About 31 miles north of the North Entrance of Yellowstone lies the little, sleepy town of Emigrant. Two lovely people relocated here several years ago and opened the Wildflour Bakery. Rebecca is originally from Kansas; she played basketball at Washington University in St. Louis; she is one super cool chick. She operates the bakery from late spring to fall, just before the snowfall really hits Montana.
I met her several years back while visiting Neil in Montana. She and her parents are incredibly friendly, open people. She let me tent camp in her massive backyard, right next to the Yellowstone River that summer. I remember jumping in the river fully clothed and climbing out to discover a leech on my arm. Her parents invited me over to make hand churned ice cream. It was a wonderful summer before I was pregnant, before I became a mom. Maybe one day I will document that entire trip.
We stopped at the bakery to say hello, grab some pastries cause they are MASSIVE and delicious, and eat brunch. I ordered sourdough blueberry pancakes and got Stone a grilled cheese. He ended up eating all my pancakes and half of his grilled cheese, leaving me a half. My boy…. He always eats more than me. I enjoyed my coffee, sipping slowly and updating my Snapchat and Instagram. I know it’s kinda silly, but people that follow me on social media know I’m a consistent poster. Being in Yellowstone interrupted that so I let people know that we were safe and doing well.
Neil and Sarahjess let me know that they would be home later in the afternoon/evening as they were car shopping. They invited us to relax in their home even though they would not be there. All I could think of was a shower. I was going on six days with no shower. I was ready.
Stone and I wrapped up breakfast, waved goodbye, and climbed into the Westy, ready for a sense of luxury after a week of driving and camping. Stone and I arrived in Belgrade after just over an hour of driving. We said hi to Van Halen (their fluffy dog), and made our way into the house. Neil had been remodeling their bathroom with a new tub, shower system, tile, and drywall/finish. Thank God the shower was working! I let Stone play with some toys in the living room while I got cleaned up. I will be forever thankful for that brief 15 minutes.
Stone and I relaxed for most of the afternoon. It took Neil and SJ a bit longer than that thought it would but they walked away with a gorgeous diesel VW SUV. They had worked and saved and worked some more to get a newer car for a few years. That shit was fancy!
After they returned home, we shared the best hugs, and briefly caught up on our day. They set up the couch into a bed for Stone and I and we went to sleep for the night, quickly falling asleep.
The next day, we ate breakfast together and planned out our weekend. Neil knew of a small park in town for the kids to play. Stone went down the slide a bazillion times and climbed into a bar system constructed to look like a train. Neil played with his son, who was just a couple months shy of a year. After playing, we took the kids to Livingston to drop off SJ at work. She is part of a cooperative gallery of artists and makers called the Cactus Blossom Collective. They have a storefront on West Callender Street filled with vintage items, handmade jewelry and ceramics, self care items, books, and so much more.
Neil and I walked around Livingston, stopping at a few stores. Stone got two free matchbox cars at a thrift store, a yellow and green tractor and a pink jeep. I kept reminding myself not to buy anything since we had limited space in the van. More than anything I wanted to grab a bunch of items to repurpose and sell, or to just wear cause there were so many amazing clothes and shops. I did good though. Plus Neil and SJ had found me a sherpa lined corduroy jacket before we even arrived. They gifted it to me that weekend, and now I wear it at least twice a week. SJ knows me.
After walking around, we decided to take a drive in their new VW to lull the kids to sleep. Car drives do it every time. We took off down some country roads that eventually turned into forest service roads. We drove further and further away from town as the babies slept soundly. The countryside changed from rolling grasslands to wooded areas. And perhaps the strangest visitor on our drive were the cattle. One herd of cattle saturated this section of forest. The US government leases federal land to ranchers to allow for open range, grass fed cattle to roam freely. We saw them laying by the road. We saw them slowly gallop. We say them navigate cliffs in the distance. With all this wooded area and no signs of human activity, I had to wonder how long these cattle would survive. I got my answer pretty quickly as we drove past a decomposed cow, only the hide and skeleton remained. Evidence that someone had not been out here for quite some time.
We drove as far as we could go, with me helping Neil navigate ruts and rocks, and fallen trees. We made a great team that afternoon. We came to a point in the road where we felt we might get stuck or worse, and we had no GPS signal. I helped Neil back up to turn around, and we made our way back to Livingston. We were out for at least two hours. This gave us lots of time to catch up on each other’s lives. Adult life tends to keep friends in the dark about how we are really doing. We have appointments, work, responsibilities, life. Neil had always been a trusted pal, from the time we first met and took a nap in the sun and ate nectarines. This drive we talked about work, following our goals, being new parents, revelling in the newness our children bring to our attention, feeling stuck at times in life, and how to overcome our current situations to become the best versions of ourselves. People talk about how they want to have friends that talk about aliens and “deep” shit late at night. But I say get friends that challenge you, that can openly apologize without fear, that you can be 100% yourself when in their presence. That’s my Neil. And when you find those people, be endlessly grateful.
That evening, we made a simple dinner at home with vegetables from their garden. Stone surprised me by eating all of it – summer squash, capers, green beans, and pasta. I think the combination of a limited variety of camp food as well as not stopping to get fast food on a whim changed his palette. He wasn’t a picky eater through the entire trip. He ate sourdough! And squash! For both nights, he was rewarded with dinner, ice cream sandwiches which he ate ever so delicately. He knows not to waste good food.
The next day, SJ and I planned to take the kids to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. I had written before about how Stone lost his mind at the paleontology exhibit in Utah. I knew he would love the museum as they have one of the best fossil collections in the US. The Siebel Dinosaur Complex focuses on active research and exploration of the ancient past of Montana a neighboring states. Inside you will find fully constructed dinosaurs including the Montana T. Rex, one of the few mounted skeletons in the world; and Big Al, a nearly complete Allosaur. You can walk through the Hall of Giants which houses the Rex and Big Al as well as prehistoric mammals. In the Hall of Growth and Behavior, you can see fossilized eggs, babies, and the progression of growth for both a T. Rex and a Triceratops. There is also the Bowman Dinosaur Viewing Laboratory where you can witness volunteers prepare fossils for research.
Stone lost his mind. Of course. He was running around asking what everything was. Then he saw the Rex. It’s so impressive and gigantic. Stone also loved the triceratops mom and baby on display. He has this thing with calling me the mom of anything and him the baby – dinosaurs, otters, cartoons, you name it. After walking the Dinosaur Complex, we continued through the museum looking at exhibits of the history Yellowstone country and my favorite, The Real Genghis Khan.
After the museum, we returned to the car, gave the kids a snack, and drove through town. The babes fell asleep and I waited in the car with them so SJ could do some grocery shopping. Plus she bought me lunch. We talked more in depth as we made the drive back to Belgrade.
We shared one last dinner and breakfast with our Montana family. The following morning, Neil would leave for work and SJ and I would have time to clean the house and organize my bus. Stone got to play with Mo for a bit more, although their ages and development stages cause tension at times. I got our cooler stocked, adjusted our bedding since SJ gave us a memory foam pad (yes!!), and generally got rid of any trash or unnecessary items. Stone and I gave everyone at least five hugs before getting into the Westy to drive back home to Washington.
