Last Best Place

Our view to the northwest

 Now that we've been in Montana nearly a month I feel like we're finally getting our feet underneath us.  There are pictures on the walls, a new-to-us truck in the driveway with Montana plates, and plants scattered liberally around the house.  We have high speed internet and an old school rotary phone, retro cowboy wallpaper and a king-sized bed that fits all four of us.  On top of that, we've both started in on our new jobs.

Carl is working as a park ranger with the BLM, and gets to do things like ski to backcountry huts and raft the Bear Trap Canyon of the Madison, in addition to cleaning toilets and controlling the drunks floating down the river come summer.  I'm employed in the greenhouse of Madison Farm to Fork, a local foods non-profit that provides education, puts on classes, and sells veggies to the local school and at the farmers market.  That latter part is my responsibility, putting all those seeds in the ground and convincing them to grow.  Whatever I don't know about gardening (which is a whole lot), I am rapidly learning under the tutelage of my boss Kaye.

My office

Ennis has a year round population of about 960 people and 11,000,000 trout.  The number of bipeds doubles or triples in the summer with the arrival of fishing guides, second-home owners, and other seasonal transplants.  It's nice to be here in the tail end of winter to get to know all the faces that will still be here when the leaves start to fall.  We're enjoying small town living, where Carl's boss knew I got my job long before I did, and our elderly neighbor calls us up on our rotary phone to invite us to pinochle night at the historic school house down the road.  Everyone here has dogs so the furry kids have found lots of new friends, too.

Taking the dogs for a walk

If you want to find us, pinpoint the town of Ennis and then continue south for ten miles.  The Madison Range will be on your left, craggy peaks still covered in snow.  Big Sky resort and Moonlight Basin are over on the other side, fairly close as the crow flies but at least an hour or two away by car.  Soon you'll be able to see Sphinx Mountain with its distinctive profile.  When you get to Cameron, basically a sign and a bar, turn east and head up the bench towards the mountains.  Keep an eye out for pronghorn, golden eagles, and the 500 strong herd of elk that winter up there.  Make sure to slow down on the turns, and when the road turns to dirt you're almost there.  You'll be able to see the white farmhouse with the green roof about five minutes before you get to us.  The fearsome guard dogs are partial to peanut butter and hugs, and they'll be just as happy to see you as we will.  Welcome to Montana!