Big Sky Country

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In the beginning of 2015 my family and I had all planned on heading out to Montana to visit Derik's family. In the process we were going to fish the days away, explore Yellowstone and hike up a mountain so large and deadly my life flashes before my eyes just thinking about it :P But I got a full time job and with full time jobs there comes the whole requesting for time off and getting approval and when you are technically still on probation you probably shouldn't be asking for a week off so the July hike of doom was cancelled.

But we were not to be dissuaded from an adventure to the mysteries lands of Montana. I had been there once before with Derik but the weather was so bitterly cold I'm pretty sure my eye balls where frozen for most of the trip. This time we would be going a bit earlier in the winter season and hoping to avoid the mind numbing cold. And we were fortunate enough to do just that. Planning out trip in November left us with just two chilly days. With that said we also had a day where we were all in t-shirts so it is fair to say the weather was a bit all over the place. But none the less it was beautiful.

Derik would be spending half of the trip with his dad hunting for elk, so we made the most of it while we still had the guys and headed to Yellowstone almost immediately. Barely refreshed we piled up the family truck and hit the road. The day was beautiful although rather cold but that didn't stop us from appreciating the landscape. As we made our way to Yellowstone we weren't without stops. A geocache here and there, a pit stop and Prairie Dog National State Park.

So if you haven't seen a prairie dog before go out and find one. They are adorable. They poke their heads out of the ground and then run deep into their burrows. They also make this adorable little chattery sound, seriously find yourself a prairie dog they are awesome.

We weren't distracted too long by the prairie dogs or the geocaches and before we knew it we were arriving at Yellowstone. The stone archway stands massively before you as you enter into the park. Fitted with an engraved sign stating "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People". After a quick photo shoot with the sign we headed into the park to see what we could find. We explored the park for 1 1/2 days. Our first arrival was a bit late in the day and left us with limited light to explore. However the following day we literally had all day and a beautiful day at that. We set out in the am and didn't return until dinner time.

Upon entering we were instantly greeted by some Big Horn Sheep. They stared at us as they munched on the grass, totally unafraid of our presence. That was much the same way for several of the large creature that call Yellowstone Home. Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Buffalo and Moose, all of them seemed to care less whether we were there or not. In fact while they cross the street our vehicle is just a minor inconvenience that they have to walk around. But this calm demeanor allows for some killer photos.

The large animals weren't the only ones we spotted. The evening of our first exploration lead us to encounter a red fox who was jumping up and down into the snow in an attempt to find food. Throughout the second day we saw a few coyotes slinking around in search of something to feed off of. There were jack rabbits and turkeys, ducks and mountain blue birds but what is the one thing everyone strives to see when visiting Yellowstone?

WOLVES! And we saw them. Sure they were the tiniest of tiny even in the impressive lenses we were looking through but they were indeed wolves. You could see them get up and stretch if you were fortunate enough but for them most part they just kind of sat there looking like boulders. Either way it is pretty cool to have seen them all just chilling in the snow.

We left Yellowstone and headed back to Billings. Derik and his dad would be venturing out the following day on a quest for elk and my mom, Derik's mom and I had grand plans of exploring some nearby exhibits. Our first brought us to Little Bighorn Battlefield. We first watch a quick video and explored a bit of the museum. Following that we walked the trails outdoors which were marked with head stones for the fallen soldiers and Native Americans. The day was beautiful, so warm that we were walking around without any jackets. The place is very open, it just seems to go on for acres and acres with headstones popping up sporadically.

From there we hopped across the road to Custer Battlefield Trading Post and Cafe where I dined on Indian Tacos. It was an odd dish with fried dough as the taco shell part and an array of ingredients placed on top of it. Odd but edible which means i ate the whole thing.

When leaving lunch we decided to do a bit of geocaching. Now geocaching can lead you to interesting places you would never have gone to before or it can lead you to peoples driveways as dogs are barking and your just waiting for the cops to be called. They weren't however we did have a run in with the law. While on our fourth geocache, this is after the weirdo driveway, the magnetic sign back alley place and the crazy cat/dog lady we found ourselves on the side of the road. We put our hazards on and just as we were about to jump out in search of what was a large geocache the lights could be seen in the review mirror. Yes the cops were behind us.

The cop sauntered on up to the car and kindly asked if we had a problem. Thinking we had a mechanical problem he had stopped to help but instead we educated the young man on the ways of the geocaching. We hopped out of the car, our quick and unpredictable movements startling the cop. You see my mom, mother - in - law, her parents and I are very intimidating looking folks. But after the initial nervousness of us exiting the car, he seemed entertained by the idea of searching for random stuff on the side of a road. He even took our photo. And we didn't get a ticket!

The following day we went to Red Lodge. This adorable little town reminded me of my mom the first time I went. It is just one road of shops, everything for antiques to candy to knick knacks and soaps. We grabbed a bit to eat and then walked the street popping in from shop to shop. Shopping spree galore continued onto the next day, we hit up several antique shops where everyone found some really great stuff.

Out of the shops and back to adventures we headed out to Pompey's Pillar National Monument. This gigantic rock in the middle of nowhere has a pretty cool history about it. Engraved on the side of the rock is William Clark's signature. In fact that inscription is the only physical evidence that remains from Lewis and Clark's Corp of Discovery's trail. The pillar is absolutely a spectacular site. After climbing to the top you can see forever, looking out over the Yellowstone River. What was even cooler about the Yellowstone River were the bald eagles that had decided to hang right along the edge. We saw a few of them and even managed to get rather close to one before it took off.

Our own expedition came to a close the following day. Derik had returned to Billings elkless, but he did however come home with a deer. We took that to a butcher shop which was probably the most interesting expedition I took.

I just want to clarify I have no problem with hunting. And if your going to hunt I'm all about making it into something that you eat. But the whole butcher shop thing... just ain't for me. Oh man, I hopped out of the truck and narrowly missed a pool of blood. Outside of the shop, just hanging out was a leg. JUST A LEG, no body no nothing just a leg no idea who it belonged to. Inside hung all the deer, their bellies all exposed. And then the butcher offers us some food. Really food, right next to the deer. Well I don't turn down free food so naturally I ate it, but still there was a dead deer like inches from my face! Alright that's all I have to say about butcher shops and how I will never go back thank you very much.

We all had a great time explore Montana together. We got to check out a lot of really beautiful places and see some amazing wildlife. Montana we will be seeing you again!

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