Happy 40th anniversary to my parents, who celebrated 40 years together this last month. Court and Lic organized the event, which involved a very pleasant afternoon cocktail hour at the park in Townsend the Friday of rodeo weekend. Sarah came with me, Licia was joined by her boyfriend Brian, who had never been to Montana, and of course Aaron and Elayna came with Courtney. Thank you so much to all who attended and enjoyed the afternoon with us!
Sarah and I made a week-long trip out of it. After flying in on the early flight from Denver, we were at large in Bozeman by 9:30. After a stroll downtown, we went through the Lewis and Clark Caverns, which was unlike anything Sarah had ever seen. We made a detour on our way back to the ranch through the old town of Elkhorn. Visiting a ghost town was another first for Sarah. It was a perfect day to take in the somewhat still green July Montana hayfields and scenery.
On Thursday, we hiked from our pasture down to the lake and back on a rather hot and dry morning. The crew from Arizona showed up later that day. We were pleased to visit with them and of course Chris, Jim, my Grandma, and my parents.
While the girls did preparatory shopping for the party on Friday, my dad had the guys slated to put in a dozen hefty paver stones to replace some wooden tie steps that had shifted and largely come apart the last few years. It could not have been done without Aaron and Brian, and I'm still a bit shocked about one of the stones falling unexpectedly on Aaron's hand, crushing four fingers and breaking two of them. It's the raw end of a deal to get for volunteer work while on vacation, and I hope he recovers quickly with no lasting issues.
The party was that evening, and was quite well attended; my parents, sisters, and I are all grateful for such good friends and family. Lic, Sarah, and I took Brian to his first rodeo afterwards, which he either enjoyed or faked enjoying quite well. Sarah is a rodeo veteran by now, after attending the Pro Bull Riders in Des Moines in April with some friends of ours and a local rodeo in Bloomfield, Iowa on the 4th.
I was thrilled on Saturday morning to bale the last twenty bales of first cutting with the ranch's new tractor, a Massey 7465. It's a completely different machine than the ranch's old tractors and is a pleasure to drive. Sarah even drove it in a circle later in the trip and was surprised at how easy it was. It was her first time driving a tractor.
The younger crowd made our usual trip to Mackenzie River Saturday afternoon and took the tour train to familiarize the newbies with Helena lore, with the Saturday night rodeo to top off the day.
We all attended the 50th and sadly final Cattlewomen's BBQ on Sunday. Court and Chris rode on the past rodeo queens' float in the parade. I rode a cow in the rodeo that afternoon, with much anticipation from the rest of the family in attendance. The old girl put my shin into the gate and my boot caught and slid me back in the blur that was the ride, but I rode the full 8 and scored a 59. I limped out of the arena and put my gear away before I took my boot off and realized I had a roughly quarter-sized gash on my shin. The EMT cleaned it up and sent me on my way.
Monday was thankfully a laid-back day at home, and we were glad to visit so much with my cousin Emily. We flew back uneventfully on Tuesday, concluding another Montana adventure.
Thank you to any and all who Sarah and I got to see last week and who made the trip worth making. A huge thank you to my sisters and their significant others for organizing things and being especially good sports. My leg has been inspected by several nurses and is being treated appropriately. It has slowed me up some, and I get curious looks at work from my limp, but at least there's a story to go with it. It's a fun one to tell.