Day 49 - 50 - My hometown, Helena, MT

Today was an exciting day for me, as we were driving to my hometown of Helena, MT to spend the next 4 days.  Dan would get to meet my parents and see where I grew up. 
We woke up early to pack up camp, knowing we had a pretty long drive out of the park and to Helena.  We weren't expecting too much action on the drive but were pleasantly surprised in the first half hour.  Still in Yellowstone Park, we approached a very slow moving car that appeared to not know whether they were pulling over or continuing to drive.  Somewhat annoyed with their indecision, I carefully drove around and ahead of the car.  As soon as we were past the car, we realized the cause for their stopping.  Not fifty feet in front of us directly in the middle of the road was a wolf!  Wolves are quite elusive and people travel to Yellowstone with the sole purpose of sighting a wolf.  People will set up camp with their telephoto lenses pointed off into the hills and celebrate upon seeing a blur in the distance (which is most likely a coyote anyway).  So we were incredibly surprised to see the wolf at such a close distance and even more surprised to follow it's path up the hill where two more wolves joined him.

<insert amazing photo of wolves here>

Yeah...so of course we didn't have a camera ready but believe me, it was incredible!!

We continued on with our drive and decided to stop for one more "hot water" (as the park ranger described the geysers) before we left the park.  Artists' Paintpots sounded intriguing so we took a quick stroll through.

We continued on towards the town of Norris where we were informed that we would most certainly see some elk.  We were not disappointed, as the elk here freely wonder around the town, waiting for the next clueless tourist to try to get too close.  We snapped some photos and exited the park.

Just minding her own business

We were now on the open highways of Montana (and yes, we do have a speed limit).  We stopped in Bozeman for lunch and then made our way to Helena, I introduced Dan to my mom and my stepdad, we showered and then were swept off to Festa Italia!

My mother is half Italian and has been taking an Italian language class for several years.  Every year her class celebrates with a big party, Festa Italia.  We were fortunate enough to arrive on the very day the party was happening and it was just a short walk from my house.  The party was quite authentic with copious amounts of wine, bread and pasta.

No PBR here

 We were serenaded throughout the night with lovely Italian music.

Enjoying the music and the company

 By the end of the night, we were well fed, feeling happy from the wine and thoroughly ready for bed after this long day.

The next day we relaxed in the morning before heading out to show Dan the town.  First stop was my mom's bookstore, Aunt Bonnies Bookstore.  It is the oldest bookstore in Helena and a trip home for me isn't the same without a visit to the store.  Dan and I chose a few books to take home.

Dan in his happy place

After getting our fix of books, we headed up Last Chance Gulch to meet my best friend, Shannon, for a beer at Blackfoot Brewery.  Shannon and I grew up in Helena together but she now lives near me, in West Seattle.  Our timing was perfect that we were both going to be in Helena at the same time. We enjoyed some great beer, conversation and popcorn

We then headed back up to my house for my stepdad's famous bruschetta.  After our fill of garlic and wine, we were ready for a long nights sleep.

-Lauren