Montana | Road Trip from Glacier to Paradise Valley

“Well, there’s something about the mountain air they say’s good for your soul
And I say home is not a place, it’s where your heart feels its most whole…” – Chance Peña

written from Julie’s perspective

We recently put together the resource blog “How to Plan an Elopement in Glacier National Park” and I had a blissful remembrance looking at the photographs taken on our van trip through Montana. It was as if I forgot how beautiful the space truly was. We were fully immersed in an experience that was breathtaking, otherworldly, but it wasn’t without its challenges and difficult moments. The adventure was life-changing. Just as I expected it to be given I have felt an intense draw to the state for years.

In July 2024, Colin and I rented a campervan out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Joined by our teenage son, we set off on a 12-day road trip that’s purpose was centered around Glacier National Park. In the few days we spent in the park, we hiked to Grinnell Lake and Hidden Lake, where we saw two grizzly bears, a white moose, and several mountain goats. Pro tip: Don’t yell “It’s a baby!” in high-pitched excitement while on a trail with other people hiking in grizzly bear country. We kayaked across Swiftcurrent Lake and then cold plunged with our heads fully submerged. We slowed down in the evenings and watched moose wade and feed on aquatic plants in Fishercap Lake, along the path to Redrock Falls, and spent our nights camping at Many Glacier Campground.

Why, why Montana why? ♫

It’s basic to say “John Mayer has a house in Montana, of course she likes it” (IYKYK), but it’s much deeper than it appears on the surface. The familiarity resonates in the core of my soul. I was introduced to his music in January 2011 at a time that I really needed to receive what I perceived as a message from the Universe to wake the fuck up. Though not written in Montana, Born and Raised was given life in that space. The album that inspired my journey inward, and then came Paradise Valley. His lyrics were the first words to ever feel like mine. As if I, myself, was talking directly to myself. From there, over the years, it felt like his expressions were my guide to a closer version of truth.

Montana carried the energy of vulnerability and honest Love. It felt humbling and sincere. To me, it became a symbolic representation of Home. Not one that my human body has lived in, but a homely ground that my spirit is infused into. Intuitively, I knew that when Montana’s energy manifested in physical form in my life that I would indeed be at home within.

I had always looked at Montana as mine. I’ve come to learn this trip was as deeply meant for Colin and Jaden. I was meant for them, too. The version of myself brave enough to chase my dreams. Courageous enough to follow my energy. The guides are there when you quieten your mind enough to feel them. My intuitive draw to Montana led me exactly where we all needed to be. The experience unlocked many doors that were waiting to be opened. The intertwinement of details, seemingly unrelated, and synchronicity that surrounds happenings throughout life is remarkable. So, so obvious to me that they are messages from the Universe telling me to follow the flow. Our higher souls talking to our Earthly selves through time and space—communicating as if we are in the bookshelf scene of the movie Interstellar. Remembering how to stay.

At the Many Glacier Hotel, Jaden played the piano for the first time in public. In the presence of the lake and rugged Montana mountains, and a lobby full of people, he played a score by Hans Zimmer for the above referenced movie. The crowd listened, impacting one woman so deeply that she put her book down, took her glasses off, put her hand on her heart, leaned back in the chair, and closed her eyes. Afterwards, she gave Jaden an emotional gesture of gratitude. He made her feel something. Our son is destined to create music, and that day in Montana, I think he felt connected to that path in a way that set the energy into motion.

Nothing is without purpose, not the fact that:

• Jaden is deeply inspired by Chance Peña
• Chance has a song titled Montana and the lyrics resonating
• Colin and I went to Asheville to see Chance open for Kaleo (who we didn’t know before the concert is from Iceland, but that’s a whole other story) and purchased my wedding dress the same day
• John Mayer’s music was the only place that felt like home for a very long time
• He has a home in Paradise Valley, Montana
• Jaden made this a family trip rather than a couple one
• My engagement ring’s center stone is a Montana sapphire
• Jaden was a part of Colin’s proposal by playing his first Grand piano at Steinway & Sons, going from the Interstellar song into “An Evening I Will Not Forget” by Dermot Kennedy
• Matthew McConaughey played the main character in the movie
• He is the author of Poems & Prayers, and I was present for his spoken word and conversation with John Mayer last Saturday night in Los Angeles
• We are taking Jaden to see Chance Peña in Atlanta where John kicked off his music career

This is literally how my brain sees everything—connection & alignment, alignment & connection.

clipped way too soon, but a proud moment to be present for

From Glacier National Park to Paradise Valley

When Colin and I first planned the Montana trip, it was just for the two of us. We created an extended van trip to the place I had been dreaming of for years, Glacier National Park. To share this experience with him meant something beyond words. It was a metaphor for sharing the most intimate part of myself, the deepest pieces of my soul no one has ever touched. I had been Waiting On The Day for quite sometime, to find my person who is the equal to me in every way.

Before setting off on our adventure, we decided to get our first matching tattoos to represent the significance. On my typewriter, we typed out “tie me tight in little strands of paradise” and took it with us. Because I am who I am, and my intentional husband matches my energy, we couldn’t leave the state without driving through Paradise Valley. Completely on brand, we woke up at the first light and drove south through the valley playing John Mayer’s Paradise Valley album that was created from the energy of this very space—physically and metaphysically. Jaden remained asleep in the van, allowing this portion of the trip to be only ours. At the end of the trip, back in Utah, we inked our arms with the lyrics that have become my real life.

Later in the year, Colin and I designed my custom engagement ring. The center stone is a sapphire sourced in Montana and it happens to be my favorite color, teal. It has a tone that shifts between blue and green, and reminds me of a vintage mood ring that matches my aura. It’s the first and only octagon stone Alexis Russell Jewelry has ever had. 8 sides = Infinity. Surrounded by 16 white diamonds: 4 baguette shaped stones pointing North, South, East, and West. Sets of III in between each cardinal direction: A compass. A representation of our highest selves pointing True North, guiding us home.

When we found our truth, then we had the ability to find each other.

If you like this story of how certain artists and our lives connect, you’ll love our second matching tattoos and the place we chose to get married at (hint: it’s in Colorado and involves Dermot Kennedy). You can read that blog post here: Turn Me Homeward | Intentionality and Synchronicity

“…And I remember the way that wind brushed across my face
I was home, I was Home” – Chance Peña