I flew out to Montana last Saturday morning with my best friend Marcus for the week, to visit his grandma’s ranch outside of a town called Roundup. I love the West and was so anxious to get back out there and experience the wild ruggedness that it has to offer. There is just something about it that puts a big smile on my face just thinking about it. To quote myself on one of my solo road trips back in 2005, “my mouth is starting to hurt; I’ve been smiling for the last 23 hours on my drive out here”. To most people it is a vast part of the country that is desolate for a reason and its ruggedness has nothing to offer, much less be admired, but to me, it’s one gigantic slice of heaven far too great for me to comprehend.
Marcus and I had so much fun out there with his, my new, Grandma Payton. She is such a wonderful lady, who so graciously opened up her ranch to me as if I was her own. I couldn’t have asked for a better host for the week. Grandma never let our stomachs reach half full. She was always feeding us something, including her famous homemade bread and honey butter, which I dare say is the best I’ve ever had.
We spent the week doing all sorts of fun stuff that every man should be so gracious to encounter at least once in life. We helped her with lots of ranch work that she had been putting off, since her late husband passed away and ankle injury last year. We fed the horses each morning and evening, cleaned out the stalls, fixed a cattle guard, fixed the diesel truck, cleared out some debris and picked up a load of sawdust from town. These may have been work activities, but it sure didn’t feel like it. We were always ready to conquer the next work activity. Our fun activities, if you will, were shooting guns, riding horses, prairie dog/coyote hunting, visit to West Yellowstone, riding four wheelers & the big Ford 350 diesel around in the snow. In the evenings, after a big dinner made by grandma and my studly grill skills, we would watch classic western movies. It was such a wonderful trip and I can't wait to get back out there again!
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