 98 Jimmy loaded down with a lot of stuff – hard to imagine the drive nowadays in that one. The shot was actually just a quick one to highlight the ice floating in the water but when I got it home and processed the lights and sky really popped. This one is one of my faves…
Driving Back From Montana 2005b
Snapped this one driving back from Montana in 2005 – I actually remember it pretty well. It was right after Lilla was born and I just got my Canon 20d. I took a few snaps of a water drain that didn’t turn out well, but the snap I got after this looking the other way is probably one of the favorite shots I’ve ever taken.
I don’t at all miss the cold here because it was probably -10 degrees outside but the scene caught my eye and thought it worth stepping out for it.
Frosted Barbed Wire
Again back from the 2005 archives – I snapped this one on the way back from Montana for Christmas. I just got my Canon 20d and I remember stopping at a handful of pieces along the way. This one is a closeup of the frost that formed on the barbed wire fence right before 10,000 Silver Dollar Casino.
