50/50 Jaunt – Montana (Ellie)

Greetings, salutations and benevolent obeisances!
My name is Ellie and I’m from the state of Montana. I hold a blog over at thebeggarsalms.blogspot.com (also a writers group at wetheauthors.blogspot.com). I’m a homeschooled teenage girl: writer, musician, nerd and etc.

I’m in for Aidyl’s 50/50 jaunt; writing about my home state: Montana.

I’ve lived in Montana since I was born, and it’s been one of my favorite places. I’ve had the blessing to travel to 36 states and 5 countries in my short life. There’s beauty everywhere but I’ve been born and bred to love the big skies and snow-capped mountains of my dear state.

Here’s my answers to a few of Aidyl’s questions, and some pictures, all of which I took:
Crazy Mountains near Big Timber, MT
1. What is your favorite thing about the State you live in?
Good golly. That’s a hard question. So many things, I’ll try to narrow it down to just a few:
– The weather. Our phrase is ‘don’t like the weather? Wait 5 minutes for it to change.’ Because it’s true. I’ve had just about every type of weather at my house: blizzards, drizzles, thunderstorms, clear sunny days, record freezing temperatures, gigantic hail, epic rainbows and just about everything possible. In my home city, the sun shows its face 320 days a year, beaming down on everything from soft, dewy spring mornings to crisp winter days to hot, lazy summer evenings. And the sunsets. Oh, the sunsets.

All the colors of a rainbow sunset? There’s even a hint of green in there. Again near Big Timber, MT
– Another favorite thing of mine about Montana is the people. About half old cowboys and half young hippies whoever they are, there sure to be rather causal, outdoorsy and friendly. Lots of big families, foodies, dogs, outdoors sports, parties and community things going on here. It’s a great bit of humanity to be growing up in.

Ah yes. Spring rainbows. And a photogenic tractor.

2. What (if any) is a common misunderstanding people have about your State?
One, that everyone owns a horse. Sorry, not true. I do get to pass 20+ horses on my way into town, and a few cows and a few bison even. But not everybody owns a horse. A truer statement would be everybody owns a dog. Really. The big kind too. (My family is weird. We only have cats. But I like cats better so…)
Yes we have ghost towns. With adorable cabins. But no, we don’t live like this.


Two, we don’t have cell service. Whenever I travel and tell people I’m from Montana, I always get this question. And seriously, people, where do you think this is, the north pole? Because we have cell service just like any other state. Maybe if you’re 50+ miles into the Beartooth Wilderness, then no, but wherever there’s a town, there’s probably cell service. And we have phones. And computers. And we really do understand how to use technology, and what’s popular and trending and all. We just like our woods better.

Three, Yellowstone National Park is in Montana. Sorry folks, as much as we love it and visit it, that’s Wyoming’s crown jewel. We just border it on two sides. It’s a wonderful place, but not a Montana one.

Glacier National Park. Being beautiful as usual.
3. If there were any place in your State you would like to visit, where would it be?
I’ve gotten to travel quite a bit in my state. I’d like to spend more time just randomly driving around backroads and going to old mining towns and getting lost in weird places. I’d also like to spend more time in Glacier National Park. I’ve only been once, and only for a weekend. And it’s the most gorgeous place ever.
So thanks ya’ll for listing to my words about the treasure state, Montana. Come visit sometime. It’s great.

– Ellie
Fall sunset on the Bridger mountains, just two nights ago.


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