Yee-haw!

We woke up to more deer right outside our cabin. We also sighted another bear on the hill as we  ambled towards the communal building for our breakfast of cereal, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit and pancakes.
The first activity for the day was a horse ride through the property. The talk over breakfast was how we would handle Jonah during the trail ride. When we arrived the previous day, he would not talk to anyone and he would not touch a horse despite strong insistance on feeding one. We decided to play things by ear and headed down to the horse barn to prepare for our horse ride. We needn't have worried. He was a different boy altogether. Mr Chatterbox hopped on without fuss and rode on his own horse! Lara got on a horse but scared herself when her horse started to move. She spacked a wally and ended up staying behind with Oma and Opa.

Vic getting the horses from the upper pastures early in the morning

Bear!

The communal building

Deer were everywhere

Dumper the horse

She got on, but didn't want to stay on unfortunately

First child on

Second child on

Ready to go

I was very grateful that the horses were well trained. I have never been on a horse before that wasn't "led" and so was relieve when my horse went into auto mode and followed the other horses. They seem to know to walk nose to tail.  We walked right along a cliff right to the top for a magnicifent view of the property. Once again, I was so glad the horses seem to know what they were doing! I was sure we were going to fall off a few times...I was so proud of Jonah. He had no fear. We could hear constant chatter at the front and adjusted himself on the horse when necessary. He even trotted with no problems and handled steep inclines both up and down. He turned around and waved his hat around a few times much to his father's anxiety. On the ride Mal managed to drop my lens cap and then the lens hood somewhere along the trail.  Luckily for him, we retrieved both. Someone must have designated today as bear day. We saw another bear, this time one with her cub.

Off we go!

We were very close to the edge!

Jonah having a blast

A very blurry scenery

Back to the ranch building safe and sound

After our ride, Malcolm foolishly attempted golf with all three children. They fought over the clubs and  balls so Malcolm deposited them at the common area and tried again by himself. The children magically found Vic for more uno, Jonah settled himself inside with domino tiles and Malcolm returned content. He convinced the whole family to go up to the 5th tee at the top of the cliff to hit towards the horse barn. Just as the last ball was hit, we heard someone cry out "Lunch!" from down below. We had the best cheeseburger ever for lunch! They had half pounder patties made from the cattle on the property, followed by brownies, cookies and lemon slice.

Vic was intent on making Oma and Opa do something active and managed to convince then to go on a short hike. We took the 4WD truck across the river where Vic allowed Jonah to drive! The child was in heaven. Never mind the fact that we nearly hit a cow or two along the way. Sadly, we had to park the truck and continue on foot up a short but steep incline for another birds eye view of the property! Lara drove us home, as we wanted to go tubing down the river in the sun this time around. Vic took us 500 yards further upstream in the truck. My parents surprised us by coming along! The excess people just hopped on the back of the truck. The water temperature unfortunately had not changed. Opa had great difficulty getting in. He fell out a few times and spent most of his float down paddling like a duck. Oma had too much fun shrieking and laughing at Opa.

Family golf. Jonah was having a "no picture" moment

Elliot connecting

Go Jonah!

The pro

Relaxing before lunch

A serious 8 burner BBQ

The ladies starting on their lunch

Off road driving by Jonah

Crossing the river in the truck

Wish I had a Vic to carry me up the hill!

The children are off to lead the way

The property borders the National Forest

We've reached the top!

Look to the right

then to the left....there's our cabin!

We timed our tubing well as the weather turned cold and the rain came just as we finished. However, this was the end of our activities for the day. During a break in the rain, the children got to feed deer by hand, this was followed by a shooting session with a .22 caibre rifle. Everyone except Jonah had a go. Elliot and Lara impressively hit the target a few times!

Unfortunately, we had to stop before the rain bucketed down. It was a good time as any to start dinner. We had a Ginormous turkey (26 pound), candied carrots, the most excellent stuffing, and finished off with one of my favourites, pumpkin pie. The children seemed to have developed an affinity for feeding the deer, and happily did this until the sun set.

Vic had promised the children a bonfire. He was zipping up and down the hill straight after dinner collecting things. By the time we arrived at the teepee, he had the fire going, blankets set on the ground and marshmallows ready for roasting. He wanted to show the children how to make s'mores. Jonah had loved his horse ride so much that he wondered off by himself to the barn trying to feed the horses. We had to retrieve him to go back to the bonfire. It didn't take much to convince him to stay!

Vic giving us our lesson and laying down the rules

If Elliot missed, he had to kiss all the girls in his class. He didn't miss.

Lara's turn. Even the 6 year old could hit the target. 

