Why Montana?

I'm sure after reading this vacation blog you have asked yourself, "Why Montana"? Well there is a story behind our choice. Besides the breathtaking (literally) vistas, Karen had an old friend who lived in Kalispell. He and his family raise Yaks and Buffalo, so when we got back to Kalispell we had the pleasure of spending our last day at their ranch. I'm not sure if you can tell by the first photo, but that sweet baby yak has three of my fingers half way down his throat. The yaks were all bottle feed, so they could be sold as pets. This little darling had obviously not been fulling weened yet. It really felt kinda good, it was just that I had yak yuk up to my elbow.

The 2nd shot was of a baby buffalo, they are alot more skittish than the yaks, just as well I was still hosing down.

I ask you, what would a trip to the ranch have been without a ride on a yak. This lovely beast's name was Yampo. I would love to tell you that I was in full control of Yampo, but if you look close enough you can see Jim holding him by a ring in his nose. Ouch.

After sitting on Yampo long enough to get our photo taken we headed across the ranch to see other herds of yaks, and then on to see the buffalo. As I said earlier the buffalo are alot more skittish, so all photos were taken from the truck.

Jim and his wife Carol will probably never know how much their hospitality meet to these road weary travelers. I'm sure I speak for Karen as well when I say,"...a really lot". After spending the day touring the ranch, I took a nap and Karen hit the hot tub. Later that evening we sat down to an amazing dinner of, you guessed it, yak steak. I didn't ask if it had a name.