Wolves are Protected in Montana...

Last weekend Michael and packed our bags, bundled up, and headed to Montana. We flew out of Seattle (after a quick over night stay at my parents house) into Missoula on what I thought was a much too small of a plane. Thank gosh our spinning propeller itty bitty aircraft got us there with minimal turbulence and in one piece, and Michael’s parents were right there to pick up us from the airport. Why a trip to Montana you ask? WOU Football was playing against the one and only Montana Griz. As soon as the schedule was released and we heard about the matchup, we knew no matter what we’d have to be at the game. Michael’s parents are both Griz Alumni and so he grew up supporting them, and by default I became a Griz fan too… Any other game, against any other opponent, we’d cheer for the Griz, but not when they were playing our WOLVES! J

One of Mike and Danette's
fav college places...

The weekend of course flew by. On Friday we made a stop at the Missoula Brewery to taste Scape Goat and Moose Drool beer, walked campus and saw the school, Michael chatted with Montana’s Athletic Director and Director of Development while I tagged along, and we met up with Michael’s godparents Mike and Denise Haugen who came to join us for the game too. The 4 “Adults” took Michael and I around to all of their old hangouts and the “cool” places to be in Missoula. We had a blast!

Before the game...

Then Saturday morning we bundled up with about 53 layers of clothing (its fricken COLD in Montana in November) and headed over to the tailgating area and the game. The athletic department did it up big starting the game with skydivers landing at about the 30 yard line, a giant field size flag to honor the amazing veterans attending the game, and a military fly-by to start the game. We were lucky enough to watch from the sideline and cheer for our beloved Wolves. While the end score of the game didn’t go our way, the boys put up one heck of a fight. The defense kept the Griz from scoring a touchdown until the 2^nd half and put on quite a show.

Michael's Parents and God Parents

The whole weekend turned out to be even more fun than we thought it would be. One of the best parts was how nice to us everyone was. Of course everywhere we went we were decked out in our WOU gear. While our family teased us, and maybe even taunted us a bit, the locals were so friendly. I cannot even start to count the number of Griz fans who were not only nice but welcomed us to the state. I guess it is true, Wolves really are protected in Montana. J

Our trip ended with a crazy 4 state drive from Missoula, through Idaho, to Seattle, and back home to Oregon. We arrived home exhausted, but happy. I’m not sure the next time we’ll make it back to Montana, but we’re so glad that we went. Yay for WOU, yay for football, and yay for a great mini-vaca even if it was freezing.