Montana was the first big trip that Ron and I took together after 2+ years of dating, and it wasn’t without some trepidation on my part: we were OK for weekend trips, but how would we do for a week? Turns out, we were fine. The first weekend – staying with Trish and Brent’s friends Clint and Lisa in their roomy, comfy, hand-built cabin in the middle of nowhere — was a great way to start the trip. It was challenging getting there — a long plane ride, an unfamiliar rental car, the dark of night, and a narrow two-lane road presented challenges. However, once we safely arrived, we were refreshed by cocktails, delicious food, and wonderful company before settling in with no street noise and not a lot of light!
My favorite activity that week was whitewater rafting on the Gallatin River with Ron, Trish, and Brent. I’m not a great swimmer; even though we had on lifejackets, the thought of going overboard was, to quote Tom Clancy, “a clear and present danger.” However, I was turning 50 later that year and I figured if my 60-year-old sister Ann could go whitewater rafting in Wyoming earlier that summer, I could damn well do the same thing in Montana. I can’t remember if we had Class 4 or Class 5 rapids, but it was exhilarating: our young guide exhorting us to row, switch, and push with our paddles; getting doused by icy water (which felt wonderful in July); and careening up and down and in between massive rocks that jutted out of the river. Never thought whitewater rafting would be on my bucket list!
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Having become friends with Trish Zdarko and Brent Montrose through Kirk, we took them up on their offer to ”Come up and see us sometime.” I’m not sure how much of the “Montana experience“ Kirk was familiar with, but I agreed and kept my mind (reasonably) free of expectations.
Our friends have lived in the wilds of “Big Sky Country” for a while and tended to visit their home away from home during the scorching summers of Texas. If you’ve spent any time in Texas between June and September, you’d think about booking an igloo too!
So, packing our things we flew to the lovely state of Utah, where our sensibly luxurious, midsized SUV awaited us. By the time we arrived though, our only choices were a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle and a lightning blue Ford Mustang. Even as we crammed our luggage into the tiny trunk and backseat of the Mustang, we prepared for the stares of the onlooking gawkers. Thankfully the radio/stereo setup was amazing and without much trouble we hit the highway and kept our dial on “scan”. Along the way we were amazed at the number of independent, home-based radio pirates we found on our drive to Bozeman, MT!
Once we made it into Idaho, the stations became a bit less a-peeling although it was never un-bear-able! Kirk, in his wisdom, locked down the cruise control and kept me preoccupied with word search games and radio roulette!
Adjusting for a side journey once we hit the Montana state line, we followed our Mapquest guidebook with only a handful of oopsies and one adorable misunderstanding wherein we ended up rolling into what appeared to be an old, tiny settlement of abandoned graying buildings that all leaned just a bit in every which way. As we sat, surrounded by the ghostly buildings, with the sun fading and the evening’s darkness making us more and more wary of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, our call to Trish and Brent finally went through!
As it turned out, we were exactly where we needed to be. They told us to “hold tight”. So we sat there, not looking too closely at our surroundings for fear of something looking back……
Eventually their headlights greeted us as the sun said its final goodnight and we followed them closely like ducklings up to their friends Clint and Lisa. Having planned for us to meet this handsome couple at their cabin was an incredible treat! The happy couple had spent years handcrafting this amazing home with their own hands. Relying on their own pluck and determination, it was easy to see why they took such great pride in their home and their hard work!
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The following day, after a deliciously hearty breakfast, Kirk and I joined Clint and Brent on a walk around of the couple’s property. Clint mentioned some plans they had about adding other features to the property although we never made the return trip to see their progress. Along the way around his land, Clint showed us an old, abandoned silver mine. We only saw the entrance as he mentioned, more than once, that it was highly unstable and very unsafe to go inside. (Don’t you know better than to tell me NOT to do something?!?)
Having bid farewell later that day (to Clint and Lisa), Kirk and I again followed Trish and Brent on a much less stressful drive up to Bozeman. Over the next several days we got to see what life is like in the summer in Montana. The weather was incredible! And even though the altitude made it difficult to go on many jogs, I did work in one that, by the end, made me look forward to being closer to sea level again soon!
Taking the opportunity to go ziplining in the mountains was more fun than I expected. Don’t get me wrong, every time we strapped into the harness I could hear Grandma Mae telling me all the reasons this was a bad idea…..she wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t there to stop me this time!! By the end of that day my voice was hoarse from screams way from mountaintop to mountaintop with ZERO REGRETS!
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The next day we got up early and headed over to the Gallatin River rapids where, after sliding into some questionably squishy wet suits, we casually drifted down the river while our guide kept warning us about the waters that lay ahead. Wah wah, this, wah wah, that…..nearly drifting off to sleep, the raft started pitching around, water slapping me in the face with a startling splash! We made our way downstream as huge boulders seemed to pop up out of nowhere and I kept thinking to myself, “Well, I’ve had a good life after all!” Thankfully it ended with only a bit more squish than kersplash and we made it home just in time for a bite of dinner before dashing to bed in preparation for the next day’s ride to Yellowstone!
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After a winding traverse through the park, we settled in for the evening. The rustic log cabin was a perfectly suitable reminder of where we were….bearly hidden amongst the trees and awaiting our upcoming adventures! That night we slept with one eye open for any unaccounted-for wildlife that might try to sneak in for a midnight snack and found ourselves drifting off to sleep surrounded by a chorus of “hoos”.
Agreeing to take inspiration from each person in our party, we scurried off to the popular sites such as Old Faithful, the Natural Bridge, and others. While each encounter had lots of charm, I really appreciated Trish’s suggestion to visit the “Paint Pot” area. A curious area of playfully colorful pools of steaming hot water that, depending on the minerals beneath the ground, created incredibly vibrant spaces of color among the glistening mud and rock.
By the end of this trip I had learned a lot — not the least of which was that Kirk and I traveled well together and it would be fun to do more in the future!
Thank you for talking the time to check out our blog.
Here’s hoping you are enjoying the lots of adventures as well!
‘Til next time, happy trails!
From Backroads to Broadway 
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