the last best place

So awesome!!  And just what the doctor ordered!  We left Racine on Wednesday afternoon with the Dudley’s and headed for Montana.  Four full days without my iPhone, email, or “connections” had me freaking out a little, but in hindsight ... it done me some real good!

We landed in Missoula and drove north to Greenough, for some of the best “gl-amping” known to man at the Paws Up resort.  {glamourous camping = spoiled!} We stayed in luxury platform tents, complete with real beds and electric blankets; a short walk had us in 5 star private bathrooms; we had a beautiful dining area; and an awesome fire pit area.

We christened the never-before-stayed-in ‘River Camp,’ which was located directly on the Blackfoot River {think ‘A River Runs Through It’ ... Brad Pitt}.  We had a private butler who rose at the crack of dawn to get coffee and the fire ready.  A chef came to make breakfast and dinners ... gourmet food {elk, buffalo ... I had the kids mac & cheese!  although, I did love the goat cheese omelets ...}.

When we arrived Wednesday evening, we got settled and headed right to the fire for s’mores, a beautiful cheese platter, and then it was time for nighty-night!  Man, the temps sure drop at night in Montana!  brrrrrr ...

Thursday morning we headed to the Wilderness Outpost to see what activities were in store for the weekend, and then headed Garnet to see the area’s famous ‘ghost town.’  It was pretty cool!  Someone lived there as recently as 1960!  Pretty freaky to think about if you look at the photos.  After touring the town, we noshed on a picnic lunch the resort sent us with.  The kids had like 3 desserts each in their lunches and were basically wired the rest of the day!

After we finished with lunch, we headed back to camp for Hunter’s nap and some adventure time for the rest of the kids.  Piper and Wynter spent a great deal of time setting up their ‘store’ in between some brush and bushes.  They offered everything from pine cones, rocks to cookies {hand sanitizer recommended after purchasing, as it turns out these ‘cookies’ were actually made out of moose poop ... true story!}.

The kids were way too excited to find centipede alley and Mr. Snakie.  And then spent much of their time finding insects to feed Snakie!

Friday morning we went on a hike near camp and found a baby fawn, a neat old cabin, and a crazy ant hill.  Curt had the kids dipping their hands into it and as they pulled their hands out, they were covered {and I mean covered} in ants!

The kids spent Friday afternoon at adventure camps, while the adults used Hunter’s nap time to do a little napping too!  Friday night we went to the manager’s bbq social {can’t you just picture curt loving this?}.  The kids learned how to rope a calf, which ended in Curt roping the kids.  People thought we were insane!

Saturday we went canoeing on a quiet, pristine river and followed that up with a picnic lunch on shore.

We all had an absolutely fabulous time and I’d love to go back next year!  You know it’s a good time when miss teenage, professional IM’er, bored at family events tells you she’s having a good time!

Two sad events to note:  Snakie found his final resting place; Wynter had to close down the store.

Click here for photos {warning ... many photos!}