Great American Road Trip Leg 3: Montana

After  camping in Yellowstone, we packed up and headed to American Fork Ranch in Twodot, Montana. It is worth noting that the lady at the Dairy Queen on the way there let the kids help make their very own ice cream cones!

It was our first time in Montana, and as we drove deeper and deeper into ranch country, we began to understand the meaning of the word, "remote." This place was out there! And there was a fire somewhere and we kept getting deeper and deeper into the smoke. We weren't really sure what we were getting into at the beginning.

Nate's friends, Ron and Melanie, were so kind to invite us to stay at the ranch. We had a whole charming house to ourselves and were given a little tour and pretty much invited to go explore wherever, whenever.

Pronghorn are so cool!

We were greeted by the ranch manager and a funny little group of very friendly animals.

The kids were instantly in heaven when they got to pet Petunia the donkey.

The ranch houses from a distance.

We decided we needed to go explore in the creek, so we spent an afternoon finding rocks and splashing around in the cool water. After visiting two national parks, the privacy was a breath of fresh air!

The kids were very excited at the prospect of earning extra dessert here.

Heading back to our house.

Our hosts told us that our house was actually three old cabins that had been combined into one! It was spacious and comfortable with everything we needed.

Leah was thrilled when we saw her favorite animal, a bunny.

There was a clubhouse located in the middle of all the ranch buildings where the kids spent a lot of their time. They loved playing with the dollhouse. It was Melanie's grandmother's! They spent whole afternoons rearranging teeny tiny furniture and playing house.

This photo is Nate doing the equivalent of the walk of shame. He wanted to make dutch oven potatoes one night, and so he lit some charcoal in the driveway and got it cooking. Let's just say the ranch manager didn't take too kindly to seeing open flames on his property in the middle of July. To avoid catching the entire ranch on fire, Nate had to scoop all the hot coals into this tub and finish the job there under plenty of scrutiny.

The potatoes were delicious.

That same night, we had dinner with Ron and Melanie in the big house. It was nice to spend time with them and get to know them and learn the story of their ranch. They were so sweet with the kids.

They have actually put together a ranch museum with all sorts of fascinating artifacts. We enjoyed touring that after dinner.

The kids were very impressed to see the original furniture that came with the dollhouse they'd been spending so much time with.

Very delicate and intricate.

Yup. Signed by Charles Lindbergh.

The big hits for the kids, other than the furniture, were this sausage maker and butter churn.

Melanie and Ron by the dinner bell.

We had candy for dessert one night. It was a big hit.

We had fun playing in the barn. The kids got pretty brave jumping off the piles of straw. And the swing was so fun.

One day we drove out to the pond in the middle of nowhere. We swam and explored and paddled around in an inflatable raft.

The water was pretty deep by the dam, and Addison jumped off it several times. Bryn decided she wanted to swim across the length of the dam. She did a great job at it, got out of the water, and was absolutely covered in leeches! We tried to act natural and not totally horrified, for her sake, as we picked them all off.

It was fun to work on a big puzzle together. It was a hard one!

Nate clearly loves puzzles. He's a good sport.

After days of fun and relaxation in the quiet, we headed home. The drive through Bozeman and Gallatin Canyon was beautiful. It was fun to see all the river rafting and fly fishing.

We stopped at West Yellowstone to stretch our legs and eat lunch. Here we are eating pizza at The Gusher. 

Before we left, the cashier at Walmart who'd checked out a lot of our camping gear recommended that we stop at the candy shop in West Yellowstone, and we took her advice! So many different kinds of candy!

They had a mesmerizing taffy pulling machine right in the front window.

We stopped at Mesa Falls in Idaho, which is like a mini Niagara.

Then we took a slight detour to visit Uncle Preston and Aunt Jenna in Driggs. It was fun to see the Tetons from the other side, and it was great to see family. Here's Uncle Preston demonstrating his commute. He's got one foot at home and one foot at work! It's a pretty sweet setup they've got.

We loved meeting Toby, their new puppy.

By the time we got home we were all slap-happy and really sick of being in the car. Nate told terrible jokes and I laughed uproariously. This is just a small look at the state of our car by the end. It is also worth noting that it was Taco Tuesday. So we went to Del Taco and bought FIFTEEN TACOS! We were all starving! The kids still talk about it with amazement. That's a lot of tacos.