Ah, family vacations. Imagine my parents loading seven children in a station wagon with no air conditioning, driving across Nebraska, the Dakotas, and/or Wyoming in the heat of early August, pulling a camper; headed to Montana. Once we reached the mountains, I quickly forgot about the heat. Many mornings were chilly enough to warrant a sweatshirt. Cool temperatures, beautiful mountain scenery, sparkling water, clean air, and abundant wildlife; what isn’t there to like.
Those family vacations left an impression on me. I dreamt of living in Montana or Alaska someday. (OK, I hadn’t been to Alaska yet, but I had heard many stories about my Grandpa hunting in Alaska and the Yukon, and my Dad traveling in Alaska.) Now that I am retired, those memories have returned. Through the encouragement of my siblings, I decided to spend some time in Montana this year.
I rented a house outside of Hamilton Montana for the month of May. The property also consisted of 7 acres with a creek flowing along one side, plenty of trees, and two very small open meadows. I was not disappointed. Afterall, the scenery was beautiful, the air and water were clear, wildlife was abundant, and the temperatures were cool, with very little humidity.
Late one evening, I looked out the door and saw a Moose feeding on a crabapple tree maybe 15’ from the deck. This isn’t something I get to see in Iowa.
When I was loading up my truck early one morning, I looked across the open meadow and saw Elk walking through the corral.
I saw all of this from the house. It was a great orientation to Montana. And this was just the beginning…