PROLOGUE

I've been back in Georgia for about 3 weeks. I've had the pleasure of catching up with many of my friends through lunch, road trips to buy trailers, coffee time at the "new" barn, e-mails, etc. Surprisingly to me, many of you told me how you read and enjoyed the blog. I had great fun writing my tale so I would have a record of my 2 months, and also selecting some pictures to put in the blog. But I'm so thrilled that people did read it and enjoyed it.

Because of that, I felt I needed to put an ending on the blog. The last post had me driving my way back to Georgia and suffering from "mountain withdrawal" (which I'm still going through). So I wanted the tale to have an ending.

To recap.....I had 2 FABULOUS months in Montana and enjoyed every single moment of it. I drove a total of 10,500 miles and spent approximately $2,400 on diesel gas (this was the part I didn't enjoy). During those drives, I saw Mt. Rushmore, the Chief Crazy Horse Monument, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, went into Yellowstone EIGHT times (yes, and saw something different each time), went over the Beartooth Mountains twice, experienced many beautiful "scenic" drives (all worth taking), went to Nye, MT to see my property 3 times, hiked a bunch of trails and mountains (have no idea how many miles), and saw more wildlife than I've every seen in the West before. This included more buffalo than I could begin to count, 9 moose (including a baby moose -- too cute), 1 bear, about 6 big horn sheep, a herd of mountain goats, lots of deer, elk, several marmots (cute rodent for those who don't know what this is), etc.

I shopped a lot of stores in Yellowstone National Park, Bozeman, Big Sky, Polson, Missoula, Livingston, Big Timber, Red Lodge -- and even at the "Top of the World" in the Beartooth Mountains. Luckily I kept the spending down to a reasonable amount -- not more than I could haul home in the truck!!!

I experienced Primal Quest in Big Sky (bunch of crazy people who like to mistreat their bodies in the wilderness of Montana -- and it will be televised!!), "Music on Main" in Bozeman, the farmer's market, the "Hoops" festival in Polson (closed down main street for a 3 on 3 basketball tournament), several art festivals, the "Colored Buffalos" in West Yellowstone, the Gallatin County Fair (complete with a rodeo), etc.

I went to visit friends in Polson, MT, and made many new friends in every place I went. The people in Montana are extremely friendly, and in some more remote places (like Nye, MT where my property is located) they are craving conversation!!

And to those who read the part of the blog about "Steve" -- my rattlesnake eating, survivalist, radical conservative, ex-military, gun toting neighbor in Nye -- I an happy to report that my real estate agent told me that he's lived in Buffalo Jump Ranch (where my property is located) for 17 years, and no one up there has seen a rattlesnake. Seems Steve likes to stop anyone else from moving in and tells these stories (BIG RELIEF).

So now the rest of the adventure starts......I must keep Montana as a big part of my life -- I love it. The question is do I move there full time or part time? What do I do about my riding? Can I sell my house in Ellijay, and what can I get for it? Do I keep the property in Nye or look for something in a more populated area? (Good news is that the Realtor believes the property is probably worth double what I paid for it 2 1/2 years ago) What about my horse Ludo? HHHHEEEELLLLPPP!! Anyone with answers, please let me know. I'll be trying to figure this out for the rest of the year.

If you every want a vacation of "big skys", beautiful mountains, rivers, and scenery, then head to Montana. It gets my ***** five star rating.