Foto-story Friday #16 -- weekend get a ways

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

So, last week, Troy was at training across the state about 7-8 hours away.  We had planned a weekend get-away with some great friends.  It was to be a trip to Denver {a place neither of us have been} that included a pro baseball game.  But just days before he left for training, our friends could not get the time off due to some changes at work.  We were all seriously bummed.  It was looking like Troy would just be coming home and we would carry on as usual.  I was less than thrilled with this plan!  By Thursday, I was way ready for that little get-away!  Troy's nightly calls were not encouraging, he just wanted to be home and sleep in his own bed.  Finally, I either got through to him that I NEEDED this or his parents convinced him -- either way he decided that we would meet in Billings and the other guy could just go on home alone. A major thank you goes out to my in-laws for taking care of our kids and giving us this weekend and the use of their car!  You guys are awesome!
I loaded a few things in the car and headed the 3 hours to meet him.  These black eyed susans were nearly lining the whole freeway throughout the drive.  It is pretty hard to get a good shot of them when you're driving 78 mph and hoping you're actually catching the intended target {I know, I know one should NOT drive and take photos at the same time ...}  Also while driving I saw a huge flag waving in the wind it was a beautiful sight, but I couldn't quite capture it:It was somewhere below this beautiful blue sky!  We ate a late dinner at IHOP after visiting with some friends until most of the eateries were closed up.

On Friday, we got up and went sight seeing.  I mentioned in my blessing post, that we went to my favorite toy store, here's a peek:



This is just a small sampling of the tractors and farm toys that the store holds and sells.  It is not a very large building, but it has quite an extensive collection.  This last shot is taken into one of those round mirrors strategicley placed so that the shoppers can be observed. I kinda felt funny taking pictures in there, but I'm like a kid in a candy shop when I go here!  I get all giddy and I want to touch and hold and test out all of the tractors!  Of course there are signs that say "look with your eyes".

We also stopped by the Harley shop.  That was a first time for me, I'd never been inside a Harley shop before.   There were signs like this:What do ya think?

Is it me?  This one is not a Harley, I like the chopper style.  
This one is a Harley, but I couldn't get Troy to sit on it {he thinks I'm a little crazy!}  Should we get one?!  Well, they are WAY out of our price range, but I kept hearing, "one day ... one day we'll have one."  We bought T-shirts.
We also saw some big boy toys with signs like this:Intended to prevent people from messing with them.  I would have been tempted to go climbing .......  control, must show self control!

Friday evening we had a good home-cooked meal at our friend's home. {Sorry, no pictures, I just never felt it was the right time to click off a few shots!  I had the camera hanging there around my neck.... I was maybe intimidated by there big wa-zooie camera! :)}

We had to try out the water slide at the hotel.  We went Friday afternoon, but failed to bring the camera.  SO Saturday morning we took a quick dip and a slide or two:

We packed it up Saturday and headed to the temple.  What a great ending to our get-away!

I never tire of capturing this beautiful building.  I try to get a different angle each time I visit.