My love affair with Big Sky Country – Montana

“I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.”  John Steinbeck

I had no idea where I was going. We landed in Missoula Montana and I was expecting to pull up to a flat, dry space with a few barns and cabins spread about. We had a gig to shoot a show at Paws Up Resort to feature their “Glamping” experience – which was spectacular – you can see my video we shot for a Sony. Little did I know that my life would change as we pulled out of the Podunk airport and up the glorious road to the ranch. For nearly 40 minutes I was speechless and couldn’t help but peer out the window with a true sense of awe. Was this place real? It was eerie. I was overcome with complete serenity and I forgot I was with my entire family in a car. As I looked at the vast land, cows, lakes, old burnt down structures, mountains, rolling grass hills, farms and literally empty roads I couldn’t help think I was a pawn in some type of game. Was this real? Was I born in cave coming for California? I’ve been to the mountains, Yosemite, Canada, Utah, Colorado you name a ski resort and I’ve been there! But this, this was beginning of a real love affair. The homes on mirror-imaged lakes where innocent, they screamed, “This is what living should be.” I kept insisting that this might be a movie set of some sort. But as we drove, the land was far too big to be so. I felt this yearning to live there. A sense of peace and that the world is really worth cherishing and preserving. Why is it that this state was a Zen-like infusion into my soul? I crave the Montana experience. I’m making an effort to go back once a year so I can get my serenity fix. We look forward to skiing the highest mountain peaks and fishing in the rivers during summer. As I boarded the plane home I grabbed a local parenting magazine based out of Missoula with an adorable baby on the cover.  As I thumbed through it I thought, wow, this place is progressive too – the writing was alternative, deep and addicting. Damn, I was impressed. The magazine was Mamalode.com and after reading every page from front to back, I knew I had an anchor there. As writer and advocate for all things amazing for families.