The Set Up is all the fun

FOR SALE: ONCE IN A LIFETIME, BACK COUNTRY, WORK EXPERIENCES TO BLOW YOUR SOCKS OFF AND HAVE YOU BEGGING FOR MORE!

If you haven't ever done a back country trip for the purposes of "working", on horse back 11 miles into the wilderness, with your husband and your best friends . . .Pack your bag and strengthen your riding muscles - I highly recommend it. We broke our backs working hard, slept like babies (even when we thought there were bears coming into our tent), saw some pretty amazing wildlife in action and took in some of the prettiest country on the Planet.

Micca (as my dad refers to her - "my B-F") and her hilarious husband Josh came to Montana for a week to "work" and help us set up camp for the hunters coming this fall. They endured being bossed around by Pete, lugging heavy objects, cutting firewood with hand saws, dragging trees down the hillside, sleeping in wall tents, setting up temporary fencing, setting up very awkward, heavy and confusing canvas tents, riding horses, cooking meals with barrel stoves and makeshift ovens, and well . . . I don't think they would have called it work or painful. They LOVED every minute of it and have decided to make camp set-up their yearly vacation!

The irony of it all is that this is OUR JOB now... Work is rough, just another day in our office.

It is really fun. And here's a few reasons why:

You get to learn how to pack hundreds and hundreds of pounds and awkward things on the side and backs of horses . . . using all sorts of fancy boy scout knots. Just the packing can take up to 3 hours many days.

You have to hand weigh everything before it goes on the horse so it doesn't work itself off on the 2 hour ride in.

You then unpack it all and immediately start setting it all up... using what you can find laying in the woods. (Notice the precarious "stool" Pete is using to stand on... Had I done that I would have been checked for sharp objects and yelled at immediately)

Ah, but you get to see your hard work at the end of the day... those are 2 of the client sleep tents at our camp. Aren't they great???

Then, you are starving and you can eat a kielbasa meal meant for 12 all in one night.

Coffee on the "veranda" while watching bull elk and cows each morning sure isn't shabby for Micca.

But, then it's back to work again. We needed about 3 cords of wood cut for the first week of camp. Lots of fires to burn! We must use horses to drag the logs down and hand saws to cut it all - we are in a designated Wilderness area you know! Nothing comes easy.

You get to make fun of your best friend and wife b/c she has stove pipe grease and oil all over her face - ALL DAY!

Ah, that break again... Sure is nice to watch the horses graze and see those elk bugling and doing "elky" things on the hillside - not to mention the freakishly amazing 70 degree weather and sunshine!

They got to watch a husband / wife slowly learn to be a "team" and work together under great pressure and exhaustion... SO FUN! Is he hugging or strangling me? Not sure.

Here is the super husband / wife duo . . . MY favorite people on earth.

It was always fun to see what antics the horses were up to. Can you pick out your favorite? Hee hee.

More elk watching before dinner. With a Willow Ranch cocktail of course - Tang and Jack Daniels. Yum...

You never see this kind of thing on the Discovery Channel folks.

Brooke doing something stupid I am sure... Josh noticing.

We did take a break from the back breaking labor to take a ride into the hills and scout out some more elk . . .

We rode through an enchanted forest . . .

And to beautiful hillsides where we could see the Grand Teton and the Tetons in the distance.

And there really isn't anything better than being with you best friend . . . (Notice the new matching Willow Ranch Outfitting hats?)

It is very nice to look at your handi - work and see HOW COOL your cook tent looks after a million minor adjustments, some organization, an extra center pole, and a little womanly TLC.

Now, don't forget to carry your bear gun. . . That really is what that is for.

And, of course . . . Sleep. To sleep at dark and up at dawn. Ready for another day.

Did I mention we drank a lot of Tang?

You can see ALL the pics here.