Oma and Opa not wanting to be beaten

More deer feeding

Jonah roasting marshmallows with Vic

We have had the most amazing time here at the ranch. It has been so nice to have good old fahioned fun with the children. No stuffy rules, no restrictions because of OH&S, no fears of lawsuit. Nothing but using common sense. The children really were encouraged to have a go and not be afraid. The staff were phenomenal. They are so friendly and would bend over backwards to make sure we had a good time. Even old Gary was a cheeky man. Vic and Jody were excellent with the children. They made a huge effort to engage the children as well as the adults, making sure that everyone could participate in the activities. Malcolm's parents would love this place.

Alas the story has a sad ending...still no fish for Malcolm!

Heaven On Earth

No phone reception. No internet. No news from me!

We have spent the last two nights at Heaven On Earth Ranch, deep creek outfitters, having the most wonderful time. We left Glacier National Park to meet Gary Anderson, the patriach of the the family, at 12 noon at Great Falls. We didn't know what to expect. We were just glad he wasn't an internet scam.  Malcolm thought that he looked like a fat Willie Nelson. Oma and Opa thought that he would make a great Santa Claus. One of his first comments was that he was glad we had a sensible car and not a motor home. We would find out why later. His second comment was a grumble that we weren't wearing cowboy boots.

Our first stop was lunch at the local Holiday Inn. This was followed by a stop at Big R's to pick up some fishing gear. Brilliant speed shopping enabled the purchase of three cowboy belts.  We were then off to the Ranch. Lara liked Gary enough to opt to sit with him for the 75min drive. She apparently talked him to death. We had to drive through some pretty rough tracks and  Malcolm was glad that we were in a  4-wheel drive. All we saw on the GPS was "driving north"! Along the way, we saw antelope and a red hawk which delighted the children.

Antelope!

Montana has had a pretty dry summer and thus much of the fields were dry and yellow.  Our first glimpse of the property was just breath-taking. It was a little oasis nestled within a hidden valley with a river flowing through it. Rustic cabins, a 9 hole par 3  golf course with one elevated tee off the top of the cliff, and horses on the hill were some of the other sights that greeted us. I can understand why this place was named Heaven On Earth. The ranch covers 5000 acres and has about 600 heads of angus cattle. It also welcomes a maximum of 18 guests during the summer. As we have come at the end of the season, we were fortunate to have the whole place to ourselves.Tom Lehman came here and liked it so much that other pga players with families came here for vacation.

Our first glimpse of the ranch

Walking down with Gary

We were first taken to the communal building which had a great open deck area over looking the property. There was a saloon at the bottom which was Malcolm's dream. It had a beautiful bar area made with gorgeous timber and a big mirror reflecting the amazing view. The children only had eyes for one thing, an old antique slot machine. We later found out that Gary and Vic had built all the cabins themselves. They were plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and farmers all in one. Oma very quickly decided that if she were going to stuck in the forest, she wanted to have Vic with her so that he could build her a cabin.


It didn't take long for the children to settle in. They got drenched running amok in the sprinklers watering the golf course.  We were introduced to Vic, Gary's son, and Jody, who helps out at the ranch. Without a word, Jody was out there after the children with towels. This was a sign of the service to come. After a cold drink, Vic offered for us to go tubing down the Smith river. It appeared that even the golf carts on this property were capable of  4-wheel driving. We drove through some pretty rough terrain to get dropped off with the inner tubes upstream. Tubing seemed like a good idea until we got into the water...brrr. By this stage it was too late to back out. Every part of our bodies that were submerged in the water was numb for the next two hours.

We went to back to our cabin, which was conveniently located beside the 6th green and next to the river. It was basic and small but comfortable. The sheets were very soft and the blankets toasty. The children couldn't wait to finish their showers to look at the deer feeding right outside.

The children enjoying the sprinklers

Our cabin

Let's go tubing!

Is that a smile or a grimace?!?!

Watching deer from the cabin

Teepee closest to our cabin

The next advertising campaign?

On the menu for dinner was prime rib. It was as big Jonah without arms and legs. We only managed to eat 1/3 of it. We decided to try Gary's combination of French and Ranch dressing for the salad. Superb! Jalapeno tobasco on devil eggs was ppretty good as well!We finished off the meal with the classic apple pie and ice-cream. During our meal, we had a visit from one of many black bears in the area. Nicknamed Cinnamon, she used to be fed until it became illegal to do so. She still comes once in a while and goes when she realizes that she was not going to get any food. She was only a mere two metres in front of us.

We rolled down into the saloon where the children finally got a go on the one-armed bandit. Vic entertained them further with multiple games of uno which would continue over the next day and a half whenever they had a spare moment. Upon chatting with Vic, my parents eyes lit up with the discovery that there were swallow's nests up in the hollows of the rocky canyons. They were convinced that this would bring extra riches for the ranch.

We went to sleep so happy that we decided to come this small family run operation. We have been so busy that it is hard to take good photos!

Vic serving up the prime rib. Not a good photo unfortunately...

A deck with a view

Cinnamon the bear