a camping we will go...

Forest Service cabins are sprinkled throughout Montana.  Most of these were built during the New Deal and were places for members of the Forest Service to live while in the field.  Now they are places for us common folk to rent out (year round) to rough it a little bit and enjoy the outdoors.

Several weekends ago a group of friends rented one out for an evening.  Fortunately the weather cooperated and we had an amazing time.  Here are some of the highlights.

First things first, we had to ford a river.  Fortunately, there was a nice bridge that made the crossing quite convenient.

George spent all day out in the sun and was starting to get a serious base coat for his summer tan.  He and mom celebrated a successful crossing of the river.

We had to "hike" in about a 1/4 of mile from where we parked to where the cabin was. I carried some of our gear on my back pack. I look like a big nerd, I realize this.

Ashley, Chelsy and Abby.  Apparently, if your name doesn't end in "y" you weren't invited to the cabin. (I had to go by "Davey"... j/k).

Yes, I was the founder of the fire.  There is something still so fun about creating a fire, even if you are using one of those coleman fire wands... or whatever they are called.  We were seriously roughing it.

Tyler made the 1/4 mile trip back and forth between the cabin and vehicles to truck some of the gear in, and he was very dismayed that he had to bring his motorcycle up.  The boys each took turns riding with Tyler.  George was in serious heaven.

Here's a shot of the cabin. About 20 yards behind it was a babbling brook.  To the left were the firewood sheds and storage units.  The inside of the cabin had two rooms with three, two bunk beds each.  There was a kitchen with a fire stove, and a main room with a wood burning stove.  If some people were comfortable sleeping on the ground with sleeping pads, I don't see why you couldn't sleep 20+ people in there with relative ease.

Ashley and I pause for a moment to reflect on fine big sky living.  Just prior to this we saw a small herd of big horn sheep.  Very very cool.

A family photo that started off as a joke and ended up looking pretty nice aside from George's tongue acrobatics.

George & Jackson had so much fun with ample room to explore and play.  It is such a nice feeling to be able to let your boys wander and explore. I feel like it must be overload for their little brains.

Although Tyler and I are posing for this shot, I can assure you that the awe our sons had for us was very real.  It was fun being able to chop wood for the fire outside and inside.  It awakened the deep urge in me to revisit my high school vocational dream of being a lumberjack.

George hangs out by the campfire, we had a delicious meal of hot dogs, beans, sausage, cheese, crackers, and smores.  Hot dogs really do taste 1000 times better when cooked over a fire.

Here we are with our next door neighbors and friends, the Barnwells.  We totally hit the neighbor lottery when moving to Bozeman. Our experience would be completely different if we didn't live next door to them.

I must confess, there is a hidden agenda to many of our posts about the Montana adventures we get up to... we're trying to sell you on the excitement that awaits you if you come to visit.  Want to rent that fire service cabin with us?  C'mon up!

We hope you are all having a splendid Memorial Day weekend...